Anne Lamott On Coming Back After Tragedy

Best-selling soul-keeper Anne Lamott on finding meaning and healing in a frazzled age.

Best-selling and beloved author Anne Lamott calls life “erratic, beautiful and impossible.” There is so much that makes us happy, that is incredible and joyful in life. But sometimes, life punches us in the gut. And it hurts—a lot and for a long time. Death, illness, national tragedies—they can tear our lives apart. And it doesn't seem fair, or right. How we deal with these moments, how we make it through—that can define us, she says.  In her new book — “Stitches”— Anne Lamott discuss how to cope with grief and hard times. Up next, On Point: Anne Lamott on dealing with the tough and the sad.

Anne Lamott, best-selling author of many books, including "Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair," "Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life," and "Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers."  Follow Anne Lamott's book tour here. (@AnneLamott)

Huffington Post: What Author Anne Lamott Says When She Talks To God — "'It's very easy for me to see God in my backyard with the dogs and the very bitter cat that I call my own,' she says. 'But when someone's sick, when you get the bad phone call, when someone's heard from the doctor, when the appearance of life is very, very shaky ... it throws me completely off my game. It throws me for a loop. I think, 'This can't be right.''"

New York Times: Anne Lamott: By The Book — "I like to read away as much of the afternoon as possible, until real life rears its ugly head. During the day, I read on the couch in the living room, and tend to read nonfiction or The New Yorker during this time. Then I am in bed by 11 p.m. and read for an hour or so, often a novel. Sometimes I also sneak into the guest room to read in the early evenings — although since I live alone, sneaking from room to room is just a personal preference."