What's something you thought about yourself that you had to unlearn?

What I had to unlearn was that what other people thought of me was who I was or had anything

to do with who I was. And I had to learn that I was this precious, hilarious girl and then woman

who was kind and generous and kind of a mess like we all are.

Like if there's not, if there's isn't something wrong with you, I'm not interested, you know.

I'm Rachel Martin and this is Wildcard, the game where cards control the conversation.

Each week, my guest answers questions about their life. Questions pulled from a deck of cards.

They're allowed to skip one question and to flip one back on me. My guest this week is Anne Lamont.

I'm afraid all the time. I mean, fear comes with the territory of deciding to be fully human, you know,

asking yourself, how alive am I willing to be each day? Anne Lamont's books are the kind that

people dog ear, underlining passages and writing this exclamation point in the margins. And we, her,

readers, feel like we've got to pass on those

books to friends. They are gifts to be given and received. Before this taping, I went looking for

the copy of Anne Lamott's bestselling book, Bird by Bird, that I've been carrying around for

decades. And inside it, I found an inscription from my sister. Of course, it had been a gift.

Anne Lamott's insights on life are like little treasures that transform us,

and we can't help but share them.

Her newest book is a collaboration with her husband, the writer Neil Allen.

It's about a subject.

They both know well.

It's called Good Writing, 36 ways to improve your sentences.

And I am so very happy to welcome Anne Lamont to Wildcard. Hi. Thank you. I'm so happy to be here.

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