Structure

This short handbook is divided into six chapters. The longest chapter is twenty pages while the shortest is nine pages. No timeline is established in the book, though the narrative is related in the present tense. Each chapter focuses on a certain topic. For instance, in the first chapter “Beginning,” Lamott describes what she hopes to teach those who read her book. In the second chapter, “The Overly Sensitive Child,” Lamott describes the effect that her sensitive nature and alcoholic parents had on her as a child. In the course of her book, Lamott shares a variety of stories of people who have suffered with losses yet have discovered ways to deal with their losses.

Perspective

This memoir and guidebook is related in the first person perspective from the point of view of the author, Anne Lamott. This perspective is appropriate and works well because through the...