Author Anne Lamott on her son's unexpected fatherhood

'Some Assembly Required" by Anne Lamott
'Some Assembly Required" by Anne Lamott
Book cover courtesy of publisher

Anne Lamott, author of several New York Times bestsellers, joined The Daily Circuit to talk about her new book, "Some Assembly Required."

The book tells the story of Lamott's son, Sam, becoming a father at age 19.

"Jax was the loveliest baby boy I've ever seen, a dead ringer for Sam as a newborn, but Latino, gorgeous as God or a crescent moon, with huge black eyes, black hair, lightly tan," Lamott writes. "I felt as though I was seeing a river gorge, from way up high on a bridge, silenced by the vastness of his tiny face, the depth of his brown-black eyes."

Lamott wrote the work with her son who contributed his part of the experience to the book.

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"To tell the truth, I really didn't want to do it," Lamott told Goodreads. "It was my editor's idea, and Sam was so positive in his response. He really loved that 'Operating Instructions' existed. So I said I'd do it if he did it with me. To get him to actually do it involved the usual pulling teeth that you can expect working with 19- or 20-year-olds, especially your own."

Lamott will be talking about and signing her book Monday at Barnes & Noble in Edina, 3225 W 69th St. at 7 p.m.

KERRI'S TAKEAWAY

For as long as you struggle to control things in your life, it never gets easier, even when people tell you to 'let it go.'