Without Anne Lamott, the entire subcategory of contemporary parent writing – which includes Brett Paesel, Christie Mellor, Ayun Halliday as well as all those mommy bloggers – probably wouldn’t exist.

Back in 1993, author Anne Lamott, then a 35-year-old single mom, wrote a funny and unflinching memoir of her son Sam's first year. Called "Operating Instructions," the book became a bestseller and set ...