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The Liars' Club: A Memoir Kindle Edition

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 3,895 ratings

“Wickedly funny and always movingly illuminating, thanks to kick-ass storytelling and a poet's ear.” –Oprah.com
 
The New York Times bestselling, hilarious tale of Mary Karr’s hardscrabble Texas childhood that Oprah.com calls the best memoir of a generation.

The Liars’ Club took the world by storm and raised the art of the memoir to an entirely new level, bringing about a dramatic revival of the form. Karr’s comic childhood in an east Texas oil town brings us characters as darkly hilarious as any of J. D. Salinger’s—a hard-drinking daddy, a sister who can talk down the sheriff at age twelve, and an oft-married mother whose accumulated secrets threaten to destroy them all. This unsentimental and profoundly moving account of an apocalyptic childhood is as “funny, lively, and un-put-downable” (USA Today) today as it ever was.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this funny, razor-edged memoir, Mary Karr, a prize-winning poet and critic, looks back at her upbringing in a swampy East Texas refinery town with a volatile, defiantly loving family. She recalls her painter mother, seven times married, whose outlaw spirit could tip into psychosis; a fist-swinging father who spun tales with his cronies--dubbed the Liars' Club; and a neighborhood rape when she was eight. An inheritance was squandered, endless bottles emptied, and guns leveled at the deserving and undeserving. With a raw authenticity stripped of self-pity and a poet's eye for the lyrical detail, Karr shows us a "terrific family of liars and drunks ... redeemed by a slow unearthing of truth."

From Publishers Weekly

Poet Karr's NBCC nominated memoir of her East Texas childhood is a blackly comic tale of a family prone to alcoholism, violence and insanity.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B008LY24II
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; 1st edition (May 31, 2005)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 31, 2005
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1928 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 3,895 ratings

About the author

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Mary Karr
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Mary Karr's first memoir, The Liar's Club, kick-started a memoir revolution and won nonfiction prizes from PEN and the Texas Institute of Letters. Also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, it rode high on the New York Times bestseller list for over a year, becoming an annual "best book" there and for The New Yorker, People, and Time. Recently Entertainment Weekly rated it number four in the top one hundred books of the past twenty-five years. Her second memoir, Cherry, which was excerpted in The New Yorker, also hit bestseller and "notable book" lists at the New York Times and dozens of other papers nationwide. Her most recent book in this autobiographical series, Lit: A Memoir, is the story of her alcoholism, recovery, and conversion to Catholicism. A Guggenheim Fellow in poetry, Karr has won Pushcart Prizes for both verse and essays. Other grants include the Whiting Award and Radcliffe's Bunting Fellowship. She is the Peck Professor of Literature at Syracuse University.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
3,895 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the memoir engaging and well-written. They praise the author's natural prose and command of language. Readers appreciate the humor and authenticity of the writing, describing it as funny and perceptive. The book provides remarkable insights and an eye-opening perspective. However, opinions differ on whether the story is heartbreaking or not for the faint of heart.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

256 customers mention "Readability"225 positive31 negative

Customers find the memoir easy to read and enjoyable. They appreciate the author's engaging writing style and consider it a worthwhile read.

"...Her descriptions of people and places, her ability to capture the dialect she grew up around, and her unerring sense of pacing make this book worthy..." Read more

"...Mary hints that she and Lecia have grown into contributing, productive humans, but as she describes her childhood, you may wonder how that outcome..." Read more

"I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Liars’ Club and will be moving to her next memoir of her series right away...." Read more

"The story unfolds in three sections: Texas, 1961; Colorado, 1963 and Texas Again, 1980...." Read more

148 customers mention "Writing quality"117 positive31 negative

Customers appreciate the author's writing style and her ability to capture dialect. They find the book easy to read and praise the author's command of language. Readers also mention that the story is reminiscent of Tobias Wolff and A Boy's Own Adventure.

"...Her descriptions of people and places, her ability to capture the dialect she grew up around, and her unerring sense of pacing make this book worthy..." Read more

"...Her lexicon is deliberate and selective. She crafts each sentence like a poet (which she also is)...." Read more

"...I was completely taken by surprise by the poetic and funny writing, outlining Mary's childhood in a dysfunctional family; so captivated that I found..." Read more

"...Her command of the language is exemplary though her telling of her story was a struggle at times with the idioms, syntax and diction." Read more

81 customers mention "Humor"71 positive10 negative

Customers enjoy the humorous writing style. They find the story relatable and humorous, with no cliches or predictable plotlines. The writing style is described as honest, poetic, and compelling, using a mix of colloquial and rough language.

"...But Mary Karr is an individual of perceptive humor and forgiveness, so she survived and thrived...." Read more

"...Karr’s memoir describes her 1960s childhood with her sister Lecia in hilarious, horrific detail...." Read more

"...Unfortunately, it's only 44 pages long. The writing is brilliant in a gritty and muscular way, sentimentality not among the first ingredients in..." Read more

"...I was completely taken by surprise by the poetic and funny writing, outlining Mary's childhood in a dysfunctional family; so captivated that I found..." Read more

18 customers mention "Authenticity"18 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's writing honest and descriptive. They describe the story as believable and raw, with an original account of a hard-scrabble childhood in Texas.

"...She was authentic and brutally honest throughout...." Read more

"...It's written with humor, emotion, and raw honesty about how getting through a tumultuous childhood and rising above it is truly a blessing...." Read more

"...Karr lays bare her horrendous childhood and sexual abuse with a painfully truthful yet poignant and laugh-out-loud funny story of her love-hate..." Read more

"...Brutal and gripping to the end, and finally satisfying in unspinning the lies and banished personal history of her parents...." Read more

17 customers mention "Insight"17 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's insight. They find the author's perspective unique and insightful, describing her childhood from a child's point of view. The writing is described as clever, thoughtful, and endearing. Readers also mention the characters' ability to make the best of their circumstances.

"...She’s philosophical, passionate, and brilliant in her own ways, but she’s immobilized by mental illness and alcoholism...." Read more

"...These matters are unique and endearing to many, often leading to the reputation of this book as humorous. Its sarcastic tone did evoke chuckles...." Read more

"...It was certainly an eye-opener and made me realize how fortunate I was to have two loving parents...." Read more

"...Karr to be one of those writers who takes the art and craft to a totally different sphere. Her scene work is immaculate...." Read more

125 customers mention "Heartbreaking"84 positive41 negative

Customers have different views on the memoir. Some find it poignant and inspiring, with humor and raw honesty. Others describe it as depressing, disturbing, and sad from beginning to end.

"...Karr’s narrative is a mashup of childish perspective and grown-up introspection. Her lexicon is deliberate and selective...." Read more

"...Unfortunately, it's only 44 pages long. The writing is brilliant in a gritty and muscular way, sentimentality not among the first ingredients in..." Read more

"Disturbing, very sad life for this young girl. I won’t read other books. Odd writing style. I actually threw the book in the trash...." Read more

"...She uses her sense of smell, a most evocative sense, to guide us through the trauma of her childhood...." Read more

29 customers mention "Character development"16 positive13 negative

Customers have different views on the character development. Some find the characters remarkable and easy to connect with, while others feel the story lacks a strong voice for the main character and lacks understanding of storytelling.

"An absolutely searing portrayal of a little girl and her not-much-older sister surviving a life of constant living on the edge...." Read more

"...Most of the characters come across as unlikable and abrasive, even Karr. She shoots a kid with a BB gun at one point...." Read more

"...My favorite part of the book is that the author presented her characters warts and all, but the "all" infused each passage. So I loved them...." Read more

"The narrative here is very dense, so give yourself some time to get through it...." Read more

18 customers mention "Pacing"9 positive9 negative

Customers have different views on the pacing of the book. Some find it fast and engaging, with a strong story that maintains throughout. Others mention unusual syntax that slows down reading and causes frustration. The book starts out slow and never improves for some readers.

"...ability to capture the dialect she grew up around, and her unerring sense of pacing make this book worthy of every award it received...." Read more

"...The diction and syntax were unusual, slowing my reading and causing some frustration...." Read more

"...In fact, very easy reading, so it (thankfully) goes fast..." Read more

"I found the pacing to be a bit slow, especially in the first half of the book...." Read more

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2022
    How to even summarize this book? Mary Karr's childhood could have been anyone else's excuse for a thrown-away life of drugs, of ending up in prison, of forever being a victim. And her accounting of her childhood in Texas and Colorado -- at ages six and eight, if I understood correctly -- could have slumped into driveling bitterness. But Mary Karr is an individual of perceptive humor and forgiveness, so she survived and thrived. Mary Karr rose above the temptations that picked apart her parents, little by little, and emerged with the scars and the tales to prove it.

    And what tales they are. With her stalwart older sister Lecia forever looking out for her, Karr navigated a tricky path from one school to another, from one neighborhood to another, one abusive relative to another.

    But far from pulling the reader into the sort of depression one thinks would be the result of such a life, Karr offers a cool accounting of even the most horrific details, and splashes a bit of levity into otherwise dark corners. Her descriptions of people and places, her ability to capture the dialect she grew up around, and her unerring sense of pacing make this book worthy of every award it received.

    You might think you know how this story will unfold, but you don't. Read if for yourself, and discover what I did: this book is even better than everyone says it is.
    12 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2016
    If your family is normal, or even quasi-normal, then "The Liar’s Club" will showcase a whole new cultural experience for you. Mary Karr’s memoir describes her 1960s childhood with her sister Lecia in hilarious, horrific detail. For our reading entertainment, the profoundly dysfunctional Karr family takes the proverbial stage in "Leechfield," Texas (a pseudonym for the Port Arthur area). Leechfield is a lower-middle class town where the land and the air, and a lot of the people, smell like oil.

    Per Mary’s telling, her mother (whom she simply calls Mother) is a tortured artist, full of inner grandeur, and stifled by the bounds of poverty. She’s philosophical, passionate, and brilliant in her own ways, but she’s immobilized by mental illness and alcoholism. Her artistic flamboyance is so out of place in Leechfield, no one knows what to make of her, and the community writes her off as lunatic. But their assessment doesn’t seem unfair. Mother’s wildly destructive behaviors are the primary thrill factor of the book. Only the glowering, disapproving grandmother can subdue her, to the astonishment and disappointment of young Mary.

    Mary’s father (Daddy) is the saner parent. He’s an alcoholic too, but since he’s unplagued by mental illness, he isn't ostracized. He holds a job in the oil refinery, feeds his family, and dotes on his little girls. Daddy is famous in Leechfield for his masterful telling of tall tales among friends (inspiring the title "The Liars’ Club").

    Although Mother and Daddy do love Mary and Lecia, Mother’s illness overshadows every aspect of their lives with insanity. Mary and Lecia have few boundaries. While Lecia assumes the responsibility that her mother shirks, Mary grows sassy and wild.

    When Mother comes into some money, they all move from oil-permeated Leechfield to an idyllic ranch in Colorado, where the girls roam the wild countryside on horseback in mountain-fresh air under wide open skies. But as it has been said, no matter where you go, there you are. Addiction and illness follow them. Mother and Daddy divorce soon thereafter, and the children are abandoned to themselves and tossed around with fantastical carelessness.

    To conclude the memoir, Mary skips to her young adulthood. Mother’s new money has been squandered, Mother and Daddy have reconciled, they’ve returned to Leechfield, Daddy is bedridden, and a great family secret is disclosed. Suddenly, the insanity makes sense. But don’t read ahead. You need the blindness to appreciate Mary’s bewildering, focusless upbringing.

    Throughout the book, Mary hints that she and Lecia have grown into contributing, productive humans, but as she describes her childhood, you may wonder how that outcome is possible. Maybe this is what saves the girls: Despite all the chaos, a thread of love is evident. The girls are not rejected by either parent, nor by each other. They learn attachment.

    Karr’s narrative is a mashup of childish perspective and grown-up introspection. Her lexicon is deliberate and selective. She crafts each sentence like a poet (which she also is). In her writing, you’ll see glimpses of the good genes she’s inherited. She’s an artist, like her mother, and a taleweaver, like her father. Enjoy "The Liar’s Club" like wine: Some of it is unsavory. Some of it is exquisite. All of it will alter your outlook.

    Check out my other reviews at [...]
    131 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2024
    I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Liars’ Club and will be moving to her next memoir of her series right away. I especially loved Karr’s detailed description of her own character as a child. She was authentic and brutally honest throughout. Her prose was at times a bit over the top, almost like too much spice in a recipe, but that’s just individual taste.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2016
    The story unfolds in three sections: Texas, 1961; Colorado, 1963 and Texas Again, 1980. 1961 and 1963 were tough years to read through (that is, the first 271 pages of this 320 page book). 1980 is where the book finally redeems itself. Unfortunately, it's only 44 pages long. The writing is brilliant in a gritty and muscular way, sentimentality not among the first ingredients in this memoir. The rape recalled at the age of seven is sterile; spiders in the corner where the young Karr's balled shorts and underwear are thrown is given about as much weight as the act itself. It is a memoir of childhood drawn from years of trauma and neglect, captured in fragments of memory that sometimes gets lost in the chronology. For example, in 1963, when her mother bleaches her hair platinum, Karr pictures Jayne Mansfield, "who got her head cut slap off in a car wreck." Mansfield died in 1967. The narrative stops shifting in 1981, and where a moment of truth emerges with the discovery of Karr's mothers' wedding rings. At the end, Karr attempts to land on a lyrical note but I emerged from the book missing the heat of its emotional core, as if hoping warmth could be generated by the coolness of rough scar tissue.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2021
    I didn't just read this book. I recognized how good it is immediately. I was completely taken by surprise by the poetic and funny writing, outlining Mary's childhood in a dysfunctional family; so captivated that I found myself underlining passages and the wonderful way she describes everything, such as when her father came home. She didn't have to write that he was drunk. Instead, she writes, "Every now and then he'd come home lurching around like a train conductor." The image made me stop, laugh, and marvel, and it happened throughout the book. It is a true pleasure, such as when she said something to a neighbor after he got after her for shooting his son with a b-b gun. She writes, "And I came back with a reply that the aging mothers in that town still click their tongues about." This is the best memoir I have ever read, and I have ordered her sequels. I recommended this to my friends and the ones who bought it are raving about it.
    6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Um livro clássico e memorável.
    Reviewed in Brazil on January 7, 2020
    Leitura altamente intrigante. Escrita direta, cativante. Memorável.
  • Cliente Amazon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Engancha
    Reviewed in Spain on December 7, 2020
    Te mantiene el interés en su lectura
  • Book Lover
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Liar's Club meetings were among Karr's best memories, where the smoking
    Reviewed in Canada on August 15, 2017
    While the subject matter is dark and it is hard to believe it is a memoir, the prose is exquisite. As Karr says herself "...a dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it." Every family has its secrets and life in the 1960s in a small Texas oil town was where you traditionally kept family business within the family. The Liar's Club meetings were among Karr's best memories, where the smoking, drinking, story telling men admired her father most of all and did not think it strange that he often brought his five year old daughter to the get togethers. I highly recommend this memoir.
  • Kiervol
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2017
    I almost didn't read this because of the intro by Lena Dunham (I'm not sure if this feature will allow me to edit the spelling of her name, so sorry it is incorrect). I've actually read her book as well, but I'm not in the mood for her voice right now, and it put me off. I was wrong. Her intro was lovely and the book is life changing. Karr's voice is unique and loveable, self deprecating and extremely interesting. Her story is both shocking and totally relatable. Some parts of the story were so relatable that it could ruin my day, or cause me to lose patience with my kids, or fill me with sadness, but it is so so good. Like I often do, I'll probably buy a hard copy of the book now so I can look at it on the shelf, read small parts, and remember that good writing comes in surprising places.
  • BAZZA
    5.0 out of 5 stars Tough kid turns into tenacious writer
    Reviewed in Germany on May 13, 2013
    I caught up with Mary Karr via Rodney Crowell and the excellently produced country CD "KIN" which came out early in the year. Rodney wrote the melodies and sang and produced various country stars while Mary wrote the lyrics to the songs.Titles like "Momma's On A Roll" and "If The Law Don't Want You Neither Do I" are representative of the themes of the album which all stem from Mary's harsh upbringing in the East Texas post rock 'n roll years. Not far from where Rodney was experiencing his "Chinaberry Sidewalks" and his own turbulent teens. She makes you laugh at the antics of her parents in their rawhide community and shows a remarkable memory for the twists and turns that a growing kid goes through just trying to keep her spirit from sinking down with every sunset over the dusky prairie. Fresh as a blueberry pie cooling on the window ledge.

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