Lit
Book description
The long awaited sequel to the beloved and bestselling 'The Liars' Club' and 'Cherry' - a memoir about a self-professed 'blackbelt sinner's' descent into the inferno of alcoholism and madness, and her astonishing resurrection.
'If you'd told me, even a year before I start taking my son to church regular…
Why read it?
5 authors picked Lit as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Karr's memoir diverges from my other recommendations insofar as it’s a memoir and features just one woman’s voice.
I found this book while living in Madrid over a decade ago and remember sneaking out into the living room late at night to read it. Karr is a master storyteller and a master memoirist – highly relatable even if you’ve never struggled with alcoholism.
From Katie's list on women’s voices.
Mary Karr is one of my all-time favorite authors. In Lit, Karr tells the story of her mother’s alcoholism and how it affected her childhood and adulthood. I liked the ending, where she shares her own astonishing resurrection. Like me, Karr longs for a family of her own and when she marries a handsome wealthy man and they have a son, it looks as though her dreams have come true. But that is not her fate. The book is raw with emotion as Karr invites us on her journey to herself.
From Susan's list on anyone who has ever dated the wrong person.
I loved her first two memoirs and was excited when this one came out. Karr opens the title with a letter to her son. I like to think of my own memoir as a thank you to my daughter, who I believe came to help me get sober. I related so much to Karr's story—like mine, her only child was five when she and her husband split, thrusting her into a life of single parenting. And though her professional life was far different from my own (as well as her conversion to Catholicism, the religion of my childhood I was…
From Carol's list on addiction memoirs I wish I had when I got sober.
Karr is a poet, and you cannot race through Lit. Her language is to be untangled and savored. Only then can you grasp the profound dawning of a woman as she stumbles, soberly, towards God. In the last half, Karr is desperation personified, and she is encouraged by an AA fellow to pray. I was enthralled by Karr’s journey to find a Higher Power, trying on spirituality and religions with a fierce and humble willingness. (The 12-Steps are not about religion.) Karr does find an unlikely connection to Catholicism. I’m grateful for her transparency; the open window into her…
From Henriette's list on getting inside the addict’s mind.
LIT is Mary Karr’s third memoir, and my favorite (which says a lot because I could not put down The Liar’s Club or Cherry). It is a book about something fairly common – alcoholism – but it is a true, no holds barred, let-me-tell-you-just-how-much-of-a-wreck-I-was account of the way drinking skewed her thinking, affected her relationships and her work, and how she finally turned to prayer to work her way out. This is NOT a book about Jesus-is-your-savior, nor is it preachy about “to booze or not to booze.” It is a book about how, if you are willing to…
From Kristin's list on memoirs that tell painful stories with eloquence and insight.
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