Lit
Mary Karr
2009
386 pages
Published by Harper Perennial
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FTC divulgation (yes, I’ve resorted to the thesaurus): I received a copy of this book from the publisher, because I am participating in a TLC book tour. Thank you Harper Perennial and TLC!
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I’m a big fan of The Glass Castle, and when people talk about The Glass Castle they often mention Mary Karr’s The Liar’s Club as another memoir that is highly readable and not full of woe-is-me. So I’ve been meaning to read The Liar’s Club for ages, but, well, you know how it goes. There always seems to be another book that pushes its way forward.
So when Trish asked if I’d be interested in reading Lit for a TLC tour, I figured it was meant to be. I’d finally get to experience Mary Karr, and the tour would force me to read her sooner rather than later. Sometimes I like a little push to get me to read something or someone I’ve been meaning to read.
But then I read that in Lit, Karr discusses how she found religion. And I’ll confess that I was suddenly leery, because I usually avoid religion, religious proselytizing and religious conversions of any kind. Church and gods are just something I do not do.
However, I needn’t have worried. Lit kicks ass. And so does Karr (I’m not exaggerating…I figure she could easily kick my ass in those wicked black stilettos she seems so fond of). She readily admits that she’s a doubting bitch (heck, she admits to just being a bitch in general) and even after her conversion, a bad Catholic. But she’s a helluva writer. Seriously, people…talk about being held in thrall.
Let me back up a bit, though. The Liar’s Club, for those of you (like me) unfamiliar with the book, tells of Karr’s childhood. The Karr’s are definitely not the Cleaver’s, and Karr’s childhood is rough, to put it mildly (she summarizes it in Lit for those who have not read The Liar’s Club…for those who have, she tells you to skip ahead). Her next book, Cherry, chronicles her adolescence. Lit picks up Karr’s story after high school, when she wimps out on college and decides instead to bum a ride to California from friends. After a few months of working in a factory and living in a hovel, she decides college just might be the better option. But after two years of feeling incredibly out of place in a Midwestern college she drops out and goes to work as a bartender, writing poetry in her spare time. Karr eventually enrolls in a poetry program, graduates, sells a book of poems, gets married, has a baby boy, gets divorced, and finally lands a contract to publish a memoir. And she finds God. I’m giving nothing away here, as those are just the bare bones of the story. And it sounds like such a banal story. What makes it so compelling is Karr’s honesty. For a good many years, she was a raging alcoholic. Alcohol becomes her obsession, and it makes for a harrowing, often uncomfortable, read. Karr holds no punches, talking about how she justified her drinking, and what led her to it. After years of therapy, she’s able to give a fairly good account of her actions and reasons, but she is also brutally honest and that’s what makes this book so fascinating. There are also a few surprises along the way (like finally realizing who David was…I finally put it together during the coffee table scene, but only because there was mention of him in one of her bios. Don’t worry, if you read the book, it’s made clear in the interview at the end). Anyways, that’s a trivial detail, and it has no bearing on the story. There are a few unexpected things that I won’t mention, because they’ll probably make your eyebrows raise higher than they’re already raised.
I read almost the entire book in one day…I would’ve finished it, but I had to get up and go to work the next day. Which makes me sound like a total wimp, but I don’t function well on minimal sleep. This is an amazing read, in a number of ways.
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For more info on Mary Karr and Lit, as well as a listing of the other tour stops, check out the TLC tour page for Lit.






















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