Gripping memoir of a girlhood in East Texas and Colorado. Born to an alcoholic but functional father and a mother who bounces between full blown alcoholism and active psychosis, the author and her older sister largely raise themselves. When their parents finally divorce, the girls opt to live with the mother, figuring she'd get into too much trouble if left unsupervised. But she and her new sleazeball husband prove too big a challenge for the girls.
The book is both captivating and terrifying. Imagine the voice of Scout Finch relating the To Kill a Mockingbird plotline with periodic appearances by Hannibal Lechter. That's The Liars' Club.
This is the first of Mary Karr's three memoirs. I'm eagerly looking forward to the second and third. ( )

It took me awhile, but I finally figured out that the liberal midwestern college that she attended and didn't finish is my liberal midwestern alma mater. ( )

Karr is a poet, and it shows in the terse strength of her prose. Her childhood was unspeakable in parts -- I couldn't read the second event of horrific sexual abuse -- and entertaining in others. Highly recommended. ( )

I don’t know what made me pick up this memoir one afternoon; I was sitting on the couch and it was right at eye level and I realized I hadn’t read a memoir in a while, and next thing I knew I was halfway through it. It pulled me right in, this story of a girl growing up in the poorest part of East Texas in a crazy family with an educated, intellectual, artistically-oriented mother and a completely blue-collar, beer-drinking, hard-working father. Every moment feels absolutely authentic. It is told with that open-eyed, taking-it-all-in-ness of childhood, when what one lives feels normal no matter how odd it may be in the retrospect of adulthood. The Liar’s Club is a small masterpiece. ( )

This wonderful, inappropriately funny book took me an absurdly long time to finish. Not sure why, because I did like the book, but I had no "need" to read as I normally do with books I enjoy. (I just started Duma Key by Stephen King today and am already on page 57, even with working!) Maybe it's because I just don't really like non-fiction. I've never been able to finish a biography. I find people's lives really interesting but I would prefer to learn about them through documentaries, not literary biographies. I've read very few memoirs. I enjoyed them, but still don't go out looking for the next memoir.

This is Mary Karr's story of her tumultuous early childhood, mainly from the years of 1961 - 63. We get to live with her through her parents turbulent marriage, divorce, and reconciliation; her grandmother's overly orderly and abusive presence during a time when she's diagnosed with cancer; her families chaotic traditions; her mother's ultimate breakdown; and the many other crazy things that could have damaged a child without Karr's internal strength.

The book begins with Karr and her older sister being taken from home by the sheriff. We know that something terrible has just happened and we know that her mother is in a psych hospital for a "nervous condition." Throughout the story we're given glimpses of her mother's slow slide into "nervousness," just as a child might see small glimpses but not be able to see the whole picture until much later. We're also told about some mystery in her mother's past that is either caused by her "nervousness" or is the the cause of it. The most beautiful and poignant moment comes near the end when Karr, as an adult, finally confronts her mother. I actually cried. Of course that's not so difficult, I cry at sappy commercials too. It's truly sad.

If you like to read about other people pain, I definitely recommend this book. Otherwise, read it anyway. It's a good book! ( )