Title: The Liars’ Club
Publication Year: 1995
Plot: When it was published in 1995, Mary Karr’s The Liars Club took the world by storm and raised the art of the memoir to an entirely new level, as well as 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 twelve, and an oft-married mother whose accumulated secrets threaten to destroy them all. Now with a new introduction that discusses her memoir’s impact on her family, this unsentimental and profoundly moving account of an apocalyptic childhood is as “funny, lively, and un-put-downable”
The first thing the readers noted is how Karr uses humor as a coping mechanism. It’s a tool to deal with ugliness. They said they use it in a similar way. There’s not a lot of natural humor in their situations, so they make their own as a way to cope and deal with their situations. One reader thought the children needed some more discipline growing up, and felt for Karr’s grandmother as she tried to instill some discipline in them. But then she got sick and started to lose her independence. She became more and more bitter.
Some readers related to the situation of Karr’s mother’s vices, and how one can justify ill behavior because the kids won’t notice. One reader dealt with substance abuse and kept telling herself that the kids were too young to notice. She thought she was too crafty and sneaky, and that she could hide things. But she realized that kids pick up on things. They’re always paying attention, the way Karr and her siblings did.
Two readers wanted to step into the book and comfort Karr’s mother–she could have used a mother figure! They wanted to help her. They were also envious of the the relationship Karr shared with her father. Since Karr was excluded from Lisa and her mother’s relationship, it was nice that she had the Liars’ Club to go to with her dad.
Everyone was impressed with the way she handled abuse. She didn’t allow the abuse to define her. It was bold and empowering the way she called out her abuser in the book, speaking to him directly! She’s not feeling sorry for herself. And lastly, the group liked how Karr took the perspective of her young self. There is an immediacy and intimacy in her writing that may not have been there had she written it from a different perspective. The humor and childhood perspective make it so she isn’t passing judgment on the colorful characters in her memoir. She’s observant and and kind, and it makes for a fantastic memoir.
Feel free to leave comments below. We’d love to hear what you think.
Until next time,
E.
If you’d like to purchase The Liars’ Club, you may do so here:
