Lit: A Memoir (P.S.)

This book is nothing short of outstanding. I am a huge Mary Karr fan, but this just took it to another level-stalker. JK. Mary's writing is poetic without being pedantic. She somehow manages to nail an entire experience in one sentence which implores me to highlight it while repeating in my head, "brilliant!" As a writer myself, I am greatly humbled when I read her work. It's been about ten years since I've read "Cherry" and I was wondering when I picked up "Lit" if I would still love her writing as much as I had many years ago, since I find myself, after getting sober and starting a family, revisiting writers I adored in my younger years, and not having the same responses. Thankfully, Mary is still, if not more of, a brilliant writer. "Lit," is her best work yet, and it is not just a "recovery" story. It is so much more. For those of us who hated to love her mother in "The Liars Club," Mary paints a beautiful picture of reconciliation with, or more like acceptance of, her mother at the end of the book. "Lit" tells the story of a young woman with a child, who really is still a child herself, and how she finds the courage to become a woman. Magnificent!
Jolie

The third volume of Mary Karr's ongoing saga starts promisingly enough, buoyed up by her trademark wit and longing for good fun. We learn of Karr's sideways journey to being a writer, her marriage to another struggling poet, and her fierce love for her son, Dev. Halfway through, however, Mary steps into recovery for good and the book begins a slow descent to the maudlin and - gasp! - preachy. Mary doesn't come at you full-bore with her religiosity, but there is the unmistakable whiff of the self-righteousness of the saved. By the end, Mary is fully twelve-stepped, long sober and a confirmed Catholic. One cannot begrudge her an iota of the tranquility she's gained, but it's hard not to miss the wiseacre young Texan with the lacerating tongue and mordant sense of humor.

Read these out of order started with Lit then went to liars club.. funny enough to have me actually laughing just pages from stuff so deeply despairing I had to stop and collect myself.. an excellent read and should be on the shelf next to any self help book so you know when you fail at those "fix up" books your not alone..

Great story of her life. I could have moved through the middle a bit more quickly but all was poignant and interesting. I struggled through her struggles and it was appropriate.

It was intimate and heartfelt and honest, which I appreciate.

Mary Karr's memoir "The Liars Club" was a favorite of mine. She can do "funny," "sad," "poetic," and draw you in to the story like few others. I have to say that her trials and tribulations with drug and alcohol abuse were wrenching and I was disgusted that she had spent so much effort dealing with a tough subject and I didn't want to hear about it. Maybe I have just read too many books with similar themes and this one didn't stand out with enough substance to redeem it. Sorry, Mary. I think you missed the boat on this one. Forgive your mother and father and take responsibility for yourself and your life

Absolutely loved this book. She has a gift with language and story-telling. I couldn't put this book down. While I'm also in recovery, I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It's a great story of survival and healing and forgiveness.

If you combine prose and poetry, you get Mary Karr and her latest memoir--"Lit." I normally read fast, but not this one. I stopped, thought, and savored the sentences, the emotions, the ideas, the lessons. One of the reasons many of us read is to make more sense of life. "Lit" helps us do that. Thank you, Mary Karr!

I absolutely loved this book. It is both literary and warm, personal without being maudlin. It covers some of the same subjects as Liars Club, but it did not feel repetitive, instead it fleshed out the details from that period and tied them into her present day life.

I loved everything about it until she finds god. I wasn't expecting it and as a non believer, I just checked out when the book went in that direction. Otherwise, it is a beautiful, touching book that I strongly recommend to readers who enjoy memoirs.

I think the other reviews here are excellent. This book does not disappoint. Recommended!

I wanted to add that one does not necessarily have to have read "The Liar's Club" or "Cherry" to get something out of this book. I was not familiar with these works prior to this book and enjoyed it immensely.

For those who complained the book was "too much" about her struggle with alcoholism, I read the alcoholism sections as more about the ways we all sometimes become self-centered about "our needs" and "our pain," and by so doing build seemingly insurmountable walls between ourselves and those who love and wish to support us. Although very real in her life, alcoholism could serve as a metaphor for the non-alcoholic reader.

Karr's third book of memoirs was extra long, just as her second one seemed extra short. Still worth the read. She is inclined to be very graphic and likes to splash her readers with profanity. Sometimes it fits and other times it seems to appear for shock value. Her life is so untypical compared to mine it feels cartoonish, but then again it may be the norm and mine more bland. Who really knows? You figure it out.

Mary Karr is just as snappy and insightful in "Lit" as she was in her other memoirs, despite dealing with alcoholism and finding God. I can't wait until she gets older so she'll have more of her life to write about!

Mary Karr remains the quintessential wordsmith in her latest memoir about motherhood, recovery and spiritual redemption. This hard living, tough talking Texan can still tell a story like no one else. To be sprinkled by the literary fairy dust of Ms. Karr is to be transformed. Best book I have ever read since "The Liars' Club". there should be a new name for the genre that includes her books!

this lady had everything! and she threw it away with both hands..always thinking about herself, and blaming everything on her parents, even though she had escaped her up bringing, and was self aware, she could not escape the disease of alcoholism.

I loved this book. I believe this should be proposed to many of the rehabilitation centers for alcoholism. The reading is enjoyable and interesting but also makes anyone in her situation reflect on alcoholism. I have referred this to many of my friends. Great book.

Nothing too new here, same Mary Karr life story epic w/o the colorful, engaging characters of her previous novels. Occasionally witty and funny, with some bursts of beautiful prose that I adore about this offer. The book read rather disjointedly and clearly belied the stuggle it took to right it. I admire her achievement over alcohol addiction but she just wasn't likeable in this book. Enough about your life, Mary, let's see if you can produce a fiction novel. Her talent is clearly there, hoping she can produce something new - or at least not another biography. It's either all she can produce or she's a true narcissist. I will continue to root for her, she has what it takes - she just needs to stop being that boring person at the bar who talks ad nauseum about themselves. Booooring.

Well, as advertised, this is a thorough review of why her husband ended up detesting her and her kid really has no reason to like her either. Alcoholism is hell, and Ms. Karr's contributions to its narrative don't add much but a rather astonishing lack of acceptance of responsibility or feelings of regret.

Hmmm...I plodded my way through this one hoping that I would like it in the end. But in the end it was just ok. I really looked forward to reading it when I got it for my mom for Christmas because I had loved Cherry & The Liars Club so much.

This one was just too much wallowing in self-pity and drunkenness. At many points I would say "OK FINE YOU WERE AN ALCOHOLIC, Did ANYTHING interesting happen besides that?" But it didn't.

I didn't even get halfway through this book before I decided I couldn't read anymore. I just can't relate to Karr in any way. I felt like she was more concerned with using metaphors and fancy words than actually telling a story. It was distracting, and left me bored and frustrated. I love memoirs but this one was extremely disappointing. I wish I never spent the $ on it.

Constant metaphors, and her blatant overuse of adjectives makes this book so boring! It is supposed to be about being drunk, but she adds so much unnecessary padding that is this so boring, boring, boring!