★ 07/06/2015 Karr (The Liars’ Club), the author of three lauded memoirs, teaches a selective memoir writing graduate class at Syracuse University, and offers her wisdom in this instructive guide to the genre. Not only does Karr write exquisitely herself (and without pretense, often with raw authenticity—“One can’t mount a stripper pole wearing a metal diving suit”), she clearly adores memoirs; the appendix of nearly 200 suggested (“required”) memoirs is a delightful and useful bonus. The text is a must-read for memoirists, but will also appeal to memoir lovers and all who are curious about how books evolve. For writers in particular, Karr covers such essential topics as the quest for truth (probing its elusive nature), finding one’s own “true” voice or “you-ness,” (“Most memoirs fail because of voice,” she asserts), the crucial process of revision, evoking the five senses, and how to deal with family and others who play major parts in the memoir (she sends her polished manuscripts out in advance for inspection and lets friends pick their own pseudonyms). As if auditing her class, readers learn from her commentary on the memoirs of Vladimir Nabokov, Michael Herr, Frank McCourt, Hilary Mantel, and others. Karr lends her characteristic trueness and “you-ness” to the subject of writing memoirs, wisely (and quite often humorously) guiding readers in their understanding and experience of the art. (Sept.)
Karr is a national treasure—that rare genius who’s also a brilliant teacher. This joyful celebration of memoir packs transcendent insights with trademark hilarity. Anyone yearning to write will be inspired, and anyone passionate to live an examined life will fall in love with language and literature all over again. ” — George Saunders
“Could have been called ‘The Art of Living.’” — San Francisco Chronicle
“Mary Karr has written another astonishingly perceptive, wildly entertaining, and profoundly honest book-funny, fascinating, necessary. The Art of Memoir will be the definitive book on reading and writing memoir for years to come.” — Cheryl Strayed
“Should be required reading for anyone attempting to write a memoir, but anyone who loves literature will enjoy it too.” — Wall Street Journal
“Terrific and deliciously readable guide.” — Entertainment Weekly , “Must List”
“Full of Karr’s usual wit, compassion and, perhaps most reassuringly, self-doubt. Her fans should be delighted—and they can’t go wrong reading the books she discusses, including her own.” — Washington Post
“From a contemporary luminary of the form, Mary Karr’s The Art of Memoir examines our enduring drive to make memory speak and to ‘wring some truth from this godawful mess of a single life.’” — Vogue
“The Art of Memoir is passionate and irreverent-and reminds us why we love a good memoir.” — Elle
“Mary Karr strikes a vein in The Art of Memoir. ” — Vanity Fair
“Karr is such fun to read-who else would combine the name Nabokov and the phrase “out the wazoo” on her very first page?” — New Yorker
“Engaging.” — Chicago Tribune
“A veritable blueprint for the genre…. Lovers of the form and aspiring scribblers alike will relish this comprehensive appreciation of and guide to ‘writing the real self.’” — O: The Oprah Magazine
“With a trio of notable memoirs (”The Liars’ Club,” “Cherry,” and “Lit”), Mary Karr is exquisitely qualified to write this book, a kind of compendium of advice, warning, and deep insight into what makes a personal history stick in a reader’s mind.” — Boston Globe
“Karr really is an artist. The Art of Memoir attests to how hard she works at getting her words just right and how deeply she understands the way great writing works.” — Slate
“Whip-smart.” — Philadelphia Inquirer
“As useful for those of us who want to be better friends and lovers as it is for those of us who want to pen our life story.” — More
“A master class on memoir, from a memoirist who pulls no punches.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Lots of practical advice, a great reading list, examples you can bite into.” — Houston Chronicle
“Karr’s own voice is consistent and authentic, as vivid, down-home, smart, profane and self-deprecating as it is in her own memoirs.” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“A celebration of the creative life.” — Austin American-Statesman
“Enlightening….Fresh and heartfelt….Instructs and inspires through example and a love for the art of memoir.” — Library Journal , starred review
“Karr write[s] exquisitely…and without pretense, often with raw authenticity….a must-read.” — Publishers Weekly , starred review
“Snappy and witty, humorous just when it needs to be, yet plainspoken in the best way.” — Shelf Awareness
“Karr’s sassy Texas wit and her down-to-earth observations about both the memoir form and how to approach it combine to make for lively and inspiring reading. A generous and singularly insightful examination of memoir.” — Kirkus
Karr is such fun to read-who else would combine the name Nabokov and the phrase “out the wazoo” on her very first page?
Karr is a national treasure—that rare genius who’s also a brilliant teacher. This joyful celebration of memoir packs transcendent insights with trademark hilarity. Anyone yearning to write will be inspired, and anyone passionate to live an examined life will fall in love with language and literature all over again.
From a contemporary luminary of the form, Mary Karr’s The Art of Memoir examines our enduring drive to make memory speak and to ‘wring some truth from this godawful mess of a single life.’
Full of Karr’s usual wit, compassion and, perhaps most reassuringly, self-doubt. Her fans should be delighted—and they can’t go wrong reading the books she discusses, including her own.
The Art of Memoir is passionate and irreverent-and reminds us why we love a good memoir.
Could have been called ‘The Art of Living.’
Terrific and deliciously readable guide.
Mary Karr strikes a vein in The Art of Memoir.
Should be required reading for anyone attempting to write a memoir, but anyone who loves literature will enjoy it too.
Mary Karr has written another astonishingly perceptive, wildly entertaining, and profoundly honest book-funny, fascinating, necessary. The Art of Memoir will be the definitive book on reading and writing memoir for years to come.
Could have been called ‘The Art of Living.’
Full of Karr’s usual wit, compassion and, perhaps most reassuringly, self-doubt. Her fans should be delighted—and they can’t go wrong reading the books she discusses, including her own.
Should be required reading for anyone attempting to write a memoir, but anyone who loves literature will enjoy it too.
Karr is such fun to read-who else would combine the name Nabokov and the phrase “out the wazoo” on her very first page?
As useful for those of us who want to be better friends and lovers as it is for those of us who want to pen our life story.
Karr’s own voice is consistent and authentic, as vivid, down-home, smart, profane and self-deprecating as it is in her own memoirs.
A veritable blueprint for the genre…. Lovers of the form and aspiring scribblers alike will relish this comprehensive appreciation of and guide to ‘writing the real self.’
Lots of practical advice, a great reading list, examples you can bite into.
A master class on memoir, from a memoirist who pulls no punches.
Engaging.
Karr really is an artist. The Art of Memoir attests to how hard she works at getting her words just right and how deeply she understands the way great writing works.
Whip-smart.
A celebration of the creative life.
Austin American-Statesman
Snappy and witty, humorous just when it needs to be, yet plainspoken in the best way.
With a trio of notable memoirs (”The Liars’ Club,” “Cherry,” and “Lit”), Mary Karr is exquisitely qualified to write this book, a kind of compendium of advice, warning, and deep insight into what makes a personal history stick in a reader’s mind.
Engaging.
As useful for those of us who want to be better friends and lovers as it is for those of us who want to pen our life story.
Karr really is an artist. The Art of Memoir attests to how hard she works at getting her words just right and how deeply she understands the way great writing works.
I was stunned by....The Liar’s Club . Not just by its ferocity, its beauty, and by her delightful grasp of the vernacular, but by its totalityshe is a woman who remembers everything about her early years....Mary Karr presents her childhood in an almost unbroken panorama.
One of the best memoirists of her generation. . . . A radiant, rueful, rip-roaring book.
Entertainment Weekly on Lit
Karr could tell you what’s on her grocery list, and its humor would make you bust a gut, its unexpected insights would make you think and her pitch-perfect command of our American vernacular might even take your breath away.
More than a recovery memoir. Karr writes unflinchingly about marriage, class, guilt, and the struggle to make peace with her raw, melodramatic, yet wildly interesting past.
Affecting…. Karr’s lurch toward faith is narrated with her familiar irreverence and humor, but this tone does not preclude a more heartfelt expression of the value of faith.
Believers and nonbelievers have long been drawn to confessions, like Saint Augustine’s, that read like dispatches from the knock-down drag-out encounter between God and the stubborn sinner. Lit . . . is one of those.
New York Review of Books on Lit
In a gravelly, ground-glass-under-your-heel voice that can take you from laughter to awe in a few sentences, Karr has written the best book about being a woman in America I have read in years.
New York Times Book Review on Lit
Irresistible. . . . [Written] with trademark wit, precision, and unfailing courage.
O: the Oprah Magazine on Lit
Reminds us not only how compelling personal stories can be, but how, in the hands of a master, they can transmute into the highest art.
Howlingly funny…. In some ways, Lit is her most intimate book…. The overall impression is of a sorrowful narrative poem as humble and funny as it is beautiful.
Searing. . . . [Karr] has written a book that lassos you, hogties your emotions and won’t let you go.
A master class on the art of the memoir.
New York Times Book Review
Irresistible. . . . [Written] with trademark wit, precision, and unfailing courage.
the Oprah Magazine on Lit O
I was stunned by....The Liar’s Club . Not just by its ferocity, its beauty, and by her delightful grasp of the vernacular, but by its totalityshe is a woman who remembers everything about her early years....Mary Karr presents her childhood in an almost unbroken panorama.
Karr could tell you what’s on her grocery list, and its humor would make you bust a gut, its unexpected insights would make you think and her pitch-perfect command of our American vernacular might even take your breath away.
More than a recovery memoir. Karr writes unflinchingly about marriage, class, guilt, and the struggle to make peace with her raw, melodramatic, yet wildly interesting past.
Affecting…. Karr’s lurch toward faith is narrated with her familiar irreverence and humor, but this tone does not preclude a more heartfelt expression of the value of faith.
Believers and nonbelievers have long been drawn to confessions, like Saint Augustine’s, that read like dispatches from the knock-down drag-out encounter between God and the stubborn sinner. Lit . . . is one of those.
Irresistible. . . . [Written] with trademark wit, precision, and unfailing courage.
Howlingly funny…. In some ways, Lit is her most intimate book…. The overall impression is of a sorrowful narrative poem as humble and funny as it is beautiful.
Searing. . . . [Karr] has written a book that lassos you, hogties your emotions and won’t let you go.
Irresistible. . . . [Written] with trademark wit, precision, and unfailing courage.
Irresistible. . . . [Written] with trademark wit, precision, and unfailing courage.
★ 07/01/2015 Drawing on her knowledge as a memoirist and writing instructor, Karr (The Liars' Club; Lit) presents an enlightening review of the memoir as a medium for communicating "carnal," lived experiences. Fresh and heartfelt, Karr's analysis of the form illustrates its variety and depth, the significance of voice, and the perception of "truth." Examining her own work, and that of some of the most influential memoirists to date, Karr delivers a thorough look at the writing process and the challenges inherent in telling one's story and accepting the subjective nature of memory. Drawing on the work of writers as varied as Harry Crews, Vladimir Nabokov, and Hilary Mantel, the author delves into the range of narrative styles found in memoir, while inspiring the next generation of writers. VERDICT As a writing guide, this book is a success. Never is Karr dull or didactic (not a single lesson or method is touted as "the one"); rather, the author instructs and inspires through example and a love for the art of memoir. The detailed list of suggested readings also makes for an excellent challenge for readers and writers alike. [See Prepub Alert, 3/16/15.]—Gricel Dominguez, Florida International Univ. Lib.
Mary Karr reads THE ART OF MEMOIR, her “unified field theory” of the autobiographical impulse, with the forthright delivery of the seasoned professor that she is. Karr, who teaches at Syracuse University, has written three memoirs, including the bestselling LIARS’ CLUB and CHERRY, and is a passionate consumer of the genre. As a result, her book is an examination of some of the greatest twentieth-century memoirs, a mini-course on how to write one, and a prod to each reader—writer or not—to “reflect on their divided self and their past.” Karr’s considered and straightforward delivery sometimes sounds a bit too careful, but that doesn’t damage this thoroughly listenable and interesting audiobook. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
SEPTEMBER 2015 - AudioFile
2015-05-06 A bestselling nonfiction writer offers spirited commentary about memoir, the literary form that has become synonymous with her name. Personal narrative has exploded in popularity over the last 20 years. Yet, as Karr (Lit: A Memoir, 2009, etc.) points out, memoir still struggles to attain literary respectability. "There is a lingering snobbery in the literary world," she writes, "that wants to disqualify what is broadly called nonfiction from the category of ‘literature.' " In this book, Karr offers both an apology for and a sharp-eyed exploration of this form born from her years as a practitioner as well as a distinguished English professor at Syracuse University. She begins by considering classroom "experiments" she has conducted to show the slipperiness of memory and arguing the need to give latitude to writers tackling memoir. Writing with the intent to record what rings true rather than exact is one thing; writing with the intent to lie is another. Voice is another critical aspect of any memoir that manages to endure through time. By examining works by writers as diverse as Frank McCourt and Vladimir Nabokov, Karr demonstrates that it is in fact the very thing by which a great memoir "lives or dies." Rather than focus on the narrative truism of "show-don't-tell," Karr thoughtfully elaborates on what she calls "carnality"—the ability to transform memory into a multisensory experience—for the reader. When wed to a desire to move beyond the traps of ego and render personal "psychic struggle" honestly and without fear, carnality can lead to writing that not only "wring[s] some truth from the godawful mess of a single life," but also connects deeply with readers. Karr's sassy Texas wit and her down-to-earth observations about both the memoir form and how to approach it combine to make for lively and inspiring reading. A generous and singularly insightful examination of memoir.