Lit

By Mary Karr

Book Overview

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

New York Times Book Review - The New Yorker - Entertainment Weekly - Time - Washington Post - San Francisco Chronicle - Chicago Tribune - Christian Science Monitor - Slate - St. Louise Post-Dispatch - Cleveland Plain Dealer - Seattle Times - NBCC Award Finalist

Mary Karr's unforgettable sequel to her beloved and bestselling memoirs The Liars' Club and Cherry "lassos you, hogties your emotions and won't let you go" (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times).

Lit is a riveting story of addiction and recovery about getting drunk and getting sober; becoming a mother by letting go of a mother; learning to write by learning to live. Written with Karr's relentless honesty, unflinching self-scrutiny, and irreverent, lacerating humor, this literary memoir is a truly electrifying story of how to grow up--as only Mary Karr can tell it.

The Boston Globe calls Lit a book that "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." The New York Times Book Review calls it "a master class on the art of the memoir" and Susan Cheever states, simply, that Lit is "the best book about being a woman in America I have read in years."

A landmark memoir about motherhood, faith, and the writer's life, Lit explores:

Journey to Sobriety: From drunken nights on a back porch to the church basement meeting that changes everything, Karr chronicles her escape from alcoholism with unflinching candor.Memoir about Motherhood: The story of becoming a mother by letting go of a mother--a powerful look at breaking the cycle of family dysfunction and finding a new way to love.A Writer's Life: A poet's transformation, this is a master class on how learning to live--and get sober--is essential to learning how to write.Finding Faith: The raw, unexpected, and often hilarious story of a reluctant convert finding her way from the Ivy League to a Catholic church, discovering a spiritual life she never thought possible.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060596996
• ISBN13: 9780060596996
• Release Date: June 2010
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A reader's treat

A wonderful and moving story of darkness, addiction, resiliency, love, and forgiveness. A perfect counterpoint to "The Liar's Club" which I found impossibly dark and depressing. Best of all was hearing Mary Karr read and discuss "Lit" on her book tour stop in Denver, thus allowing me to finish the book with a visual of this warm and witty lady wrestling her demons to the ground and rising up again through faith, friends, and family. The book is beautifully written, many of the chapters complete in their own right as perfectly crafted essays. Ms. Karr has mastered her memoir craft, polishing each story within her story to a well-cut gem.

Could not put this book down...

At first, the book, LIT: A Memoir by Mary Karr... started slower than her previous books. I wasn't sure I was going to keep reading, after just the first few pages - and then, it took off and I could not put the book down. There is something about Karr's style that is boldly honest, and in your face detailed with her feelings and actions. I was shocked by the book and moved by the book, and finally inspired by her spiritual transformation. I especially loved that she was so against anything to do with God as she began her recovery and then slowly, oh so slowly, a tiny crack would occur in her faith barrier. This is an amazing book. Buy it, read it, and love it! Very insightful into struggles of alchoholics.

An Extra-Ordinary Book

LIT is a book you will not forget. The honesty of prose and emotions are what all writers crave. I had read THE LIARS CLUB and CHERRY and both were remarkable in sensing and living all the senses. LIT goes further. LIT tears apart the lies,deceit and self-destructive behaviors and allows us to witness healing. Mary Karr has that "IT" which so many artists want but quite often fail to achieve. Her talent is God given and she nourishes her talent. Each chapter is preceded by quotes from other writers and these pieces lead effortlessly into the next chapter. There isn't anything forced in this book. Her religious conversion is not only understandable -it is necessary for her. Mary Karr, climbed out of the many cesspools of her life and found not only redemption in herself, but in the God of her understanding. She does not force this upon the reader: the faith is hers and she willingly shares it with the reader. But the reader is allowed to take or leave the parts they want or do not want. Her faith is necessary for this book to be so honest. The author "let go" and in doing so found Mary Karr, her family, especially her son and so many others. LIT is a book that should be read by anyone who wants and needs to write. LIT owns you. I eagerly look forward to her next adventure.

The Best Memoir I've Read Since "The Liar's Club"

I have to admit that Ms. Karr's "The Liars' Club: A Memoir" is one of my favorite books of all time. Memoirs are one of my favorite genres and being able to see behind the scenes in the life of a poet/writer is intriguing. I enjoyed reading "Cherry" and was thrilled when I saw that Ms. Karr had "Lit" coming out, taking up where "Cherry" left off. What I enjoyed most about this book was her lyrical, moving language and her fierce honesty. This couldn't have been an easy book to write because she holds nothing back and is brutally candid about her alcoholism and how it almost destroyed her, but more importantly, how she overcame her inner demons to find sobriety and success. She has several stories about her experiences in AA that had me either rolling with laughter or crying. The story about the woman, the frozen turkey and the vodka was side-splitting funny. I won't share the details because you need to buy the book and read it for yourself. It's overflowing with wit, humor, love, angst and wisdom. Each chapter begins with a quote, most from poems, (and a few from some literary masterpieces) and I've discovered some amazing new poets from them. I've highlighted and dog-eared pages to refer back to in nearly every chapter. I like that she included a 'Contents' page and titled each of the 45 short chapters. The book is divided into four major sections: I. Escape From The Tropic of Squalor II. Flashdance III. Self Help IV. Being Who You Are Is Not A Disorder Ultimately, this is a dazzling tale of redemption, liberation, grace and survival. By all accounts, Mary Karr should not have survived her hardscrabble life, but thank God she did because we are all richer for her life and her stories. I also highly recommend her poetry, "Viper Rum (Poets, Penguin)", Sinners Welcome: Poems", "Abacus", and "The Devil's Tour". Thank you, Ms. Karr, from the bottom of my bookaholic, poet-heart, for having the guts to share your incredible, extraordinary journey with us.

What Happened After "The Liar's Club" and "Cherry"

Mary Karr is an awesome writer and "Lit" just became one of my top 50 books of all time. The first 100+ pages are harrowing as Ms. Karr describes her long self-destructive slide into alcoholism (just like her parents). These pages are hard to take, just like watching a car wreck in slow motion. However her brutal honesty and her gallows humor about her road to redemption and sobriety save this memoir from being another AA recovery tale. She writes of her self-centered, off-center mother and a childhood from hell with the ring of truth. The heart of the memoir is family : grieving for her father (who, she perceived to win "the better parent prize" because he didn't stand over her with a butcher knife), figuring out her relationship with her now sober but still off the wall mother, and exploring the past with her big sister. This book is not for everyone because Ms. Karr's early life was messy and uncomfortable. But she writes like she is having a conversation with the reader and she is a master story-teller.