Lit: A Memoir (P.S.)

Amazon.com Review **Product Description** *The Liars' Club* brought to vivid, indelible life Mary Karr's hardscrabble Texas childhood. *Cherry*, her account of her adolescence, "continued to set the literary standard for making the personal universal" (*Entertainment Weekly*). Now *Lit* follows the self-professed blackbelt sinner's descent into the inferno of alcoholism and madness--and to her astonishing resurrection. Karr's longing for a solid family seems secure when her marriage to a handsome, Shakespeare-quoting blueblood poet produces a son they adore. But she can't outrun her apocalyptic past. She drinks herself into the same numbness that nearly devoured her charismatic but troubled mother, reaching the brink of suicide. A hair-raising stint in "The Mental Marriott," with an oddball tribe of gurus and saviors, awakens her to the possibility of joy and leads her to an unlikely faith. Not since Saint Augustine cried, "Give me chastity, Lord-but not yet!" has a conversion story rung with such dark hilarity. *Lit* is 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, it is a truly electrifying story of how to grow up--as only Mary Karr can tell it. * * * **Photos from Mary Karr** **(Click to Enlarge)** Mary's much adored oil-worker DaddyMary's artist mother, Charlie KarrMary, at 22, meeting poet Howard NemerovMary one month before visiting the "Mental Marriott" Mary, age 17, with sister Lecia, age 19Mary and young son DevMary with family before her Leitchfield *Liars' Club* readingMary celebrating the holidays with son DevMary's son, Dev Milburn, in 2009 * * * From Bookmarks Magazine Reviewers agreed that while Karr's memoir could have succumbed to the pitfalls of the addiction-recovery memoir, it rises above the genre. Juicy, evocative, confessional, poetic, and often darkly humorous, *Lit *recounts Karr's dark past in an intimate, easy style. While critics considered *Lit* a seamless addition to her previous memoirs, some expressed surprise that it takes a religious turn. A few also commented that the memoir is tamer and less dramatic than *Liar's Club* and that it contains some abstract sections about Karr's relationships. But in the end, Karr—one of our finest memoirists—remains "unswerving in her determination to face the past and, if possible, transcend it" (*San Francisco Chronicle*). EDITORIAL REVIEW: The Liars' Club brought to vivid, indelible life Mary Karr's hardscrabble Texas childhood. Cherry, her account of her adolescence, 'continued to set the literary standard for making the personal universal' (Entertainment Weekly). Now Lit follows the self-professed blackbelt sinner's descent into the inferno of alcoholism and madness--and to her astonishing resurrection. Karr's longing for a solid family seems secure when her marriage to a handsome, Shakespeare-quoting blueblood poet produces a son they adore. But she can't outrun her apocalyptic past. She drinks herself into the same numbness that nearly devoured her charismatic but troubled mother, reaching the brink of suicide. A hair-raising stint in 'The Mental Marriott,' with an oddball tribe of gurus and saviors, awakens her to the possibility of joy and leads her to an unlikely faith. Not since Saint Augustine cried, 'Give me chastity, Lord-but not yet!' has a conversion story rung with such dark hilarity. Lit is 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, it is a truly electrifying story of how to grow up--as only Mary Karr can tell it. Literary,Autobiography,Personal Memoirs,General,Biography & Autobiography,Women,United States,Biography,Biography And Autobiography,Psychology,Self-Help,20th century,Family & Relationships,Case studies,Family Relationships,Psychopathology,Addiction,Alcoholism,Mental Illness,Substance Abuse & Addictions,Recovering alcoholics,Poets; American,Adult children of dysfunctional families Overview: The Liars' Club brought to vivid, indelible life Mary Karr's hardscrabble Texas childhood. Cherry, her account of her adolescence, "continued to set the literary standard for making the personal universal" (Entertainment Weekly). Now Lit follows the self-professed blackbelt sinner's descent into the inferno of alcoholism and madness-and to her astonishing resurrection. Karr's longing for a solid family seems secure when her marriage to a handsome, Shakespeare-quoting blueblood poet produces a son they adore. But she can't outrun her apocalyptic past. She drinks herself into the same numbness that nearly devoured her charismatic but troubled mother, reaching the brink of suicide. A hair-raising stint in "The Mental Marriott," with an oddball tribe of gurus and saviors, awakens her to the possibility of joy and leads her to an unlikely faith. Not since Saint Augustine cried, "Give me chastity, Lord-but not yet!" has a conversion story rung with such dark hilarity. Lit is 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, it is a truly electrifying story of how to grow up-as only Mary Karr can tell it. One of the New York Times Book Review's Top 10 Books of 2009 The author reveals how, shortly after giving birth to a child she adored, she drank herself into the same numbness that nearly devoured her charismatic but troubled mother, reaching the brink of suicide before a spiritual awakening led her to sobriety