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Mary Karr

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Mary Karr


Born
in Groves, Texas, The United States
January 16, 1955

Genre
Poetry, Biographies & Memoirs


Mary Karr is an American poet, essayist and memoirist. She rose to fame in 1995 with the publication of her bestselling memoir The Liars' Club. She is the Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracuse University.

Karr was born January 16, 1955, in Groves, a small town in East Texas located in the Port Arthur region, known for its oil refineries and chemical plants, to J. P. and Charlie Marie (Moore) Karr. In her memoirs, Karr calls the town "Leechfield." Karr's father worked in an oil refinery while her mother was an amateur artist and business owner.

The Liars' Club, published in 1995, was a New York Times bestseller for over a year, and was named one of the year's best books. It delves vividly and often humorously into her deeply trouble ...more

Combine Editions

Average rating: 3.94 · 122,794 ratings · 8,915 reviews · 27 distinct works • Similar authors
The Liars' Club
3.94 avg rating — 69,840 ratings — published 1995 — 80 editions
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Lit
3.94 avg rating — 27,755 ratings — published 2009 — 3 editions
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Cherry
3.80 avg rating — 10,367 ratings — published 2000 — 43 editions
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The Art of Memoir
4.14 avg rating — 7,890 ratings — published 2015 — 13 editions
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Sinners Welcome
4.04 avg rating — 1,119 ratings — published 2006 — 11 editions
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Now Go Out There
3.65 avg rating — 677 ratings — published 2016 — 7 editions
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Tropic of Squalor
3.67 avg rating — 467 ratings — published 2018 — 9 editions
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Viper Rum
3.96 avg rating — 410 ratings — published 1998 — 14 editions
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The Devil's Tour
3.97 avg rating — 270 ratings — published 1993 — 4 editions
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Abacus
3.83 avg rating — 54 ratings — published 1987 — 4 editions
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More books by Mary Karr…

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Quotes by Mary Karr  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“A dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it.”
― Mary Karr, The Liars' Club
tags: family, humor
430 likes
Like

“If you live in the dark a long time and the sun comes out, you do not cross into it whistling. There's an initial uprush of relief at first, then-for me, anyway- a profound dislocation. My old assumptions about how the world works are buried, yet my new ones aren't yet operational.There's been a death of sorts, but without a few days in hell, no resurrection is possible.”
― Mary Karr, Lit
tags: depression, rebirth, resurrection
135 likes
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“Sure the world breeds monsters, but kindness grows just as wild...”
― Mary Karr, The Liars' Club
tags: club, karr, liars, mary
134 likes
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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Readers and Reading: My TBR Pile/List 46 142 Dec 03, 2009 07:41AM  
The Seasonal Read...: This topic has been closed to new comments. 30.5 (PJ Reads' Task - As Suggested By Tanja - Six Degrees of Separation) 348 419 May 26, 2010 07:44AM  
Challenge: 50 Books: Katy's 50 books of 2010 10 31 Jan 04, 2011 11:11AM  
Reading with Style: This topic has been closed to new comments. SP11 20.2 Rhymes 35 67 Apr 17, 2011 06:27PM  
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The Seasonal Read...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Spring Challenge 2012: Completed Tasks -DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC 2302 768 May 31, 2012 09:02PM  
The Seasonal Read...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Summer Challenge 2012: Completed Tasks - DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC 2661 917 Aug 31, 2012 09:02PM  
South Shore Readers: Ideas for 2012 Book Club Choices 69 262 Oct 29, 2012 09:24AM  


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