The Liars' Club

A Memoir

By: Mary Karr

Narrated by: Mary Karr

“Wickedly funny and always movingly illuminating, thanks to kick-ass storytelling and a poet's ear.” –Oprah.com

The New York Times bestselling, hilarious tale of Mary Karr’s hardscrabble Texas childhood that Oprah.com calls the best memoir of a generation.

The Liars’ Club took the world by storm and raised the art of the memoir to an entirely new level, bringing about a dramatic revival of the form. Karr’s comic childhood in an east Texas oil town brings us characters as darkly hilarious as any of J. D. Salinger’s—a hard-drinking daddy, a sister who can talk down the sheriff at age twelve, and an oft-married mother whose accumulated secrets threaten to destroy them all. This unsentimental and profoundly moving account of an apocalyptic childhood is as “funny, lively, and un-put-downable” (USA Today) today as it ever was.

Critic reviews

"The essential American story ... a beauty." —Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World

"Astonishing ... one of the most dazzling and moving memoirs to come along in years." —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"This book is so good I thought about sending it out for a backup opinion...it's like finding Beethoven in Hoboken. To have a poet's precision of language and a poet's insight into people applied to one of the roughest, toughest, ugliest places in America is an astonishing event." —Molly Ivins, The Nation

"9mm humor, gothic wit, and a stunning clarity of memory within a poet's vision.... Karr's unerring scrutiny of her childhood delivers a story confoundingly real." —The Boston Sunday Globe

"Overflows with sparkling wit and humor.... Truth beats powerfully at the heart of this dazzling memoir." —San Francisco Chronicle

I felt like I was watching a movie, not listening

Excellent story. I think the author inherited her father’s ability to pull you into a story. I am reviewing both The Liars’ Club and Lit. Reading them both is a requirement. Her writing is truly captivating and so smart, a true storyteller. It draws me in and makes me feel every emotion she intended. The way she expresses her thoughts at times left me in tears and wanting more. Did she ever hear from the people in her hometown after the books were published? One last thing. Warning to all readers – After listening to Mary Carr’s writing, don’t be surprised if the next few books you read/listen to seem poorly written. Her writing is scary smart.

Honest story with great details

I liked how this story was told . Would recommend! I think that others will find at least one part that speaks to them.

I grew up one town over in Port Arthur at the exact same time.

That was a very real trip back in time. It was like the whole thing could have been written about the neighborhood I grew up in.

What a writer.

This wasn’t in my radar- but wow. I am so glad I found it. She is a heck of a writer. I don’t understand how she remembers so many details of her childhood, but she does, and we are all better for it. Don’t let the more monotone voice fool you- this is an essential memoir for all memoir lovers.

Mary Karr is the Queen of Memoir

Read this book many moons ago, and loved it. Revisited it in audio form and had a whole new experience, listening to Ms Karr herself narrate. Wow. Moving and funny and scary and profound. Humans make good stories. The end.