Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, but didn't enrapt me...
Review: ...like the memoir Blackbird and Still Waters by Jennifer Lauck. Those books were so well written and much more believeable in the way it is written from a child's perspective. I found it hard to believe that a 7 year old really thought in these complex terms about her life (first half of the book). Also, some of her comments on present day were unnecessary and offensive. An ok read, but I'm glad I only paid a dollar for this book at the local $ store!
Rating: 
Summary: A feisty, resilient little girl
Review: *The Liar's Club* is the first of two autobiographies by poet and professor, Mary Karr, covering the period between her earliest childhood memories to early adolescence. It's a beautifully written book, though Karr's youth is not necessarily idyllic. Mary is a feisty little scrapper of a girl. She's got a sassy mouth and a huge store of love for her daddy. Karr's writing is both poetic and vivid. The often unpleasant events of her childhood are full of imagery and feeling-the people and places of her youth become real to the reader, and young Mary's resilience is admirable. I'm looking forward to reading her next book, *Cherry* to see how Karr's teenage years unfold.
Rating:
Summary: Don't understand the hype
Review: I picked up this book because of several recommendations and the popular good press. But, after 40 pages, I struggled to see what was so good about it. First of all, to describe this book or Ms. Karr as hilariously funny???? Not sure where anyone came up with that - was the rape scene funny or her mother's insanity? Not only was the book depressing, I didn't feel it was well written - with Ms. Karr going off at times about absolutely nothing. Even after finishing this book and rereading some of the reviews on Amazon, I'm still struggling with the five star ratings this book received.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to read, harder not to
Review: Funny, sharp, pitiless, volatile - and more. There aren't enough words to describe the content of Mary Karr's memoir of her upbringing in a seething, sweaty, swampy East Texas refinery town. But not many words are needed, especially when it comes to Karr's lyrical and poetic writing style: perfect. At the core of her tale is her family, often funny, occasionally violent, but always defiantly loving. Karr's mother is artistic, borderline psychotic, and determinedly free-spirited. Her father is a drunk, a liar, amazingly tolerant of his wife's nuttiness, and in spite of his many faults, devoted to holding his family together. The Liar's Club is a story of survival.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read
Review: After growing up in Southeast Texas I feel as if Mary Karr could have been a neighbor of mine. I love the details that she has retained about her surroundings and the events of her youth. The book is very well written. I couldn't put it down until I was finished.
Rating:
Summary: Wordmeister Supreme/Dark Tome/Brutal
Review: (I picked up this book due to its being on Stephen King's On Writing appendices' recommended booklist.) The author is consistently true to the writer's maxim of "show me, don't tell me." Her excerpts of other works to summarize the perspective and subject are on target.
Rating:
Summary: The Liar's Club
Review: This is one of few books that I've re-read for fun (as opposed to re-reading classics every year when I teach them to my students). The subject matter and language can be a bit rough, but the descriptive writing, voice and plot line are incredible - an example of truth being more interesting than fiction. I especially enjoyed it b/c the author grew up in Texas as I did, but I don't think you have to be a Southerner to enjoy this book (although you might "get it" a little more). The real reason I love this book is b/c it is very easy reading, not flowery, abstract, pretentious "literature", but when you finish it, you will feel like you read something with depth that will stay with you for a long time.
Rating:
Summary: All right............
Review: Now before you all click the "No" button below this review, read the whole thing first. For starters, I was extremely put off by the subject matter in The Liars Club. I did not find anything funny about this book at all, mostly I just felt like it was a written "Real World." And also, this book dragged out way too long. Maybe Ms. Karr is trying to tell us of her recovery from child molestation. I really liked the story until that part. (And this event happened on page 67) And the rest of the book only had everything get worse and worse. And also, I could not believe how nothing could happen at all. Now, don't get me wrong. I was originally attracted to this book by the cover and the title. But after reading this book I found myself put off by how much hype this book has earned (espically from Time magazine). Now, if you have read this far in this review, you can either hit the "No" button at the bottom of this review or you could think I'm just one of those readers of the MTV generation who thought he could rely on action to keep him reading. Well, if you think either of these things, either click that button and sign off, or you could click on my icon and read some other of my reviews and see that some books just aren't for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful read
Review: The Liar's Club is an emotive story with relatable and powerful characters, which makes the book so brilliant. From the Oil Refinery Town of Leitchfield, Texas to the mountains of Colorado Mary Karr humorously describes her tumultuous and chaotic childhood. The book emphasizes the destructive impact that alcohol can have on people. While reading the book you begin to compare and contrast the Karr family with your own and by doing so the reader will realize the importance of family unity. Mary Karr is able to describe her childhood with such accuracy that when you have finished the book it seems that you experienced her upbringing. Even though the author endured a frenzied past, The Liar's Club contains an even amount of humor and sadness. The Liar's Club is a great read and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys wit and dark humor.
Rating: 
Summary: A humorous view into the abyss
Review: The Liar's Club: A Memoir by Mary Karr is about growing up in an industrial wasteland in east Texas and coming from an extremely dysfunctional family. Both her mother and father have a bit of a drinking problem and take turns running out and abandoning each other. It took a while for me to get into it, but as I read on I became drawn into her stream of conscience-like way of writing, as when she is describing one memory or moment and she is then suddenly reminded of something else that happened. This fractured style gives you a vivid account of what her fractured childhood was like. The first 60 or so pages are spent setting a scene which started to lose me, but after she laid down the ground work the story started to pick up pace, and her digressions were worked seamlessly into a story and added to the fullness of her character. One scene that stands out in particular is when her mother sets fire to all of their belongings, and then walks into the room where her sister and her are hiding and calls the doctor to tell him that she has just murdered her children. This question is cleared up several chapters and years later when the mother recounted that she saw blood and believed that she had in fact killed them. I found this to be very poignant and made me feel how truly damaged and sad this woman's childhood was. I feel that this relentless hardship was made bearable for the author and for me by her sense of humor.
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