Rating: 
Summary: give it a chance
Review: As a young woman I could relate to the many stories that Mary Karr bought to mind. The pressures of being a young girl and to be accepted. I noticed the reviews for this book were not the best, but I really think any young girl should give this a chance. This book is a good example of identifying ones self.the only part I was not real crazy about was that it had a whole section that concentrated on her drug life which wasnt easy for me to identify with. I really believe someone in their teens or middle twenties should consider this book
Rating: 
Summary: you're there...
Review: I pulled this book off the shelf of one of those "take one / leave one" paperback exchanges at the library...sinfully not leaving another book behind, which is a bad habit in and of itself. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get into it, the writing style is a little hard to meld with in the beginning. Mary Karr turns the tables on the reader and instead of using the pronoun "I" or even referring to herself in third person, she moves the main character, herself, around the playing field of her true story with the word "you." You fall in love with John Cleary in the last golden days before highschool, You struggle to find your drunken mother on the nights when she's just disappeared without a word, and You are the one who has the psychedelic acid trip to end all acid trips that makes you wonder how You survived at all.
Rating: 
Summary: A Terrible Disappointment - Pure Self-Absorbed Bore
Review: I loved "The Liar's Club", Mary Karr's memoir of her early years. The stories she told were woven together beautifully and had you laughing and crying, sometimes simultaneously. I was delighted to find "Cherry". My delight was stopped short on about page ten and never returned.
Karr rambles on and on, relating boring, insipid, drug infused, meanlingess anecdotes, with no beginning, middle or end.
It was so awful, I left my copy on a plane.
Rating: 
Summary: A nice novel about a girl growing up.
Review: Mary Karr is a good craftsperson but her books are more of the same old-same old. We have about one-billion books about girls growing up. The story needs some meat and adventure. I'd suggest Irish American Hero by Dan Sheehan. He is a fellow writer from Syracuse and his book is much more interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Warning: This book is nothing like the Liar's Club
Review: I couldn't wait to read this book after tearing through Liar's Club in less than a day. What a disappointment this book was! This book almost seemed a little too far-fetched. I often found it too unbelievable, especially the drug use and her almost too vivid memories while high. Could she really remember what everyone was wearing and which way the floor was was swaying when she was high 30 some years ago? I doubt it. The glib writing style is the same as the first book, but the touching memories aren't!
Rating:
Summary: who cares??
Review: I cannot find enough words to properly express my disgust at the terrible quality of this book. Mary Karr should not be so quick to publicly air her horror show of a life. An alcoholic set of parents, a mother who slept around, an absentee father, a life ruled by drugs and alcohol and a need for sex with people who have no interest in her...tell this to a therapist not to a yawning public. The author needs serious serious help and another outlet for her demensia...
Rating:
Summary: Cherry flops
Review: One of the disturbing trends in today's world is the willingness of people to bare their souls to the public. Ms. Karr apparently feels obligated to add her sad-sap story to this annoying public discourse. While Liar's Club was acceptable in that childhood bears airing-out every once in awhile, Cherry is nothing more than a cheap attempt to score a couple of bucks.
Many if not all American adults at one time in their lives go through a period of indiscretion, often sexually and with drugs and alcohol. We really don't need page after page of Mary Karr's sexual experiences and constant need to get high. The ego of this woman is almost unbelieveable. We all had our teenage years...Ms. Karr's experiences are of little interest to anyone, except perhaps a judge due to her rampant lawlessness in terms of substance use.
The content of Cherry is better suited to form the content of a dialogue with a psychiatrist...the author is in obvious and immediate need of therapy.
Rating:
Summary: Unmistakable Classic
Review: After reading The Liar's Club, I was certain that Mary Karr would not be able to live up to the power and the raw passion of that first memoir. I was wrong. Cherry is a powerhouse of a book. From the best first chapter I've ever read to the ending which left me praying for another 276 pages, Karr has ripped open her life in front of her public and has exposed her soul. Each and every sentence in Cherry is enticing, delicious prose and some halt you in your tracks. It's a must read, and one that I suspect will become the next required reading for some lucky student.
Rating: 
Summary: Intially entertaining but pure drudgery by the end
Review: This book was very entertaining. light-hearted and fun, for the first half. Intially, I could relate to the stories and emotions. However, I couldn't relate at all in the second half and no longer found the stories or people interesting, just pathetic. By then I was also tired of the flip-flop writing style. Some stories are told in a narrative sense and some are told about Mary and her friends & family as if it is you and your friends and family. I found that quite irksome.
Rating:
Summary: Cherry
Review: Hard to believe, but Mary Karr again presents readers with a simple masterpiece in 'Cherry', her second memoir. Just as strong as 'Liars' Club', I found it a magical read, at times side-splittingly humorous, at others heart-breakingly sad. Those who appreciated 'Liars' Club' should enjoy 'Cherry', Karr's tumultuous plunge into adolescence. Best, it hints at more to come from Karr, one of the best authors of this generation.
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