The Liars' Club

This article is about the Mary Karr memoir. For other topics, see The Liars Club (disambiguation).
The Liars' Club
AuthorMary Karr
LanguageEnglish
GenreMemoir
PublisherViking Adult
Publication date
1995
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages320 pp
ISBN0-670-85053-5
OCLC31374315
818/.5403 B 20
LC ClassPS3561.A6929 Z468 1995

The Liars' Club is a memoir by the American author Mary Karr. Published in 1995 by Viking Adult, the book tells the story of Karr's childhood in the 1960s in a small industrial town in Southeast Texas.[1] The title refers to her father and his friends who would gather together to drink and tell stories when they were not working at the local oil refinery or the chemical plant.[2]

The book was a New York Times bestseller.[3] In addition to winning the PEN/Martha Albrand Award,[4][5] the memoir was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.[6] In 2005, a 10-year anniversary edition was published with an added introduction from Karr.[7] The Liars' Club is credited for launching a resurgence in the popularity of the memoir genre.[8][9]

After the success of The Liars' Club, Karr followed up with two more memoirs: Cherry, which picks up at the end of The Liars' Club, was published in 2001,[10] and Lit which was published in 2009.[11]

  1. ^ Smith, Dinitia (June 27, 1995). "Gritty Book Sets Prudence Aside". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  2. ^ Kakutani, Michiko (May 26, 2018). "BOOKS OF THE TIMES; They're Liars, and That's Just the Least of Their Problems". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  3. ^ "Inside the List". Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  4. ^ "Mary Karr - PEN America". pen.org. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  5. ^ "Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction Winners". PEN American Center. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012.
  6. ^ "The Liars' Club". MARY KARR. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  7. ^ Karr, Mary (2005). The Liars' Club: A Memoir (10th anniversary ed.). New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-0143035749. OCLC 61332250.
  8. ^ Donnelly, Erin (September 18, 2015). "Mary Karr On "The Art Of Memoir," Defending Lena Dunham & Her TV Plans". Refinery29. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  9. ^ "Mary Karr On Writing Memoirs: 'No Doubt I've Gotten A Million Things Wrong'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  10. ^ "Observer review: Cherry by Mary Karr". the Guardian. 2001-06-24. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  11. ^ "Review: Lit, by Mary Karr". Retrieved 2020-08-24.