The Liars’ Club is a story full of shocking events and thought provoking moments. Mary tells the story of her turbulent childhood in great detail and compels the reader to experience the life of a young girl in 1970s Texas. Initially, I expected the memoir to be full of humor and lightheartedness, but in reality the author suffers in every aspect of life. This caused me to be more empathetic than I expected and it made it harder to read through the mundane details. I found this autobiography lacking in terms of interest and value. I often found myself falling asleep as I read or wondering why the process of making gumbo was relevant. However, this did bring thought provoking topics on religion and roles of women in society. The Liars’ Club was a dry account of a woman’s experience as a child in a unstable home.

Mary Karr's childhood reminds me of my own. Which is surprising in a way; she grew up in a small oil town on the coast in Texas, while I grew up in (mostly) a small farming town in Missouri. Her daddy was a union laborer for an oil company, while mine worked in middle management in a factory. She had one sister; I'm right smack in the middle of seven kids. But it's the small town, lower middle class upbringing that brings to mind my own childhood. Playing (and fighting) with the neighborhood kids; exploring the nearby creek or woods or pasture; fighting with your siblings (but also fighting along with your siblings against the other neighborhood kids).
There are definitely some differences - my mom didn't get an inheritance, move us to Colorado, and divorce our dad in order to marry some drunk bartender. We didn't ride horses or get stung by a man-o-war or hide from a drunk, knife-wielding parent (or protect a step-father from a drunk, pistol-wielding parent). We didn't (as far as my parents know) use the kind of "colorful" language Mary and (especially) her sister Lecia used against the other neighborhood kids. But, reading this memoir, I still felt at times like I was reliving my own childhood.

A memoir of abuse, neglect, child endangerment, sexual abuse, alcoholism, mental illness - but somehow the author (and her sister) survived.

Adroitly written, but not for the faint of heart. This was a tough one to get through.

*Adult content

A Southern childhood with all its grittiness exposed: even though Karr's mother is an alcoholic, and her father knows how to punch his way through life, she and her sister survive because of undaunted love and courage that glue this crazy family together. Her writing is funny and every page tells of a miricle of survival.

How did I miss this back in 1995? A wickedly funny account of an apocalyptic childhood in East Texas.