Synopses & Reviews
For its twentieth anniversary, a stunning Graphic Deluxe Edition of Mary Karrs pathbreaking, award-winning, mega-bestselling memoir, with a new foreword by Lena Dunham
When it was first published twenty years ago, 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. Karrs comic childhood in an east Texas oil town brings us characters as darkly hilarious as any of J. D. Salingersa 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. Now in a stunning Penguin Classics Graphic Deluxe Edition with a new foreword by Lena Dunhama creative game changer in her own rightthis unsentimental and profoundly moving account of an apocalyptic childhood is as funny, lively, and un-put-downable” (USA Today) today as it ever was.
Review
“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. . . . Its like finding Beethoven in Hoboken. To have a poets precision of language and a poets 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 poets vision . . . Karrs 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
"Mary Karr's God-awful childhood has a calamitous appeal. The choice in the book is between howling misery and howling laughter, and the reader veers toward laughter. Karr has survived to write a drop-dead reply to the question, 'Ma, what was it like when you were a little girl?' " —Time
"This is the real deal; funny, painful, and hotter than Texas in September. This is what the memoir is supposed to be." —Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly
"Elegaic and searching . . . her toughness of spirit, her poetry, her language, her very voice are the agents of rebirth in this difficult, hard-earned journey." —The New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
For its twentieth anniversary, a stunning Graphic Deluxe Edition of Mary Karr s pathbreaking, award-winning, mega-bestselling memoir, with a new foreword by Lena Dunham
One of the12 Best Book Covers of 2015, as chosen by the art director ofThe New York Times Book Review
When it was first published twenty years ago, The Liars Clubtook 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. Now in a stunning Penguin Classics Graphic Deluxe Edition with a new foreword by Lena Dunham a creative game changer in her own right 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.
For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators."
Synopsis
The New York Times bestselling, hilarious tale of Mary Karr's hardscrabble Texas childhood that Oprah.com calls the best memoir of a generation--now with a foreword by Lena Dunham in celebration of its twentieth anniversary. "Wickedly funny and always movingly illuminating, thanks to kick-ass storytelling and a poet's ear." -Oprah.com 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.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Synopsis
#4 on The New York Times' list of The 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years The New York Times bestselling, hilarious tale of a hardscrabble Texas childhood that Oprah.com calls the best memoir of a generation--now with a foreword by Lena Dunham in celebration of its twentieth anniversary
"Wickedly funny and always movingly illuminating, thanks to kick-ass storytelling and a poet's ear." --Oprah.com
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.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Synopsis
The dazzling, prizewinning, wickedly funny tale of Mary Karrand#8217;s hardscrabble Texas childhoodand#151;the book that sparked a renaissance in memoir
When it was published in 1995, Mary Karrand#8217;s The Liarsand#8217; Club took the world by storm and raised the art of the memoir to an entirely new level, as well as bringing about a dramatic revival of the form. Karrand#8217;s comic childhood in an east Texas oil town brings us characters as darkly hilarious as any of J. D. Salingerand#8217;sand#151;a hard-drinking daddy, a sister who can talk down the sheriff at twelve, and an oft-married mother whose accumulated secrets threaten to destroy them all. Now with a new introduction that discusses her memoirand#8217;s impact on her family, this unsentimental and profoundly moving account of an apocalyptic childhood is as and#147;funny, lively, and un-put-downableand#8221; (USA Today) today as it ever was
About the Author
Mary Karr kick-started a memoir revolution with
The Liars Club, which was a
New York Times bestseller for over a year, a best book of the year for the
New York Times Book Review, the
New Yorker,
People, and
Time, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the winner of prizes from PEN and the Texas Institute of Letters. Karr has won the Whiting Award, Radcliffes Bunting Fellowship, and Pushcart Prizes for both verse and essays, and she has been a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry. She is the Peck Professor of Literature at Syracuse University.
Lena Dunham is the creator of the critically acclaimed HBO series Girls and the author of the New York Times bestselling essay collection Not That Kind of Girl. A frequent contributor to the New Yorker, she lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Brian Rea is a former art director for the New York Times op-ed page whose design clients include Kate Spade, Honda, Billabong, Herman Miller, and MTV. He lives in Los Angeles.