As a departure from the usual fantasy worlds that I like to plunge into, I decided to read The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr. It’s a memoir that reflects her younger years, specifically 1961 and 1963.
Reading a work of nonfiction is very different from reading about a world that does not exist. With a work of fiction, I’m usually rushing to get through because I want to know what that world holds. Reading nonfiction, I’m not in that same rush because I know the events are real. The way Mary Karr tells this story made me want to read more, but not at my usual pace.
The Liars’ Club begins with Karr as a 7-year old girl growing up in Texas living with her mother, father, and older sister Lecia (pronounced Lisa). Mary loves hanging around with her father and although she has a big mouth, she can’t back it up do to her lack of strength. Her mother is a potentially crazy woman and when people have mental problems, they are referred to as Nervous. Her father keeps a 6 pack inside of their refrigerator at all times. Lecia’s age 9 and she, unlike her sister, is a tough and can beat up teenage boys.
The reason that Mary likes to go with her father is to attend random Liars’ Club meetings. Several of her father’s friends and coworkers somehow always manage to meet up at a bar without anyone calling anybody else first. While at the bar, the men tell each other stories but half of them are lies, especially the story Mary’s father tells of his father. He tells the men of how he commits suicide even though the man is still alive.
The neighborhood isn’t particularly fond of the Karr family since it consists of foulmouthed children, a drunken and potentially psychotic mother, and a father who is sometimes there. The parents are constantly arguing and throwing stuff around the house and just not appealing to the public.
The way Mary Karr tells the story, she tells it as if we were right there standing next to her. Karr’s presentation made me feel like I was her friend and she refused to hold back anything. She even specifically states in the Introduction that she’s not lying about anything. When you begin the story, you realize that she expresses all the emotions she went through.
I found some things unorthodox about this story however. There are parts where Mary will say that she doesn’t remember exactly what happened at that point and she’ll leave it kind of blank, but in a comical manner. She also goes to say at other points of her memoir that her sister remembers an event in a different way and delves into that. Thankfully, it doesn’t take away from the story. It actually shows how real of a person that the author is.
The Liars’ Club is definitely a book that I would read again. I don’t reread books unless they are extremely interesting, especially since I’m not fond of very reading. It’s a great way to begin my exit from fantasyland and into a different type of story.