From the Bookshelf of The Insecure Writer's Support Group Book Club…

The Art of Memoir

Mary Karr

Start date: August 1, 2018

Finish date: September 30, 2018

Why we're reading this: For our memoir writers or anyone interested in writing a memoir.
[close] For our memoir writers or anyone interested in writing a memoir.

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Sep 16, 2020 Lisa Thomson rated it did not like it

Shelves: books-on-writing

Newbie authors will only be left discouraged by this book. It is not a guide to writing your memoir so much as it is a guide to critically dissecting best selling ones. I had moments of wanting to DNF this dreadful book but I continued so I could write this honest review.

It reads like Karr cobbled together her lectures and made them into a book. If that’s the case I do feel sorry for her students, especially when she makes them dissect sentence by sentence, Michael Herr’s memoir as she does in c Newbie authors will only be left discouraged by this book. It is not a guide to writing your memoir so much as it is a guide to critically dissecting best selling ones. I had moments of wanting to DNF this dreadful book but I continued so I could write this honest review.

It reads like Karr cobbled together her lectures and made them into a book. If that’s the case I do feel sorry for her students, especially when she makes them dissect sentence by sentence, Michael Herr’s memoir as she does in chapter 23. The author adds that no serious writer enjoys writing, only hacksters do. Kill the joy.

Interestingly, Mary Karr rightly advises writers that if a smaller word will suffice choose that over a big flowery one. Yet her vocabulary throughout this book is certainly show-offy. I had to look up quite a few words in the dictionary such as but not limited to; execrable, quotidian, cudgel, anathema, polygot, lapidary, leitmotif. Also, she made up a few of her own words and phrases: Supersexual, Redneckese, caranality and hacksters.

Karr also spends a great deal time discussing ‘truth’ in memoir. Then in Chapter 8 she goes on to describe the fraud that memoir genre has threatened to become by the likes of hacksters like Benjamin Wilkomirski’s "Fragments" and James Frey’s "A Million Little Pieces". What’s really disturbing is that Karr suggests we as a society are more tolerant of bull shit in works of non-fiction.
Well, someone from one of the big publishing companies bought into these manuscripts first. Loving the sales potential of the sensational stories inside them. Once Random House, for example, publishes a memoir under non-fiction, who ae we to contradict that?

And then the author states over half way through this book, “You figure out pretty quick how irrelevant much of your drivel is.” Well, Mary, maybe you should change that to first person. Another quote I found particularly off putting is toward the END of the book where she states in brackets no less: “(Again the lapidary work here---intended for the practitioner---may bore the general reader)” Maybe she could have stated that in the introduction? Besides, aren’t all of us readers ‘practitioners’ otherwise why would we pick up a book with this title.

Just when I thought I might get some solid memoir writing advice in chapter 15 “On Book Structure and the Order of Information”, I turned the page and it was over. Yes, the author produced a page of writing and called it a chapter. An Indie author would be crucified for this.

In contrast, she adds an Appendix of “required reading” consisting of a 6 page list of memoirs to read. That's 18 memoirs on each page so a total of over 90 memoirs are "required reading". Okay, well that was 5 pages longer than chapter 15, not to mention ridiculous.

Final thoughts:
Don’t bother with this book unless you enjoy reading about philosophical criticisms of famous memoirs and get off on reading oddly placed, strange words. The Art of Memoir really struck me as exemplifying the snobbery of the publishing industry. It certainly does nothing to help the new writer who is attempting to tell their life story, at least not this hackster. I like writing too much. ...more

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Jun 13, 2019 Raimey Gallant rated it it was amazing

Exceptional writing advice aside, this is just a really good read. Whether you write memoirs or fiction, this is an essential read, the chapters discussing voice and sensory description some of the best I've come across on the subject. ...more

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Nov 17, 2016 J.Q. Rose rated it really liked it

So many thought-provoking ideas in this book for memoir writers. Lots of information to help you think about your goals for writing-- always emphasizing telling the truth.

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