Mary Karr synthesizes her experience as professor and therapy patient, writer and spiritual seeker, recovered alcoholic and “black belt sinner,” to examine the mechanics and art of writing a memoir.
If you are a writer looking for a roadmap, there are other books that would better serve you. Karr is smart enough to avoid writing a book that has been written before. But if you are looking for a way in, a way to find your own truth and bring it to life on the page, Mary Karr has your back.
It is not, alas, a very good book. Repetitive, unorganized, unsure of its audience or tone, it can’t decide whether it wants to be a how-to guide or a work of critical analysis.
