Mary Karr - 1965
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By Dan HaberbergerJesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas, Texas
I. Upbringing and Professional Life
Mary Karr was born in Leechfield, Texas in 1965 to alcoholic and abusive parents. Her mother was psychotic and, so, was sent to a mental hospital in 1962. When Karr's mother was released, her family moved to Colorado where her parents soon divorced. Karr eventually returned to Texas with her father.
Karr began writing later in life and published her first work, Abacus, a collection of poems, in 1987. She continued writing poetry and published The Devil's Tour in 1994. Then she wrote an autobiography, The Liars' Club, which was published in 1996. She married in 1997 and has a 12 year-old son. Her most recent work, published in 1998, is another collection of poetry called Viper Rum . She teaches classes at Syracuse University and is writing a sequel to The Liars' Club called Cherry, which will cover her teenage years.
II. Karr's The Liar's Club
Mary Karr repeats the word "nervous" throughout The Liars' Club, and regardless where it falls in the sentence, she capitalizes it. Many uses of "nervous" are aimed toward Karr's mother; this term is appropriate since at one time she was confined to a mental hospital. Karr's problem with her mother and other family members led her to write about isolation within her family. She was unable in her early years to connect with anyone in her family but her sister. Thus, she grew up quickly and learned to fend for herself since she did not feel secure. She expresses her isolation through offensive "tough-girl" actions and revenge.
Many symbolic, normally positive words such as marriage, childhood, and family are reversed in The Liars' Club . Perhaps Karr's negative view is influenced by her own life. Karr's mother married seven times, and Mary's biological father was the fourth of those weddings. Rather than depicting marriage as loving and trusting Karr reduces it to serial meaninglessness.
III. Sources
http://www.salonmagazine.com/may97/karr970521.htmlThis essay was submitted by a student of Sheryl Row, a teacher at Jesuit College Preparatory of Dallas in Texas.