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The Art of Memoir

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The Art of Memoir

By: Mary Karr
Narrated by: Mary Karr
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About this listen

Credited with sparking the current memoir explosion, Mary Karr's The Liars' Club spent more than a year at the top of the New York Times list. She followed with two other smash best sellers: Cherry and Lit, which were critical hits as well.

For 30 years, Karr has also taught the form, winning teaching prizes at Syracuse. (The writing program there produced such acclaimed authors as Cheryl Strayed, Keith Gessen, and Koren Zailckas.) In The Art of Memoir, she synthesizes her expertise as professor and therapy patient, writer and spiritual seeker, recovered alcoholic and "black belt sinner", providing a unique window into the mechanics and art of the form that is as irreverent, insightful, and entertaining as her own work in the genre.

Anchored by excerpts from her favorite memoirs and anecdotes from fellow writers' experience, The Art of Memoir lays bare Karr's own process. (Plus all those inside stories about how she dealt with family and friends get told - and the dark spaces in her own skull probed in depth.) As she breaks down the key elements of great literary memoir, she breaks open our concepts of memory and identity, and illuminates the cathartic power of reflecting on the past; anybody with an inner life or complicated history, whether writer or reader, will relate.

Joining such classics as Stephen King's On Writing and Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, The Art of Memoir is an elegant and accessible exploration of one of today's most popular literary forms - a tour de force from an accomplished master pulling back the curtain on her craft.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2015 Mary Karr (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers
Biographies & Memoirs Literary History & Criticism Social Sciences Sociology Witty

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A wealth of knowledge about the practical process of writing a memoir.

Simply read, with the the reader always in mind, providing a deep understanding of why memoirs can make sense of our lives

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Time to write!

I'm enjoying the book so far. I need to dip into it more regularly. I've tried many a how too book re memoir writing and this is the one for me. I like the author's informal style. Plus she is a person of some experience. Lastly, her voice is so easy to listen to.

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Authentic and honest

I loved this book, read by the author. It shone a bright light on the need for honesty in memoir. Warts and all. The content is shared in a humorous way, making it enjoyable as well as informative. A must read for anyone writing memoir.

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