Not a book I would recommend. Tragic childhood. ( )

Awesome book. Memoirs of a childhood, with some stories so heartbreaking and bleak that you want to look away, combine with really rich description and writing. ( )

Given the rave reviews, I was expecting to like this memoir. Instead, I felt like I was wandering through the child Mary Karr's head. The memoir went from story to story, but there was no narrative arc, It just plodded on and on. When her mother finally breaks down, we don't really understand what's driving her illness, and in fact, only at the end do we find out about her previous children and marriage. I only got about halfway through before I started skimming to find out what happened and why. It's as if she wrote the memoir, not as an adult looking back, but as a child experiencing trauma and having no way to make sense of it. Had it been a story about her mother, it might have been more effective. This may have won awards and been on the best-seller list, but didn't work for me. ( )

couldn't read past the traumatic parts

I know this is sort of a pinnacle of nonfiction - but I found it to be a bit boring and hard to follow. There were a few great short stories thrown into the bigger picture - but I am still not sure what the bigger picture is and lordy did it take forever to complete this book. I'd give it a 2.5/5 stars, but as that isn't an option, I rounded up.

If you're a writer or a fan of nonfiction, this one is probably already on your radar. Otherwise, I'd recommend passing this one up completely. ( )