
Mary Karr
Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2015 Hardcover, 256 pages with appendix
In her
opening words, Mary Karr waves a yellow flag to signal this is not just another
how-to book.
“No one
elected me the boss of memoir. I speak for no one but myself. Every writer
worth her salt is sui generis [unique]. Memoirists’ methods—with regard to
handling
actual events, memory, research, dealing with family and other subjects, legal whatnot, voice, etc.—differ from mine as widely as their lives do.”
actual events, memory, research, dealing with family and other subjects, legal whatnot, voice, etc.—differ from mine as widely as their lives do.”
It’s true
she was not elected. She earned her place at the top of the food chain of
memoirists. She brings to this book the irreverence and humor her fans expect
and the authority of three best-selling memoirs, four books of poetry, thirty
years as a university professor teaching memoir and literature, mentor of
acclaimed and unknown authors, and “fifty-plus years of reading every memoir I
could track down.” That last probably is why she chose The Art of Memoir as the title. Art is what people say it is,
from Cadillac automobiles lined up hood-first in the ground (Cadillac Ranch,
Amarillo, Texas) to the Mona Lisa.
Karr says
the memoir genre is in its heyday after centuries as “an outsider’s art—the
province of weirdos and saints, prime ministers and film stars.” Her take on
the genre is to share from-the-trenches experiences and reactions that shaped
her writing and teaching; she lets the reader decide whether they apply to the
reader’s purposes. The book’s dust cover compares that approach to Stephen King’s On Writing and Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird.
On
remembering
“My
unscientific, decades-long study proves even the best minds warp and blur what
they see.”
“There are
traumatic memories that rise up unbidden and dwarf you where you stand. But
there are also memories you dig for.”
“Forget how
inventing stuff breaks a contract with the reader, it fences the memoirist off
from the deeper truths that only surface in draft five or ten or twenty.”
“ . . . the
wellsprings where a writer’s biggest ‘lies’ bubble up [is] interpretation.”
On structure
“In terms of
basic book shape, I’ve used the same
approach in all three of mine: I start with a flash forward that shows what’s
at stake emotionally for me over the course of a book, then tell the story in
straightforward, linear time.”
“In any good
memoir, the writer tries to meet the reader where she is by offering
information in the way it’s felt—to reflect the writer’s inner values and
cares.”
On why
memoirs fail
“Most
memoirs fail because of voice. It’s not distinct enough to sound alive and
compelling.”
“Another way
a crap memoir fails is if the narrator fails to change over time.”
“On the most
basic level, bad sentences make bad books. I revise and revise and revise. Any
editor of mine will tell you how crappy my early drafts are.”
On revising
“. . .after
a lifetime of hounding authors for advice, I’ve heard three truths from every
mouth: Writing is painful; . . . good work only
comes through revision; . . . the best revisers often have reading habits that
stretch back before the current age . . . “
“Reading
through history cultivates in a writer a standard of quality higher than the
marketplace.”
“In the long
run, the revision process feels better if you approach it with curiosity.”
Learn “how
to cut out the dull parts.”
Mary Karr’s
memoirs are The Liars’ Club (1995), Cherry(2005),
and Lit (2009).
She is a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry and Peck Professor of Literature at
Syracuse University. More at www.marykarr.com.
Photo: amazon.com
I welcome your review of memoirs, biographies, and how-to books on writing those. Posted reviews also will be listed at Book Reviews with bylines. Submission guidelines.
I welcome your review of memoirs, biographies, and how-to books on writing those. Posted reviews also will be listed at Book Reviews with bylines. Submission guidelines.
Wayne, thanks for this review. I've read many who haven't gotten through The Art of Memoir, and others who loved it. I haven't read it yet, but intend to as I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Mary Karr's experience as a writer and teacher.
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