Lit by Mary Karr (Harper, 2009)
The third memoir in a fascinating autobiographical trifecta and voted one of last year’s 10 Best Books by the NYT, Lit connects the dots among Mary Karr’s dysfunctional childhood, her struggle with alcoholism and a feral depression, her eventual divorce and her path to prayer and survival. Karr firmly establishes her genius at the genre of memoir by presenting real and self-effacing anecdotes wherein the reader is privy to her reliance on various academic and spiritual mentors, to the essential relationships she builds through therapy and group sessions and to how she copes with the devastating deaths of her eccentric her parents. While the ending is a bit fractured, through self-nurture Karr finally learns to sustain a sober life through prayer. Inspired by her young son, Dev, she finally stops intellectualizing God and jumps into life without self-deceit and with faith entire (9/10).
No comments:
Post a Comment