Klein Mary Madeleine und ihre zwei Jahre ältere Schwester Lecia wachsen zu Beginn der sechziger Jahre im tristen Ölförder-Areal Leechfield, Texas auf. Daddy ist ein texanischer Arbeiter mit "einem Spritzer Indianerblut", Mutter eine ewige Kunststudentin mit einem natürlichen Hang zur Dramatik, beide verbindet Abhängigkeit und Sucht. So verlaufen Marys Tage zwischen dem industriellen Umfeld der Ölförderanlagen, der Arbeiterwelt mit all ihren Geldnöten, dem Kampf mit den Nachbarskindern um Akzeptanz, Kneipen voller Qualm, dem Alkoholdunst und den Geschichten im Club der Lügner. Der Club der Lügner ist die Kneipengesellschaft um ihren Vater, Arbeits- und Trinkkollegen, die sich ihren Alltag mit Geschichten aus vergangenen Zeiten polieren. Mary liebt ihren Vater, der an kalten Abenden die Socken für sie auf der Heizung für den nächsten Morgen parat legt. Mary liebt ihre Mutter, die trotz Alkohol- und Tablettenexzessen stolz und grazil den Anschein einer heilen Welt aufrecht halten will. Mary liebt Lecia, ihre große Schwester, die viel mehr die Rolle der Hüterin wahrnimmt, als es für ein Kind gut sein kann.
"Der Club der Lügner" ist die wahre Geschichte der Mary (Madeleine) Karr, die nicht nur das Talent des Geschichtenerzählens von ihrem Vater geerbt hat, sondern auch die Fähigkeit immer wieder aufzustehen. Ganz egal, wie hart das Schicksal zuschlägt. ("The iron butterfly" auf lovelybooks.de)

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. ( )

Emotionally raw and viscerally honest, Liars Club is exactly what we in the 21st century expect from a memoir: a personal recollection of events from a segment of a life, told in a way that makes a complete story. That this is what we expect, is precisely because Karr virtually invented the modern memoir with this book. Highly recommended. ( )

It must have been painful for the author to write this book, the way I feel when I think about writing out certain episodes of my life, and they thus remain locked in my head.
This is about a family that lives in a small town in East Texas, close to the Louisiana border. If I thought my own family was dysfunctional, well this book makes my family look like The Sound of Music. Mama has mental illness, complicated by alcoholism, Dad is a macho who also drinks a lot. We don't find out till the ending why mama is screwed up, but it's truly a wonder that those two kids made it to adulthood.
Well-written, it glides right along, and is hard to put down because you just want to find what is the next outlandish thing to happen to this family that will make you wince. ( )

I might have liked this better if I hadn't read "The Glass Castle" - just seemed too much the same although I know they are both real stories of young girls growing up in unusual circumstances. Mary Karr's mother was not suited for motherhood or the environment of eastern Texas. The writing was fine, I just couldn't particularly get into it. Did not finish (Not sure why I had this on my "later" list to read) ( )