Amazon.com In this funny， razor-edged memoir， Mary Karr， a prize-winning poet and critic， looks back at her upbringing in a swampy East Texas refinery town with a volatile， defiantly loving family. She recalls her painter mother， seven times married， whose outlaw spirit could tip into psychosis; a fist-swinging father who spun tales with his cronies--dubbed the Liars' Club; and a neighborhood rape when she was eight. An inheritance was squandered， endless bottles emptied， and guns leveled at the deserving and undeserving. With a raw authenticity stripped of self-pity and a poet's eye for the lyrical detail， Karr shows us a "terrific family of liars and drunks ... redeemed by a slow unearthing of truth." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Publishers Weekly Poet Karr's NBCC nominated memoir of her East Texas childhood is a blackly comic tale of a family prone to alcoholism， violence and insanity. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information， Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. See all Editorial Reviews