Book Giveaway and Review: Lit by Mary Karr

 I’m thrilled to announce that I am hosting a giveaway for 1 copy of Lit by Mary Karr!

 

Mary Karr, where have you been all of my life?  Many of you may already know this, but I’m a huge fan of memoirs, and I was so happy when I found out I’d get to review this book for my blog.  I haven’t read Ms. Karr’s first two memoirs, but I’ve heard great things about them, and I always enjoy reading a true story about a young woman struggling to make a life for herself, or at least a life a little better than the one her parents gave her.  Lit may be a memoir about getting drunk and finding sobriety, but it is also a story of a girl who wanted much more than a white trash life.  Mary Karr wanted a college education, a normal family of her own, love, a career in writing … all things I wanted for myself when I was her age.  Sure, Ms. Karr also writes about her drunk days of motherhood and being in an unhappy, dysfunctional marriage, but I really identified with her early struggles as a young adult trying to make it in the world. 

Mary caught her first break when she found a mentor in Walt Mink, her psychology professor.  Once she saw him showing kindness to a lab rat who had just given birth, she ended up spilling all of her young girl and poor girl secrets to him, from her money troubles, to her relationships and the demands of college.  Just like Mary, I was putting on a brave front in college, working four jobs, and trying to keep up the appearance that I wasn’t poor white trash.  Walt gave her more than guidance or a free meal from time to time, he became the father figure in her life that Mary didn’t need but really needed, if that makes sense.  He was such a generous and kind man he even offered to adopt her, just so she be able to afford the last few years of her education.  If you’ve ever been lucky to find your own mentor, you can appreciate how beautiful their bond was. 

I loved Lit, and Mary Karr is a poet, and she isn’t afraid to show it off.  She really knows how to write beautifully about something as tragic as being a drunk while raising a baby.  The heart of this novel was Mary’s extreme desire to get ahead, get published, and live a seemingly normal life, but her not-that-secret alcoholism kept getting in the way of finding what she desperately craved for.  Although she managed to escape her mother’s legacy, Mary Karr did inherit her mother’s alcoholism.  Ms. Karr tells a compelling and frightening tale of plunging down that well and eventually climbing out of it, after years of struggle.  Car accidents, a stay in a mental institutions and even Catholicism find their way into Mary’s miraculous story of recovery.  This book isn’t a pretty, but it’s pretty damn honest, and if you’ve ever known a drunk, or you are a drunk yourself, you better get your butt to the bookstore pronto to buy this book. 

Lit truly is a brilliant book, and one you don’t want to pass up reading, especially if you are a huge fan of memoirs as I am.  Any book that has this much pain and struggle is worth reading, even if you are one of the rare people in this world who hasn’t experienced life with an alcoholic.  A special thanks to TLC for allowing me to review this book for them.

To purchase your copy of Lit, go here.

LIT CONTEST    

RULES:
**Open to U.S. residents
**No P.O. boxes, please
**Must include your email address in comment (You don’t have to type it in your comment, just use your “real” email account when you sign in to leave a comment)
**ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO COUNT   

HOW TO ENTER:     

    

+1 ENTRY: Go to Mary Karr’s profile on the HarperCollins website HERE and tell me via your comment below what fascinating thing you learned or noticed there.    

+1  MORE ENTRY: Comment if you are a loyal follower of hers, either on Facebook, or Twitter.  Tell me where and how you follow her.     

+1  MORE ENTRY: Comment if you are a loyal follower of mine, either on Facebook or Twitter or THE GIRL FROM THE GHETTO blog.  Tell me where and how you follow me.     

+1 MORE ENTRY: Comment here and tell me why you need to win this book!  Have you ever experienced alcoholism, or a dysfunctional childhood or marriage?  Have you ever been divorced or lost yourself in a marriage?  Or, are you just a huge fan of Mary Karr or memoirs in general?  

+5 MORE ENTRIES: Blog about this giveaway, share a link via Twitter, or post a link via Facebook or any other social networking site about my Lit giveaway and come back here and leave a comment with that link.   

Contest ends Wednesday, July 28th at midnight.  Please note -You will have 24 hours to respond to my email, so please make sure to check your email on July 29th to see if you’ve won.

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