Mary Karr / Lit / Berkeley Arts & Letters
When
Nov 16, 2009 7:30 pm (Monday)
Where
What
Monday, November 16
MARY KARR
Lit: A Memoir
With The Liars’ Club and then Cherry, Mary Karr jumpstarted a renaissance in memoir while riding the “best book” wrap ups and bestseller...
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Event details: Mary Karr / Lit / Berkeley Arts & Letters
Description
Monday, November 16
MARY KARR
Lit: A Memoir
With The Liars’ Club and then Cherry, Mary Karr jumpstarted a renaissance in memoir while riding the “best book” wrap ups and bestsellers lists for years at a pop. These mesmerizing (and somehow hilarious) accounts of her apocalyptic childhood and outlaw adolescence, respectively, are contemporary classics, which left her millions of readers with one persistent, and until now unanswered, question: How did she overcome her feral upbringing to become an esteemed poet and professor and – perhaps harder – mother of a son who “looks like something you win at a raffle”?
In Lit, Karr brings the same relentless honesty, unflinching self-scrutiny, lacerating humor and irreverent outlook to chronicle her unlikely ascent into adulthood. Lit traces Karr’s quest for the stable, happy family she never had growing up. Seeking safety and transformation, she marries a handsome, brilliant, patrician poet fleeing his blue-blood roots. This (mis)match between backwater Texan and old-money Easterner proves ill-fated but it does produce a beautiful son they both adore. With her marriage slowly unraveling and her poetry career stalled, she turns to alcohol, and in a matter of months morphs into the mother she fled Texas to escape.
Karr has to die and survive several circles in hell till an unlikely posse of saviors and saints helps her stay clean despite her spring-loaded recoil from any spiritual talk. No one can predict the electrifying path she finds to salvation – including a deep peace with the mother who once tried to kill her. Lit is a knockout saga only Mary Karr could tell with such piercing humor.
Mary Karr is the Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracuse University, and lives in New York City.
Meredith Maran introduces.
7:30 PM
Berkeley Arts & Letters @ The Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street, Berkeley
$12 advance ($6 students with ID advance) at Brown Paper Tickets or 800-838-3006 /$15 door
MARY KARR
Lit: A Memoir
With The Liars’ Club and then Cherry, Mary Karr jumpstarted a renaissance in memoir while riding the “best book” wrap ups and bestsellers lists for years at a pop. These mesmerizing (and somehow hilarious) accounts of her apocalyptic childhood and outlaw adolescence, respectively, are contemporary classics, which left her millions of readers with one persistent, and until now unanswered, question: How did she overcome her feral upbringing to become an esteemed poet and professor and – perhaps harder – mother of a son who “looks like something you win at a raffle”?
In Lit, Karr brings the same relentless honesty, unflinching self-scrutiny, lacerating humor and irreverent outlook to chronicle her unlikely ascent into adulthood. Lit traces Karr’s quest for the stable, happy family she never had growing up. Seeking safety and transformation, she marries a handsome, brilliant, patrician poet fleeing his blue-blood roots. This (mis)match between backwater Texan and old-money Easterner proves ill-fated but it does produce a beautiful son they both adore. With her marriage slowly unraveling and her poetry career stalled, she turns to alcohol, and in a matter of months morphs into the mother she fled Texas to escape.
Karr has to die and survive several circles in hell till an unlikely posse of saviors and saints helps her stay clean despite her spring-loaded recoil from any spiritual talk. No one can predict the electrifying path she finds to salvation – including a deep peace with the mother who once tried to kill her. Lit is a knockout saga only Mary Karr could tell with such piercing humor.
Mary Karr is the Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracuse University, and lives in New York City.
Meredith Maran introduces.
7:30 PM
Berkeley Arts & Letters @ The Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street, Berkeley
$12 advance ($6 students with ID advance) at Brown Paper Tickets or 800-838-3006 /$15 door
Cost
$6.00 - $12.00More about Hillside Club
Hillside Club
The Hillside Club is a Berkeley community-based membership organization. It has a seating (dining) capacity of 125, and can accommodate up to 200 people in theater-style seating for ceremonies or lectures. Its architectural style is that of an English Tudor hall, featuring a high wood-beamed ceiling and massive fireplace. Afternoon light traverses the tall, multi-paned windows, warming the dark wood interior. Recitals often make use of the stage, piano and newly improved lighting system. The hardwood floor is perfect for dancing. An integral part of Berkeley's history, the Hillside Club is a warm, friendly place to host your event. See the Hillside Club website for more information.Links
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