Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
The Art of Memoir
- Narrated by: Mary Karr
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
The Art of Memoir
Buy Now for £12.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
Credited with sparking the current memoir explosion, Mary Karr's The Liars' Club spent more than a year at the top of the New York Times list. She followed with two other smash best sellers: Cherry and Lit, which were critical hits as well.
For 30 years, Karr has also taught the form, winning teaching prizes at Syracuse. (The writing program there produced such acclaimed authors as Cheryl Strayed, Keith Gessen, and Koren Zailckas.) In The Art of Memoir, she synthesizes her expertise as professor and therapy patient, writer and spiritual seeker, recovered alcoholic and "black belt sinner", providing a unique window into the mechanics and art of the form that is as irreverent, insightful, and entertaining as her own work in the genre.
Anchored by excerpts from her favorite memoirs and anecdotes from fellow writers' experience, The Art of Memoir lays bare Karr's own process. (Plus all those inside stories about how she dealt with family and friends get told - and the dark spaces in her own skull probed in depth.) As she breaks down the key elements of great literary memoir, she breaks open our concepts of memory and identity, and illuminates the cathartic power of reflecting on the past; anybody with an inner life or complicated history, whether writer or reader, will relate.
Joining such classics as Stephen King's On Writing and Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, The Art of Memoir is an elegant and accessible exploration of one of today's most popular literary forms - a tour de force from an accomplished master pulling back the curtain on her craft.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
Listeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Art of Memoir
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- jenny sanders
- 29-02-20
listen and listen again
without doubt our time's definitive account of the process of writing memoir. always encouraging, often enboldening and deeply.true, Mary Karr's experience of the craft is generously shared without holding anything back. What a woman and what a writer!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Fast and curious
- 24-12-20
A must read fir wannabe memoirists
A fabulous book with great tips and insights on writing memoir. The author narrates with veracity and honesty cleverly mirroring / demonstrating the way perhaps in which we can be expressing ourselves in memoir. Well researched, with many examples and quotes from other great memoirists. A must read. The book is jam packed with so much valuable information (a good thing) and is tole with such fervor, that I had to stop, often, go back and re- listen to take it all in. A must read if you’re wanting to write memoir. Thank you Mary.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Johannes Rosendahl
- 23-02-24
Inspiring
Great help writing my memoirs. Already up with many stars for my book. Just startet editing. And editing again. Fun and inspiration what I learned
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Nick Rodrigues
- 27-10-20
I'd listen to Mary Karr reading a soup recipe
It could have been shorter, but it couldn't have been much better. Except for a couple of repeated passages, it is a masterclass on writing in general. Be it memoir or not.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Brother Seamus
- 08-04-24
Underwhelmed
This book is consistently on "Must-read books about memoir writing" lists, often at the very top. It's a highly-praised work written by a teacher of memoir writing, no less. Perhaps I'm missing something, as I found very little of use in it. There were one or two nuggets of advice; for example - and I paraphrase - "Choose to say 'We had just watched the first ever president resign from The White House,' instead of 'It was 1974.'" Overall, however, I was not left feeling inspired, or even like I had learned much. I would like to say that this is more for the theory-minded, but I do not see its value in that arena, as distinct from the practical, either. The author was "good company," though. And she seems like a nice soul. But I feel no wiser regarding the art of memoir. It's like I listened to a completely different book than all those other reviewers.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- Unity
- 27-01-21
Difficult to follow
Jumps from one subject to another. Too many metaphors and spirituality. Not enough teaching.
Disappointing!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!