The Art of the Memoir by Mary Karr was published by Harper in 2015. I just read it because the Insecure Writer’s Support Group chose it as its book club selection. (I missed the discussion though, which ended at the end of September.) But here I share some thoughts about the book. It sparked a lot of reflections for me–something I like in a book!
Finding your voice/telling the truth
I will probably never write a memoir–although I’ve done many things I thought I’d never do. But as a fiction writer, I found this book interesting. Karr spends a lot of time writing about truth and voice. I find both of these subjects very interesting. We live in a time where truth is not always valued–the age of “truthiness” as Stephen Colbert said. Karr quotes Adrienne Rich, who said: “Lying is done with words, but also with silence.” (from “Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying.”
She also wrote about her own process of writing, and finding the truth–which I found fascinating.
And yet writing has never been linear for me. I always circle around my own stories, avoiding the truth like a pooch staked to a clothesline pole, spiraling closer and closer with each revision till–with each book–my false self finally lines up eye to eye with the true one.
Mary Karr from The Art of Memoir
But what is the truth?
I have always been a dreamy person. My truths come more from my inner life. I’m not sure I could recall enough “carnal” details to bring a memoir to life. She uses the word “carnal” to signify sensory details–such a meaty word! But perhaps, if I wrote a memoir, maybe I’d surprise myself and remember more as I circled around the story–as Karr describes above.
The truth in fiction
Another quote from the book that I liked:
A real novelist tells the greater truth with a mask on
Mary Karr from The Art of Memoir
A well-told story, whether fiction or not, tells a greater truth. It shows us how the writer’s mind works. The
I’ve also added many books to my reading list–memoirs that Karr mentions in the book. Many of them she uses in her courses on memoir writing.
Dispatch–Michael Herr’s Memoir of Vietnam
One that really struck me, that I’ve never read is Michael Herr’s memoir from the Vietnam war–“Dispatches.” Karr devotes a whole chapter to this memoir, quoting from it and analyzing a paragraph line by line to show why the writing is so effective. The quote tells Herr’s thoughts on looking at an old map of Vietnam that hung in his apartment. The map no longer reflects Vietnam since the war began.
We knew that the uses of most information were flexible, different pieces of ground told different stories to different people. We also knew that for years now there had been no country but the war.
Michael Herr from Dispatches
Karr writes a lot about her process. She finds the writing most difficult–getting the words to flow–or letting them flow. Even though a lot of that writing will get cut during the editing, letting the words flow comprises an important part of the journey. She lets her words flow and then goes back and edits–and edits–and edits some more.
I’ll end this reflection with another wonderful quote about why to write a memoir–or, for me, why to write at all:
None of us can ever know the value of our lives, or how our separate and silent scribbling may add to the amenity of the world, if only by how radically it changes us, one and by one.
Mary Karr from The Art of Memoir
I recommend this book for writers of all kinds. I’m not sure if others will find it interesting or not. She does provide a wonderful appendix at the end with a list of suggested memoirs–including the ones she uses for her course.
I’ve also reviewed This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgivenessby Joyce Sidman–a very different book, but quite lovely.
Thanks, as always, for stopping by.
Until next time—xoxo
