| In the sequel to her marvelous memoir of a difficult childhood in east Texas, _The Liars' Club_, Karr describes her teens in Leechfield in the early 1960s. Her mother, fresh from a stint in a mental hospital, teaches the ladies painting and doesn't much sweat the small stuff (including anything her daughter might be up to), her father is a good-time guy who clearly doesn't understand her, and her older sister does her best to fit in with the crowd and pretend she's not a member of this dysfunctional family. There are friends, boyfriends, drugs, and a few run-ins with the law. But mostly, it's Karr's crystalline evocation of teenage womanhood, with all its fears, desires, and little triumphs, that make this as compulsively readable as its predecessor. | ||
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Plot & Themes Kids growing up/acting up? Yes Kids: - general coming of age story Period of greatest activity? - 1950+ Subject of Biography Gender - Female Profession/status: Ethnicity - White Nationality - American Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 () United States Yes The US: - Texas Small town? Yes Small town people: - hostile, like Gomer Pyle on steroids - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee Century: - 1960's-1970's Writing Style Book makes you feel? - thoughtful - like laughing Graphic sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - - descript. of female anat. (the big B's) - actual description of hetero sex Pictures/Illustrations? - None How much dialogue in bio? - significantly more descript than dialog |
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