MAY 2018 - AudioFile
Mary Karr’s steady narration of her poems is marked by the full-bodied enunciations of carefully crafted consonants and vowels. The works sound as if they are meant to share both the contemplative and the poetically humorous. She offers clarity in her narration, even if one doesn’t directly understand the content of each poem. Her work consistently makes religious references that play with one’s emotions. It is also metaphorical, witty, in-your-face blunt, and often suggests a rhythmic hint of lullaby tones. Some of the poetic journeys are curt, with sudden endings. There are so many great moments, for example, the “Obscenity Prayer,” which offers another take on the Lord’s Prayer and also wryly alludes to the Alcoholics Anonymous mantra known as the “Serenity Prayer.” T.E.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
A catalogue of broken graces.... Scorched, palpable, sometimes pungent, sometimes brutal: Karr’s new collection is a mixture of tight narratives that end without resolution, hymns of unsettled suffering, and confused prayers.” — The Millions
“Dark and luscious…tender and visceral and, at times, humorous; covering everything…in a straight-forward way that doesn’t sacrifice the beauty of her voice and language.” — Shondaland.com
“As in all her work, Karr’s genius is in creating her own music from a mashup of lexicons, daringly and often wittily infusing the lyrical with everyday vernacular.” — BookPage
“Formally and emotionally, this is a rich, mysterious collection that rewards re- reading.” — The Red Hook Star Revue
“Know best for her bold memoirs, Karr brings the same scorching frankness to her vivid, kinetic lyrics.... Karr’s poems are thrilling in their vitality, dazzle, nerve, longing, and camouflaged depth.” — Booklist
The Red Hook Star Revue
Formally and emotionally, this is a rich, mysterious collection that rewards re- reading.
Booklist
Know best for her bold memoirs, Karr brings the same scorching frankness to her vivid, kinetic lyrics.... Karr’s poems are thrilling in their vitality, dazzle, nerve, longing, and camouflaged depth.
Shondaland.com
Dark and luscious…tender and visceral and, at times, humorous; covering everything…in a straight-forward way that doesn’t sacrifice the beauty of her voice and language.
BookPage
As in all her work, Karr’s genius is in creating her own music from a mashup of lexicons, daringly and often wittily infusing the lyrical with everyday vernacular.
The Millions
A catalogue of broken graces.... Scorched, palpable, sometimes pungent, sometimes brutal: Karr’s new collection is a mixture of tight narratives that end without resolution, hymns of unsettled suffering, and confused prayers.
Booklist
Know best for her bold memoirs, Karr brings the same scorching frankness to her vivid, kinetic lyrics.... Karr’s poems are thrilling in their vitality, dazzle, nerve, longing, and camouflaged depth.
Laurel Maury
Sinners Welcome mixes her beloved stories from the wrong side of the tracks with new notes of care and forgiveness and pure, often angry, hymns to God.... It’s a daring mix. Before she had her fists up; now she strips herself bare, a far braver act.
Judith Kitchen
Skepticism is mitigated by Karr’s humor, her mildly ironic stance and the capacity for wry self-examination. Theology takes on a kind of earthy insight.... As Karr knows, her endeavor is ages old. It may be that all lyric poetry aspires to prayer. What gives Sinners Welcome its sharp edge is the poet’s eloquently passionate struggle at the junction of doubt and devotion.
MAY 2018 - AudioFile
Mary Karr’s steady narration of her poems is marked by the full-bodied enunciations of carefully crafted consonants and vowels. The works sound as if they are meant to share both the contemplative and the poetically humorous. She offers clarity in her narration, even if one doesn’t directly understand the content of each poem. Her work consistently makes religious references that play with one’s emotions. It is also metaphorical, witty, in-your-face blunt, and often suggests a rhythmic hint of lullaby tones. Some of the poetic journeys are curt, with sudden endings. There are so many great moments, for example, the “Obscenity Prayer,” which offers another take on the Lord’s Prayer and also wryly alludes to the Alcoholics Anonymous mantra known as the “Serenity Prayer.” T.E.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
