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Now Go Out There
A celebration of curiosity, compassion, and the surprising power of fear, based on the New York Times bestselling author and renowned professor’s 2015 commencement address at Syracuse University.
“Being smart and rich are lucky, but being curious & compassionate will save your ass.”
Every year there are one or two commencement speeches that strike a chord with audiences far greater than the student bodies for which they are intended. In 2015 Mary Karr’s speech to the graduating class of Syracuse University caught fire, hailed across the Internet as one of the most memorable in recent years, and lighting up the Twittersphere.
In Now Go Out There, Karr explains why having your heart broken is just as—if not more—important than falling in love; why getting what you want often scares you more than not getting it; how those experiences that appear to be the worst cannot be so easily categorized; and how to cope with the setbacks that inevitably befall all of us. “Don’t make the mistake of comparing your twisted up insides to other people’s blow-dried outsides,” she cautions. “Even the most privileged person in this stadium suffers the torments of the damned just going about the business of being human.”
An ideal—and beautifully designed—gift for a graduate or for anyone looking for some down-to-earth life advice, Now Go Out There is destined to become a classic.
“Being smart and rich are lucky, but being curious & compassionate will save your ass.”
Every year there are one or two commencement speeches that strike a chord with audiences far greater than the student bodies for which they are intended. In 2015 Mary Karr’s speech to the graduating class of Syracuse University caught fire, hailed across the Internet as one of the most memorable in recent years, and lighting up the Twittersphere.
In Now Go Out There, Karr explains why having your heart broken is just as—if not more—important than falling in love; why getting what you want often scares you more than not getting it; how those experiences that appear to be the worst cannot be so easily categorized; and how to cope with the setbacks that inevitably befall all of us. “Don’t make the mistake of comparing your twisted up insides to other people’s blow-dried outsides,” she cautions. “Even the most privileged person in this stadium suffers the torments of the damned just going about the business of being human.”
An ideal—and beautifully designed—gift for a graduate or for anyone looking for some down-to-earth life advice, Now Go Out There is destined to become a classic.
106 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 3, 2016
34 people are currently reading
1004 people want to read
About the author
Mary Karr
27 books2,093 followersMary Karr is an American poet, essayist and memoirist. She rose to fame in 1995 with the publication of her bestselling memoir The Liars' Club. She is the Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracuse University.
Karr was born January 16, 1955, in Groves, a small town in East Texas located in the Port Arthur region, known for its oil refineries and chemical plants, to J. P. and Charlie Marie (Moore) Karr. In her memoirs, Karr calls the town "Leechfield." Karr's father worked in an oil refinery while her mother was an amateur artist and business owner.
The Liars' Club, published in 1995, was a New York Times bestseller for over a year, and was named one of the year's best books. It delves vividly and often humorously into her deeply troubled childhood, most of which was spent in a gritty, industrial section of Southeast Texas in the 1960s. She was encouraged to write her personal history by her friend, author Tobias Wolff, but has said she only took up the project when her marriage fell apart.
She followed the book with another memoir, Cherry (2000), about her late adolescence and early womanhood. A third memoir, Lit, which she says details "my journey from blackbelt sinner and lifelong agnostic to unlikely Catholic," came out in November 2009.
Karr thinks of herself first and foremost as a poet. She was a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry in 2005 and has won Pushcart prizes for both her poetry and her essays. Karr has published four volumes of poetry: Abacus (Wesleyan University Press, CT, 1987, in its New Poets series), The Devil's Tour (New Directions NY, 1993, an original TPB), Viper Rum (New Directions NY, 1998, an original TPB), and her new volume Sinners Welcome (HarperCollins, NY 2006). Her poems have appeared in major literary magazines such as Poetry, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic Monthly.
She is a controversial figure in the American poetry "establishment," thanks to her Pushcart-award winning essay, "Against Decoration," which was originally published in the quarterly review Parnassus (1991) and later reprinted in Viper Rum. In this essay Karr took a stand in favor of content over poetic style. She argued emotions need to be directly expressed, and clarity should be a watch-word: characters are too obscure, the presented physical world is often "foggy" (that is imprecise), references are "showy" (both non-germane and overused), metaphors over-shadow expected meaning, and techniques of language (polysyllables, archaic words, intricate syntax, "yards of adjectives") only "slow a reader"'s understanding. Karr directly criticized well-known, well-connected, and award-winning poets such as James Merrill, Amy Clampitt, Vijay Seshadri, and Rosanna Warren (daughter of Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Penn Warren). Karr favors controlled elegance to create transcendent poetic meaning out of not-quite-ordinary moments, presenting James Merrill's Charles on Fire as a successful example.
While some ornamentations Karr rails against are due to shifting taste, she believes much is due to the revolt against formalism which substituted sheer ornamentation for the discipline of meter. Karr notes Randall Jarrell said much the same thing, albeit more decorously, nearly fifty years ago. Her essay is meant to provide the technical detail to Jarrell's argument. As a result of this essay Karr earned a reputation for being both courageous and combative, a matured version of the BB-gun toting little hellion limned in The Liars' Club.
Another essay, "Facing Altars: Poetry and Prayer", was originally published in Poetry (2005). Karr tells of moving from agnostic alcoholic to baptized Catholic of the decidedly "cafeteria" kind, yet one who prays twice daily with loud fervor from her "foxhole". In this essay Karr argues that poetry and prayer arise from the same sources within us.
Karr was born January 16, 1955, in Groves, a small town in East Texas located in the Port Arthur region, known for its oil refineries and chemical plants, to J. P. and Charlie Marie (Moore) Karr. In her memoirs, Karr calls the town "Leechfield." Karr's father worked in an oil refinery while her mother was an amateur artist and business owner.
The Liars' Club, published in 1995, was a New York Times bestseller for over a year, and was named one of the year's best books. It delves vividly and often humorously into her deeply troubled childhood, most of which was spent in a gritty, industrial section of Southeast Texas in the 1960s. She was encouraged to write her personal history by her friend, author Tobias Wolff, but has said she only took up the project when her marriage fell apart.
She followed the book with another memoir, Cherry (2000), about her late adolescence and early womanhood. A third memoir, Lit, which she says details "my journey from blackbelt sinner and lifelong agnostic to unlikely Catholic," came out in November 2009.
Karr thinks of herself first and foremost as a poet. She was a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry in 2005 and has won Pushcart prizes for both her poetry and her essays. Karr has published four volumes of poetry: Abacus (Wesleyan University Press, CT, 1987, in its New Poets series), The Devil's Tour (New Directions NY, 1993, an original TPB), Viper Rum (New Directions NY, 1998, an original TPB), and her new volume Sinners Welcome (HarperCollins, NY 2006). Her poems have appeared in major literary magazines such as Poetry, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic Monthly.
She is a controversial figure in the American poetry "establishment," thanks to her Pushcart-award winning essay, "Against Decoration," which was originally published in the quarterly review Parnassus (1991) and later reprinted in Viper Rum. In this essay Karr took a stand in favor of content over poetic style. She argued emotions need to be directly expressed, and clarity should be a watch-word: characters are too obscure, the presented physical world is often "foggy" (that is imprecise), references are "showy" (both non-germane and overused), metaphors over-shadow expected meaning, and techniques of language (polysyllables, archaic words, intricate syntax, "yards of adjectives") only "slow a reader"'s understanding. Karr directly criticized well-known, well-connected, and award-winning poets such as James Merrill, Amy Clampitt, Vijay Seshadri, and Rosanna Warren (daughter of Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Penn Warren). Karr favors controlled elegance to create transcendent poetic meaning out of not-quite-ordinary moments, presenting James Merrill's Charles on Fire as a successful example.
While some ornamentations Karr rails against are due to shifting taste, she believes much is due to the revolt against formalism which substituted sheer ornamentation for the discipline of meter. Karr notes Randall Jarrell said much the same thing, albeit more decorously, nearly fifty years ago. Her essay is meant to provide the technical detail to Jarrell's argument. As a result of this essay Karr earned a reputation for being both courageous and combative, a matured version of the BB-gun toting little hellion limned in The Liars' Club.
Another essay, "Facing Altars: Poetry and Prayer", was originally published in Poetry (2005). Karr tells of moving from agnostic alcoholic to baptized Catholic of the decidedly "cafeteria" kind, yet one who prays twice daily with loud fervor from her "foxhole". In this essay Karr argues that poetry and prayer arise from the same sources within us.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
March 12, 2016
There’s not much to this Syracuse University commencement speech. Leftovers of sob-story autobiography and clichéd advice cobbled together. Disappointing given how much I loved Karr’s recent The Art of Memoir. For a truly inspirational graduation address, I recommend David Foster Wallace’s This Is Water.
March 5, 2016
This is a book version of a commencement speech Mary Karr gave at Syracuse in 2015. Similar to reading This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life by David Foster Wallace, it is slightly tweaked, lightly illustrated, and largely intended for graduation present fare.
I've read a lot of Mary Karr in the last few years, in fact she includes a poem about her son from the most recent book of poetry I read - Sinners Welcome. She makes reference to her own life, and how situations that seem bad become fodder for learning and writing. She encourages graduates who weren't at the top of the pack, who struggle - because that was her experience and she learned and wrote and became who she is.
I received a copy of this from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
I've read a lot of Mary Karr in the last few years, in fact she includes a poem about her son from the most recent book of poetry I read - Sinners Welcome. She makes reference to her own life, and how situations that seem bad become fodder for learning and writing. She encourages graduates who weren't at the top of the pack, who struggle - because that was her experience and she learned and wrote and became who she is.
"Pretty much ever literary project I ever undertook for the past forty years grows directly out of what she and my daddy taught me.This is a quick read, and I think we can all adopt Karr's mantra:
So was being their daughter good for me or bad for me?"
"This hard spell might be the start of something truly great I can't foresee right now because I'm scared shitless."Karr dedicates the book to George Saunders, her longtime colleague at Syracuse.
I received a copy of this from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
November 24, 2019
Finished this Mary Karr in a flash! It‘s lovely for anyone going through big life changes. If you‘re questioning whether difficult times will help you grow—she says they will!
May 4, 2016
It is easy to see why Mary Karr's commencement speech to the graduating class at Syracuse University (May 10, 2015) went viral! This is a perfect quick read for anyone that needs insight, inspiration, advice, or a young student looking for answers, or perhaps to realize that there are others in life who overcome tremendous adversity, become educated and avoid doing time in the penitentiary. Karr's poem: "A Blessing From My Sixteen Years' Son" was an added bonus with many good and amusing quotes.
I was a bit skeptical at first, wondering if was this e-book single another clever marketing technique. This will take less than 30 minutes to read, there are several brief sentences and/or paragraphs per page, unlike a regular book. The layout is also well done. I liked the blue cards in between each segment of the material. Obviously if readers/reviewers don't care for Karr's genuinely candid direct style, or don't care for her memoirs, shouldn't get this. I also enjoyed reading this aloud to my own college student. ~ With thanks to the Seattle Public Library.
I was a bit skeptical at first, wondering if was this e-book single another clever marketing technique. This will take less than 30 minutes to read, there are several brief sentences and/or paragraphs per page, unlike a regular book. The layout is also well done. I liked the blue cards in between each segment of the material. Obviously if readers/reviewers don't care for Karr's genuinely candid direct style, or don't care for her memoirs, shouldn't get this. I also enjoyed reading this aloud to my own college student. ~ With thanks to the Seattle Public Library.
September 9, 2019
I had really high hopes for this little book. I was expecting to be inspired and I was hoping to also get a copy for a friend that was graduating from college.
But there was so much language and questionable content that I had a hard time focusing on what she was trying to say.
And the actual message of the book was either too obscured by the above (maybe I was distracted?) or just really not there.
I finished and had no idea what she was trying to tell me. So, not really impressed.
I give it one star for the concept she was trying to cover. I loved the title.
But there was so much language and questionable content that I had a hard time focusing on what she was trying to say.
And the actual message of the book was either too obscured by the above (maybe I was distracted?) or just really not there.
I finished and had no idea what she was trying to tell me. So, not really impressed.
I give it one star for the concept she was trying to cover. I loved the title.
December 30, 2024
I was curious to read this from the cover and satisfied once I opened it. Dare to read it!
April 10, 2016
Though I'm no fan of commencement speeches, and commencement speech books are often about revenue generation, not enlightenment, nevertheless I wanted to read Now Go Out There because I enjoyed five stars worth of pleasure from Mary Karr's The Art of Memoir. My verdict: Her memoir is still great, but Now Go Out There is not for me. Though the speech's personal revelations are interesting and the advice is good, the structure is too free flowing for my taste.
The speech's personal revelations are the blunt, raw, Karr-typical confessionals on her drug use, dysfunctional family, lawless friends, and psychological hang-ups. Though these confessionals are only briefly described, they are powerful, revealing, and well articulated. And her advice is useful too, much of it falling into "if it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger" and "turn problems into opportunities" schools of self help. Though I'm decades beyond college graduation, I'm guessing it's constructive advice for kids listening in graduation gowns.
So I have no problem with the speech's content--the personal stories and advice--but I found myself saying, "Where is this going?" or "What's the relevance of that?" all too frequently. For instance, after a brief introduction, Karr talks about the purpose of poetry and then reads a poem. Next there's a brief riff on how we all add to the conversation of humanity, not just the Einsteins, but the slackers too. Then the speech shifts to the heart of the matter, facing fear and anxiety, which is clear enough.
But my perplexion returned when Karr discusses the solutions to confronting that fear and anxiety. There's something about relying on your internal "watcher or notice self" and something about curiosity and something about compassion and empathy for others. Karr does tie these ideas together, but I had to work very hard to follow the through line to her point. Ultimately it was so much labor, I find I didn't enjoy what could have been an interesting, enlightening, and even pleasant speech.
The speech's personal revelations are the blunt, raw, Karr-typical confessionals on her drug use, dysfunctional family, lawless friends, and psychological hang-ups. Though these confessionals are only briefly described, they are powerful, revealing, and well articulated. And her advice is useful too, much of it falling into "if it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger" and "turn problems into opportunities" schools of self help. Though I'm decades beyond college graduation, I'm guessing it's constructive advice for kids listening in graduation gowns.
So I have no problem with the speech's content--the personal stories and advice--but I found myself saying, "Where is this going?" or "What's the relevance of that?" all too frequently. For instance, after a brief introduction, Karr talks about the purpose of poetry and then reads a poem. Next there's a brief riff on how we all add to the conversation of humanity, not just the Einsteins, but the slackers too. Then the speech shifts to the heart of the matter, facing fear and anxiety, which is clear enough.
But my perplexion returned when Karr discusses the solutions to confronting that fear and anxiety. There's something about relying on your internal "watcher or notice self" and something about curiosity and something about compassion and empathy for others. Karr does tie these ideas together, but I had to work very hard to follow the through line to her point. Ultimately it was so much labor, I find I didn't enjoy what could have been an interesting, enlightening, and even pleasant speech.
August 12, 2017
I love graduation speeches (hello Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, J.K. Rowling, Jim Carrey, and Ali G!) and apparently I'm not the only one, because the one given by Mary Karr, famed memoirist and professor (I read and enjoyed her memoir The Liar's Club many years back) was so good that it was made into a book.
A quick and easy read, Now Go Out There is full of inspirational quotes, heart, and humour. Kind of like Chicken Soup for the Soul, except for eager graduates. Karr shares her wisdom with endearing compassion and honesty.
Here's one of my favourite quotes:
"When I was young and troubled, I thought feeling better would only happen when I found enough people to love me. But it turns out finding people to love and do for is way more healing. And that's what my students have given me."
Knowing she's a professor made me feel nostalgic for the time I was a university student and the near reverence I felt towards a few of my professors. I hold great admiration and respect for those who teach well and with humanity. Because of this, I burst into tears when I read the passage where Karr shares her close relationship with one of her professors, who was so open and generous with his time while she was a struggling student:
"And before I left Minnesota - stupidly dropping out to lope around Europe - I said to him, "How will I ever pay you back for all this?"
And he looked surprised. He said, 'It's not that linear. You're not gonna pay me back. You're gonna take somebody else to lunch who needs it.'
"Walt showed me that a great talent for fear could also mask a talent for empathy.
For caring how others feel.
For tenderness.
There's an unexpected power coming from care that I choose to interpret as divine."
This is a good book to have for those times when we need a dose of inspiration and encouragement from a kind-hearted soul.
A quick and easy read, Now Go Out There is full of inspirational quotes, heart, and humour. Kind of like Chicken Soup for the Soul, except for eager graduates. Karr shares her wisdom with endearing compassion and honesty.
Here's one of my favourite quotes:
"When I was young and troubled, I thought feeling better would only happen when I found enough people to love me. But it turns out finding people to love and do for is way more healing. And that's what my students have given me."
Knowing she's a professor made me feel nostalgic for the time I was a university student and the near reverence I felt towards a few of my professors. I hold great admiration and respect for those who teach well and with humanity. Because of this, I burst into tears when I read the passage where Karr shares her close relationship with one of her professors, who was so open and generous with his time while she was a struggling student:
"And before I left Minnesota - stupidly dropping out to lope around Europe - I said to him, "How will I ever pay you back for all this?"
And he looked surprised. He said, 'It's not that linear. You're not gonna pay me back. You're gonna take somebody else to lunch who needs it.'
"Walt showed me that a great talent for fear could also mask a talent for empathy.
For caring how others feel.
For tenderness.
There's an unexpected power coming from care that I choose to interpret as divine."
This is a good book to have for those times when we need a dose of inspiration and encouragement from a kind-hearted soul.
May 1, 2016
When I saw this book on Edelweiss I was attracted by the cover art then when I read the synopsis for it I knew I had to request it because I have never read any speeches but need to start doing so. Therefore I was really pleased that the Publisher approved my request and downloaded it immediately.
This book caught my attention immediately so much so that I read the first 40% of it within 20 minutes of starting it. Mary's writing was almost lyrical in places and I was able to understand the message she was trying to get across to the students that the speech was for. She was trying to tell the students to be themselves and to go out into the world and do what they want to do with their lives not what other people want them to do.
I know that I will re-read this book and I really want to read her other books as well. This is a book that I will both recommend to others as well buy it as a gift for anyone who I think will enjoy it. It is for these reasons that I gave the book a five star rating.
This book caught my attention immediately so much so that I read the first 40% of it within 20 minutes of starting it. Mary's writing was almost lyrical in places and I was able to understand the message she was trying to get across to the students that the speech was for. She was trying to tell the students to be themselves and to go out into the world and do what they want to do with their lives not what other people want them to do.
I know that I will re-read this book and I really want to read her other books as well. This is a book that I will both recommend to others as well buy it as a gift for anyone who I think will enjoy it. It is for these reasons that I gave the book a five star rating.
April 22, 2016
Not much new here. A talk given at a graduation about how life is hard but we overcome, blah, blah, blah. I'm giving it three stars though because of this particularly interesting point that I will be thinking about for a while ...
"Every major religion tells you the solution to your fear is loving other people, and they're not wrong. But few religions talk about how truly nerve racking other people can be when they're sucking up your subway air or getting your job or stealing your boyfriend. Or just standing in line I had of you at Starbucks."
She then goes on to talk about compassion, which I think is an interesting and necessary topic for discussion.
"Every major religion tells you the solution to your fear is loving other people, and they're not wrong. But few religions talk about how truly nerve racking other people can be when they're sucking up your subway air or getting your job or stealing your boyfriend. Or just standing in line I had of you at Starbucks."
She then goes on to talk about compassion, which I think is an interesting and necessary topic for discussion.
March 16, 2017
Book on the commencement speech of Mary Karr. At the start , I didn't understand why this book is famous , it seemed quite ordinary until the point where Mary Karr started to tell about her life .
One of the best thing she said was about being "curious & compassionate" .
I knew Mary Karr as an English professor but I never knew what she had to go through in her life , thanks to this book !
It's a short novel , and one should definitely read it .
Happy Reading :)
One of the best thing she said was about being "curious & compassionate" .
I knew Mary Karr as an English professor but I never knew what she had to go through in her life , thanks to this book !
It's a short novel , and one should definitely read it .
Happy Reading :)
October 10, 2016
A charming little read that found me on a morning when I needed it most. I borrowed this from the library but will be buying it to flip through on days when I'm feeling down. Lovely and inspiring, not unlike Karr herself.
April 10, 2017
This is a quick read as it's edited from a commencement speech delivered by Mary Karr in 2015. One of my favourite quotes is this one: "The loony bin is where I learned that as deep as a wound is, that's how deep the healing can be." It's a pithy, irreverent and heart-some read.
January 7, 2019
A very quick read and is more of a series of sound bites taken from a graduation speech. Love these lines: "being smart and rich are lucky, but being curious and compassionate will save your ass.
Being curious and compassionate can take you out of your ego and edge your soul towards wonder."
Being curious and compassionate can take you out of your ego and edge your soul towards wonder."
May 20, 2016
It will take you ten minutes to read this book/graduation speech, and you'll put it down feeling inspired.
May 24, 2016
Perfect for the graduate! So empathic and wonderful!
July 27, 2017
A printing of a commencement speech. Nothing overly new or inspiring.
May 25, 2024
This commencement speech is a testament to the potential of suffering, hope, grace, and compassion to shape and change our hearts and outlook on life.
January 23, 2025
Brief yet rousing speech about the purpose of education and the value of imperfection.
February 16, 2023
"And my beautiful outlaw mother read books the way junkies shoot dope." Hm, touche.
A deeply weird and memoir-centric commencement speech as one would expect from Mary Karr.
A deeply weird and memoir-centric commencement speech as one would expect from Mary Karr.
January 2, 2018
Like Pema Chodron, who told the graduating students of Naropa University in 2014 to get curious about their mistakes as mistakes can be a portal to creativity, so said Mary Karr in her 2015 commencement address to the graduating students of Syracuse University.
Mary Karr, the author of three award-winning, bestselling memoirs and the Peck Professor of Literature at Syracuse Univeristy, exhorts the graduating students to banish any fear of misfortune and face their lives with optimism. Like any good storyteller, the author dips into her past, telling the students her story of drugs, poverty and mental issues that almost drove her to give up on everything. However, she counsels that the darkest roads often hides the paths to redemption and people out to be curious about what scares them. She says:
"And if you can get curious about what scares or infuriates you—especially if it’s part of yourself—you can grow less scared........ And stuff that first looked like the worst, most degrading thing that could ever happen almost always led me to something extraordinary and fine."
Moreover, she says that even when overcome by fear and hopelessness, we should use that to develop empathy towards those who feel as they do. As she says, "a great talent for fear could also mask a talent for empathy. For caring how others feel for tenderness."
HarperCollins has made this commencement address into a book titled Now Out There (And Get Curious) to be published in April 2016. Whether you are a student or an adult, Now Go Out There is a fine read and a collection of encouraging words from someone who has gone through hard times and triumphed.
Mary Karr, the author of three award-winning, bestselling memoirs and the Peck Professor of Literature at Syracuse Univeristy, exhorts the graduating students to banish any fear of misfortune and face their lives with optimism. Like any good storyteller, the author dips into her past, telling the students her story of drugs, poverty and mental issues that almost drove her to give up on everything. However, she counsels that the darkest roads often hides the paths to redemption and people out to be curious about what scares them. She says:
"And if you can get curious about what scares or infuriates you—especially if it’s part of yourself—you can grow less scared........ And stuff that first looked like the worst, most degrading thing that could ever happen almost always led me to something extraordinary and fine."
Moreover, she says that even when overcome by fear and hopelessness, we should use that to develop empathy towards those who feel as they do. As she says, "a great talent for fear could also mask a talent for empathy. For caring how others feel for tenderness."
HarperCollins has made this commencement address into a book titled Now Out There (And Get Curious) to be published in April 2016. Whether you are a student or an adult, Now Go Out There is a fine read and a collection of encouraging words from someone who has gone through hard times and triumphed.
September 28, 2016
When I picked up this book, I didn't realize it was essentially a transcription of a year old commencement speech at Syracuse University, but was still glad I did.
After the initial disappointment which passed in the first few pages, I got caught up In Karr's exquisite and clean prose and read the entire book in one quick sitting even while taking my time with many of the lines.
I got exposed to Mary Karr over an NPR interview this past weekend, and that really caused me to pick this up. I'm still amazed how I was able to find her name even after only hearing a snippet of the interview, but all I had to search for was 'the art of a memoir.' There were some great lines I heard in that interview, not taken from this book, which is going to make me seek out some additional Mary Karr to read for sure.
After the initial disappointment which passed in the first few pages, I got caught up In Karr's exquisite and clean prose and read the entire book in one quick sitting even while taking my time with many of the lines.
I got exposed to Mary Karr over an NPR interview this past weekend, and that really caused me to pick this up. I'm still amazed how I was able to find her name even after only hearing a snippet of the interview, but all I had to search for was 'the art of a memoir.' There were some great lines I heard in that interview, not taken from this book, which is going to make me seek out some additional Mary Karr to read for sure.
January 19, 2018
Speaking to the University of Syracuse graduating class in 2015, Mary Karr is thrilled to be receiving an honorary PhD. she speaks eloquently of fear. ¨Getting what you want often scares you more than not getting it.
¨As a young graduate student, I worried like hell that I looked like a bimbo; now I am an old maid schoolteacher, I worry that I don´t.
¨My point being that almost everytime I was super-afraid, it was of the wrong thing.¨
Karrś humor and ability to look at herself and her life and provide motivation and wipe away fears of the audience listening to her. Some of her other books are Liarś Club, Cherry and Lit. She has also written The Art of Memoir.
¨As a young graduate student, I worried like hell that I looked like a bimbo; now I am an old maid schoolteacher, I worry that I don´t.
¨My point being that almost everytime I was super-afraid, it was of the wrong thing.¨
Karrś humor and ability to look at herself and her life and provide motivation and wipe away fears of the audience listening to her. Some of her other books are Liarś Club, Cherry and Lit. She has also written The Art of Memoir.
August 9, 2018
I think I figured out why I enjoy these commencement addresses so much (who has four more checked out to read during her lunch breaks? This chick right here. They're addicting): these published commencement addresses have the same energy as a college city, that same - I won't say "potential" or "wisdom" because that's cheesy. But then again, these commencement addresses are cheesy, so why not - potential and wisdom.
NOTE TO THE ALT-LEFT: Karr presented a constructive mentality for dealing withthe alt-right thoughtlessness
it's the same thing
thoughtlessness that may allow survival of this blundering administration.
NOTE TO THE ALT-LEFT: Karr presented a constructive mentality for dealing with
May 28, 2016
From the best-selling and life changing author of several books I haven't read yet, comes this commencement speech. I have a yen for commencement speeches on paper. You can remember them or reread them. Also, this one, like a great number of those I've read recently reminds all who read it, not only those who've just graduated, that the world is full of pain. They can and must do something to mitigate it. I need that reminder occasionally. It does reference God and the way He helped the author deal with very tough circumstances and how her family brings her joy.
Good stuff.
Good stuff.
July 4, 2017
This seems to be one of a whole new genre being published -- the essay/graduation speech. So, essentially, an essay about what to expect from life now that you are an adult, invested with the best our society has to offer. And, as always, Mary Karr has an honest and truthful reminder to be human and to be grateful for what you've gotten, but to also search out more. As always, she writes well and manages to connect the mundane and flawed to the infinite and ideal. A good quick read if you like the genre. :)
January 31, 2018
I found this little volume after reading some of Mary Karr's poetry, and wanting to read other things by her. I did listen to some of this commencement address online, but found the book much more precise and impactful......the formatting, with Gregg Kulick's artwork, is great. Overall, her musings on what college graduates might have ahead of them, and how to approach life in all its scariness, really apply to all of us.
My favorite quote (and there are lots of great ones!): "far as I can tell, a dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it."
My favorite quote (and there are lots of great ones!): "far as I can tell, a dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it."
September 1, 2016
I can see why this commencement speech took social media by storm. So glad it made it to the "gift book" market where it crossed my radar.
Refreshing.
Reaffirming.
Hopeful.
Funny.
Honest.
Inspiring.
It certainly bears re-reading and is chock full of potential "memes".
Here's a link to the actual address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_fip...
and I see the book is available as an audio as well. Having all three would not be over-kill.
Refreshing.
Reaffirming.
Hopeful.
Funny.
Honest.
Inspiring.
It certainly bears re-reading and is chock full of potential "memes".
Here's a link to the actual address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_fip...
and I see the book is available as an audio as well. Having all three would not be over-kill.
May 23, 2017
Reading Mary Karr is never a waste of time. Her work is always funny, wise and insightful. But, shelling out ten bucks for an abridged version of a commencement speech she gave at Syracuse University may feel like a waste of money to the frugal (cheap) amongst us. Having said that, this is definitely a worthwhile (and quick) read. Maybe buy a copy and then re-gift it. It would make a great graduation gift.
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