Entry 4: Title Significance

Literally speaking, the title The Liars' Club refers to a group of men residing in Leechfield, Texas, among them Mary Karr's father, who form an unnofficial "club". Mary Karr writes, "In fact, my father told me so many stories about his childhood that it seems in most ways more vivid to me than my own. His stories got told and retold before an audience of drinking men he played dominoes with on days off. They met at the American Legion or in the back room of Fisher's Bait Shop at times when their wives thought they were paying bills or down at the union hall. Somebody's pissed-off wife eventually christened them the Liars' Club, and it stuck" (14).

The Liars' Club did not plan ahead or arrange any meeting time or place. The members simply appeared to "meander together, seemingly by instinct..." (14). Once gathered, the men would drink, talk, play dominoes, and tell highly enjoyable but debatably exaggerated stories. No women or children were allowed, with the singular exception of the author of The Liars' Club herself, Mary Karr, who immensely loved and enjoyed her time spent with the club.

While the title of this memoir literally refers to the club of liars her father was an integral partaker in, it also has a deeper figurative meaning. For starters, Mary Karr's father was considered to be the best story-teller in the club. These stories ranged from hovering closely to the truth and being completely made-up. As Mary Karr belonged to what could safely be described as a fairly dysfunctional family, it is likely that the stories Karr's father shared were his own method of expressing himself. It is likely that the stories she heard were a part of the influence for her embarking on a career as a writer.

More importantly, this title employs the literary device of irony. While spending time with the club, Mary felt safe, protected, and happy, despite her company of liars. Meanwhile, outside of the Liars' Club, despite her company of (only supposedly) more truth-telling beings, Mary feels exposed and misplaced. Writes Karr on page 106, "I keenly felt the loss of my own trust in the world's order." Mary is more trusting of a group of males widely branded as liars than she is of a world that claims no such description. While the Liars' Club is a group of liars, they are in fact honest in that they do not attempt to deny their title as liars.

Furthermore, the Liars' Club meetings provide extremely vivid memories for Mary Karr. As she describes a particular experience with the club, she writes the following: "Even now the scene seems so real to me that I can't but write it in the present tense" (15). This further illustrates the irony of the title in that this memory is so real for Mary Karr despite the fact that it took place with a club of liars.