Mary Karr Books in Order
Mary Karr has written 10 books, published between 1987 and 2018. The first book is Abacus (1987) and the newest is Tropic of Squalor (2018). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 10
- Published
- 1987–2018
- Pages on record
- 1,234 in 8 of 10 books
- Reading time
- 21–31 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,234 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 8 of 10 titles with a page count on record.
Mary Karr is an American poet, essayist and memoirist from East Texas, and the Jesse Truesdell Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracuse University. The Liars' Club (1995) is her best known book, a bestselling memoir, followed by Cherry (2000) and Lit (2009). Poetry runs alongside the prose: Abacus (1987), The Devil's Tour (1993), Viper Rum (1998), Sinners Welcome (2006) and Tropic of Squalor (2018). The Art of Memoir (2015) completes ten catalogued titles.
How many Mary Karr books are there?
Mary Karr has 10 books, released between 1987 and 2018. They include 2 series and 2 titles listed outside any series.
Mary Karr Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 10 Mary Karr books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 11987521/4
- 21993511/4
- 319953201/4
- 41998781/4
- 520002881/4
- 62006931/4
- 72009–1/4
- 8The Art of Memoir2015 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/420152561/4
- 9Now Go Out There2016 · confirmed 1/42016–1/4
- 102018961/4
Mary Karr books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Mary Karr Poems in order
5 booksLiars' Club in order
3 books- 1. The Liars' Club
- 2. Cherry
- 3. Lit
Standalone books
2 books2 Mary Karr titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Mary Karr books in order?
You only need to read Mary Karr books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Mary Karr
Start with Abacus (1987), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Mary Karr book?
Tropic of Squalor (2018) is the newest Mary Karr book released so far.
Is there a new Mary Karr book coming?
No next Mary Karr book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Mary Karr at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest Mary Karr title on record dates from 2018, 8 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- Mary Karr books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
- Length
- 1,234 pages across the 8 of 10 books with a recorded length, a median of 94 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Mary Karr books, 3 of 10, were published in the 2010s.
What the Mary Karr books are about
All 10 Mary Karr books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: poetry is tagged on 5 of 10. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Poetry 5 of 10 books
- Poets 3 of 10 books
- Biography 3 of 10 books
- Childhood and youth 2 of 10 books
- Social life and customs 2 of 10 books