b'\\u201cA dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it.\\u201d Mary Karr has a captivating ability to give voice to what is funny in life\\u2019s most heartbreaking moments. She is beloved for her salty memoirs in which she traces her harrowing childhood in southeast Texas \\u2014 with a mother who once tried to kill her with a butcher\\u2019s knife and her own adult struggles with alcoholism and breakdown. Mary Karr embodies this wryness and wildness in her lesser-known spiritual practice as a devout Catholic \\u2014 an unexpected move she made in mid-life.'