The Liars' Club remained almost sixty weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. Critical praise for the work has been unanimous, and critics have searched for the most glowing adjectives to describe it. Louis Ermelino, for example, in People Weekly, calls it "an astonishing memoir" and praises Karr's use of "the rich cadence of the region and poetic images." In the Nation, Molly Ivins makes a similar point, commending Karr for her "bilingualism," by which she means Karr's ability to switch freely from literate, educated prose to down-home Texan expressions. Ivins also praises Karr's observations about class, and she concludes her review in laudatory terms:

This is a book that will stay gentle on your mind, stirring up memories of childhood and family. To have a poet's precision of language and a poet's gift for understanding emotion and a poet's insight into people applied to...