Understanding Pat Conroy

2015-04-15
Understanding Pat Conroy

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  • Author: Catherine Seltzer
  • Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
  • ISBN: 1611175178
  • Category : Literary Criticism
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 169

An insightful look at the life and work of the extraordinary popular Southern writer. Pat Conroy’s novels and memoirs have indelibly shaped the image of the South in the American imagination. His writing has rendered the physical landscape of the South Carolina lowcountry familiar to legions of readers, and has staked out a more complex geography as well—one defined by domestic trauma, racial anxiety, religious uncertainty, and cultural ambivalence. In Understanding Pat Conroy, Catherine Seltzer engages in a sustained consideration of Conroy and his work. The study begins with a sketch of Conroy’s biography, which, while fascinating in its own right, is employed here to illuminate many of the motifs and characters that define his work and to locate him within southern literary tradition. Seltzer then explores each of Conroy’s major works, tracing the evolution of the themes within and among each of his novels, including The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, The Prince of Tides, Beach Music, and South of Broad, and his memoirs, among them The Water Is Wide and My Losing Season. Seltzer’s insightful close readings of Conroy’s work are supplemented by interviews and archival material, shedding new light on the often-complex dynamics between text and context in Conroy’s oeuvre. More broadly, Understanding Pat Conroy explores the ways that Conroy delights in troubling the boundaries that circumscribe the literary establishment—and links his work to existing debates about the contemporary American canon.

The Water Is Wide

2002-03-26
The Water Is Wide

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  • Author: Pat Conroy
  • Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
  • ISBN: 0553381571
  • Category : Biography & Autobiography
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 322

A “miraculous” (Newsweek) human drama, based on a true story, from the renowned author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini The island is nearly deserted, haunting, beautiful. Across a slip of ocean lies South Carolina. But for the handful of families on Yamacraw Island, America is a world away. For years the people here lived proudly from the sea, but now its waters are not safe. Waste from industry threatens their very existence unless, somehow, they can learn a new way. But they will learn nothing without someone to teach them, and their school has no teacher—until one man gives a year of his life to the island and its people. Praise for The Water Is Wide “Miraculous . . . an experience of joy.”—Newsweek “A powerfully moving book . . . You will laugh, you will weep, you will be proud and you will rail . . . and you will learn to love the man.”—Charleston News and Courier “A hell of a good story.”—The New York Times “Few novelists write as well, and none as beautifully.”—Lexington Herald-Leader “[Pat] Conroy cuts through his experiences with a sharp edge of irony. . . . He brings emotion, writing talent and anger to his story.”—Baltimore Sun

My Reading Life

2010
My Reading Life

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  • Author: Pat Conroy
  • Publisher: Random House Large Print Publishing
  • ISBN: 9780739377840
  • Category : Authors, American
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 0

The author reviews a lifetime of reading, acknowledging the books that shaped his literary life and sharing anecdotes about how reading saw him through his most challenging periods and helped him to retain his grasp on sanity.

South of Broad

2009-08-11
South of Broad

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  • Author: Pat Conroy
  • Publisher: Dial Press
  • ISBN: 0385532148
  • Category : Fiction
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 546

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A big sweeping novel of friendship and marriage” (The Washington Post) by the celebrated author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini Leopold Bloom King has been raised in a family shattered—and shadowed—by tragedy. Lonely and adrift, he searches for something to sustain him and finds it among a tightly knit group of outsiders. Surviving marriages happy and troubled, unrequited loves and unspoken longings, hard-won successes and devastating breakdowns, as well as Charleston, South Carolina’s dark legacy of racism and class divisions, these friends will endure until a final test forces them to face something none of them are prepared for. Spanning two turbulent decades, South of Broad is Pat Conroy at his finest: a masterpiece from a great American writer whose passion for life and language knows no bounds. Praise for South of Broad “Vintage Pat Conroy . . . a big sweeping novel of friendship and marriage.”—The Washington Post “Conroy remains a magician of the page.”—The New York Times Book Review “Richly imagined . . . These characters are gallant in the grand old-fashioned sense, devoted to one another and to home. That siren song of place has never sounded so sweet.”—New Orleans Times-Picayune “A lavish, no-holds-barred performance.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “A lovely, often thrilling story.”—The Dallas Morning News “A pleasure to read . . . a must for Conroy’s fans.”—Associated Press

The Boo

2010-11-16
The Boo

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  • Author: Pat Conroy
  • Publisher: Open Road Media
  • ISBN: 145320640X
  • Category : Fiction
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 193

The #1 New York Times–bestselling author’s story about life at the Citadel in the 1960s, a profound exploration of what it means to be a man of honor. Lt. Col. Nugent Courvoisie, known to the cadets as “the Boo,” is an imposing and inspiring leader at the South Carolina military academy, the Citadel. A harsh disciplinarian but a compassionate mentor, he guides and inspires his young charges. Cadet Peter Cates is an anomaly. He is a gifted writer, a talented basketball player, and a good student, but his outward successes do little to impress his abusive father. The Boo takes Cates under his wing, but their bond is threatened when they’re forced to confront an act of violence on campus. Drawn from Pat Conroy’s own experiences as a student at the Citadel, The Boo is an unforgettable story about duty, loyalty, and standing up for what is right in the face of overwhelming circumstances.

My Losing Season

2003-08-26
My Losing Season

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  • Author: Pat Conroy
  • Publisher: Bantam
  • ISBN: 0553898183
  • Category : Biography & Autobiography
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 418

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A deeply affecting coming-of-age memoir about family, love, loss, basketball—and life itself—by the beloved author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini During one unforgettable season as a Citadel cadet, Pat Conroy becomes part of a basketball team that is ultimately destined to fail. And yet for a military kid who grew up on the move, the Bulldogs provide a sanctuary from the cold, abrasive father who dominates his life—and a crucible for becoming his own man. With all the drama and incandescence of his bestselling fiction, Conroy re-creates his pivotal senior year as captain of the Citadel Bulldogs. He chronicles the highs and lows of that fateful 1966–67 season, his tough disciplinarian coach, the joys of winning, and the hard-won lessons of losing. Most of all, he recounts how a group of boys came together as a team, playing a sport that would become a metaphor for a man whose spirit could never be defeated. Praise for My Losing Season “A superb accomplishment, maybe the finest book Pat Conroy has written.”—The Washington Post Book World “A wonderfully rich memoir that you don’t have to be a sports fan to love.”—Houston Chronicle “A memoir with all the Conroy trademarks . . . Here’s ample proof that losers always tell the best stories.”—Newsweek “In My Losing Season, Conroy opens his arms wide to embrace his difficult past and almost everyone in it.”—New York Daily News “Haunting, bittersweet and as compelling as his bestselling fiction.”—Boston Herald

The Death of Santini

2013-10-29
The Death of Santini

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  • Author: Pat Conroy
  • Publisher: Dial Press
  • ISBN: 0385530854
  • Category : Biography & Autobiography
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 352

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A brilliant storyteller, a master of sarcasm, and a hallucinatory stylist whose obsession with the impress of the past on the present binds him to Southern literary tradition.”—The Boston Globe Pat Conroy’s great success as a writer has always been intimately linked with the exploration of his family history. As the oldest of seven children who were dragged from military base to military base across the South, Pat bore witness to the often cruel and violent behavior of his father, Marine Corps fighter pilot Donald Patrick Conroy. While the publication of The Great Santini brought Pat much acclaim, the rift it caused brought even more attention, fracturing an already battered family. But as Pat tenderly chronicles here, even the oldest of wounds can heal. In the final years of Don Conroy’s life, the Santini unexpectedly refocused his ire to defend his son’s honor. The Death of Santini is a heart-wrenching act of reckoning whose ultimate conclusion is that love can soften even the meanest of men, lending significance to the oft-quoted line from Pat’s novel The Prince of Tides: “In families there are no crimes beyond forgiveness.” Praise for The Death of Santini “A painful, lyrical, addictive read that [Pat Conroy’s] fans won’t want to miss.”—People “Conroy’s conviction pulls you fleetly through the book, as does the potency of his bond with his family, no matter their sins.”—The New York Times Book Review “Vital, large-hearted and often raucously funny.”—The Washington Post “Conroy writes athletically and beautifully, slicing through painful memories like a point guard splitting the defense.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

The Great Santini

2002-03-26
The Great Santini

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  • Author: Pat Conroy
  • Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
  • ISBN: 0553381555
  • Category : Fiction
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 482

The piercing, iconic semi-autobiographical novel of a domineering father and ambitious son, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Prince of Tides Step into the powerhouse life of Bull Meecham. He’s all Marine—fighter pilot, king of the clouds, and absolute ruler of his family. Lillian is his wife—beautiful, southern-bred, with a core of velvet steel. Without her cool head, her kids would be in real trouble. Ben is the oldest, a born athlete whose best never satisfies the big man. Ben’s got to stand up, even fight back, against a father who doesn’t give in—not to his men, not to his wife, and certainly not to his son. Bull Meecham is undoubtedly Pat Conroy’s most explosive character—a man you should hate, but a man you will love. Praise for The Great Santini “Stinging authenticity . . . a book that won’t quit.”—The Atlanta Journal “[Pat] Conroy has captured a different slice of America in this funny, dramatic novel.”—Richmond News-Leader “Conroy takes aim at our darkest emotions, lets the arrow fly and hits the bull’s-eye almost every time.”—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “Robust and vivid . . . full of feeling.”—Newsday “God preserve Pat Conroy.”—The Boston Globe

Beach Music

2011-08-03
Beach Music

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  • Author: Pat Conroy
  • Publisher: Dial Press
  • ISBN: 0307804739
  • Category : Fiction
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 767

An American expatriate in Rome unearths his family legacy in this sweeping novel by the acclaimed author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini A Southerner living abroad, Jack McCall is scarred by tragedy and betrayal. His desperate desire to find peace after his wife’s suicide draws him into a painful, intimate search for the one haunting secret in his family’s past that can heal his anguished heart. Spanning three generations and two continents, from the contemporary ruins of the American South to the ancient ruins of Rome, from the unutterable horrors of the Holocaust to the lingering trauma of Vietnam, Beach Music sings with life’s pain and glory. It is a novel of lyric intensity and searing truth, another masterpiece among Pat Conroy’s legendary and beloved novels. Praise for Beach Music “Astonishing . . . stunning . . . The range of passions and subjects that bring life to every page is almost endless.”—The Washington Post Book World “Magnificent . . . clearly Conroy’s best.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Blockbuster writing at its best.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review “Pat Conroy’s writing contains a virtue now rare in most contemporary fiction: passion.”—The Denver Post “A powerful, heartfelt tale.”—Houston Chronicle

A Lowcountry Heart

2016-10-25
A Lowcountry Heart

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  • Author: Pat Conroy
  • Publisher: Dial Press
  • ISBN: 0385530870
  • Category : Literary Collections
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 208

Final words and heartfelt remembrances from bestselling author Pat Conroy take center stage in this winning nonfiction collection, supplemented by touching pieces from Conroy’s many friends. This new volume of Pat Conroy’s nonfiction brings together some of the most charming interviews, magazine articles, speeches, and letters from his long literary career, many of them addressed directly to his readers with his habitual greeting, “Hey, out there.” Ranging across diverse subjects, such as favorite recent reads, the challenge of staying motivated to exercise, and processing the loss of dear friends, Conroy’s eminently memorable pieces offer a unique window into the life of a true titan of Southern writing. With a beautiful introduction from his widow, novelist Cassandra King, A Lowcountry Heart also honors Conroy’s legacy and the innumerable lives he touched. Finally, the collection turns to remembrances of “The Great Conroy,” as he is lovingly titled by friends, and concludes with a eulogy. The inarguable power of Conroy’s work resonates throughout A Lowcountry Heart, and his influence promises to endure. This moving tribute is sure to be a cherished keepsake for any true Conroy fan and remain a lasting monument to one of the best-loved masters of contemporary American letters. Praise for A Lowcountry Heart “A fascinating look into the mind of one of the South’s greatest authors . . . something to remember him by and cherish for years to come.”—The Clarion-Ledger “Fans of Conroy . . . will relish the chance to spend more time with him in this glowing valedictory to his life and writing . . . Eloquent, folksy, and sometimes brutally honest.”—Publishers Weekly “A moving and proper tribute to a true Southern icon.”—The Florida Times-Union “Elegant essays [that] will not disappoint.”—The Washington Post “Resplendent . . . As always, his storytelling, word choice and rhythm are gorgeous, almost lyrical.”—USA Today