Pat Conroy

Pat Conroy's inspired masterpiece relates the dark and violent chronicle of an astounding family: the Wingos of Colleton, South Carolina. No reader will forget them. And no reader can remain untouched by their story.All Wingos share one heritage ... shrimp fishing, poverty and the searing memory of a single terrifying event - the source of Tom Wingo's self-hatred and of his sister Savannah's suicidal despair.To save himself and Savannah, Tom confronts the past with the help of New York psychologist Susan Lowenstein.As Tom and Susan unravel the bitter history of his troubled childhood, in episodes of grotesque humour, poignant lyricism and shattering violence, the door opens vividly onto a world peopled by a cast of colourful, eccentric and unforgettable characters.

In 1954, in Orlando, Florida, nine-year-old Pat Conroy discovered the game of basketball.

Widely known as the winner of the 1966 National Book Award and author of the best-selling novel ""Deliverance"", James Dickey devoted himself as much to the critique of the modern literary tradition as to his participation in it. A writer enthralled by teaching, he lectured at several major universities before settling at the University of South Carolina for nearly three decades as poet-in-residence. After his death in 1997, a transcript of his lectures was found among his papers. Collected here and published for the first time, these lectures reveal judgments and appraisals Dickey would use to great effect in his teaching. They also contribute to the unraveling of Dickey's art from the larger-than-life myth that surrounded him. In a comprehensive introduction to Dickey's remarks, Donald J. Greiner evaluates the relevance of the writer's often sharply worded opinions. The volume brings to life class sessions planned and delivered soon after Dickey took up full-time residence at the University of South Carolina, in the triumphal years following his rapid succession of honours. Full of asides, witticisms and afterthoughts, the sessions suggest not the pontification of a scholar at an academic conference but the confident learning of a practicing poet who happens to enjoy being in the classroom. Clearly setting forth his sense of literary criticism, Dickey repeatedly emphasizes the preeminence of the poet over the critic, the original use of language as a primary criterion for effective poetry, and the centrality of personal reaction to poetry as a measure of its value. Dickey's comments are valuable for their insight into both his own thought processes and those of the poets he reviewed, among them William Butler Yeats, Ezra Pound, Dylan Thomas, A.E. Housman, Gerald Manley Hopkins, Robert Frost, Walter de la Mare and Robert Bridges.

In a heartwarming new memoir, the author of The Water Is Wide reflects on the place of sports in his own life, describing his love of basketball, the role of the athlete for young men searching for their own identity and place in the world, his education at the Citadel, his relationship with his coach, and his journey to best-selling writer. Reprint.

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 "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

A Wall Street Journal Book Club pick - The acclaimed bestseller about upheaval at a Southern military academy, hailed by Larry King as "an American classic," by the legendary author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini In this powerful, mesmerizing, and acclaimed bestseller, Pat Conroy sweeps us into the turbulent world of four young men--friends, cadets, and blood brothers--and their days of hazing, heartbreak, pride, betrayal, and, ultimately, humanity. We go deep into the heart of the novel's hero, Will McLean, a rebellious outsider with his own personal code of honor who is battling into manhood the hard way. Immersed in a poignant love affair with a haunting beauty, Will must boldly confront the terrifying injustice of a corrupt institution as he struggles to expose a mysterious group known as "The Ten." Praise for The Lords of Discipline "If you are reading another book when you begin The Lords of Discipline, prepare to set it aside."--The Denver Post "A work of enormous power, passion, humor, and wisdom that] sweeps the reader along on a great tide of honest, throbbing emotion."--The Washington Star "Few novelists write as well, and none as beautifully."--Lexington Herald-Leader

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

This is a collection of 180 images from artist Jonathan Green. He paints the world of his childhood amongst the Gullah people of the South Carolina barrier islands. He reveals an awareness of the social and natural environments in which we live, elevating the everyday and celebrating the social.

He now returns with Beach Music, a story which tells of a family haunted by dark memories that reach back into the unutterable terrors of the Holocaust. Jack McCall, an American living in Rome with his young daughter, is trying to find peace after the recent trauma of his wife's suicide.

Together they will encounter the hell of vicious bullying and the rabid, raunchy and dangerously secretive atmosphere of an arrogant and proud military institute. and one of them will not survive. Based on Conroy's own experiences at The Citadel Military school in Charleston, The Lords of Discipline is a remarkable novel.