Book Review:My Reading Life by Pat Conroy

Pat Conroy was born October 26,1945 in Atlanta,Georgia to an air fighter pilot and
a southern beauty whose embarrassment over not finishing college would become the driving need
for her to encourage her kids to read and  for herself to"outread her generation".  His first book"The Boo"
while attending Citadel Military Academy in Charleston, South Carolina.  Mr. Conroy decided to write
from a more personal experience with the publication of "The Great Santini"  which was based upon the
abuse that he suffered at the hands of his father while growing up.  Pat Conroy paid the ultimate sacrifice
as a writer, while receiving alot of accolades in the literary world, it would cost him his first marriage and
possibly that of his parents. There are relatives that ,to this day, won't speak to him because of this book,but
he did what any writer would do , they press forward.  The Lord's of Discipline was published in 1980,Prince of
Tides was published in 1986 with 5 million copies in print(Nick Nolte would go on to win an Oscar for his
leading role in the movie),Beach Music was published in 1995,along with My Losing Season.  Fast forward
to today with My Reading Life ,an collection of essays that pay tribute to the teachers, writers, publishers etc..
that have heavily influenced his career.  While I thought it was an honorable thing to do ,unless you are
a huge Pat Conroy fan and would like to learn more about his writing process I am not sure if I would highly
recommend getting it .I gave it 3 and 1/2 stars out of 5.  Ftc Disclosure:  I would like to thank Doubleday for
allowing me the opportunity to review this book.  I don't receive money from them ,I am an Amazon Associate.