My reading life

I have read and enjoyed three of Pat Conroy’s books, and have another three still to read sitting on my shelves. He is a gifted storyteller, and I very much enjoyed this book focusing on his love of literature and reading and the various influences throughout his life that set him on a literary

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path. I had the audio version of the book, which is narrated by Conroy himself. He’s not the most polished reader, but to hear his own story from his own lips (soft Southern slur and all) was very effective and made the telling more intimate. At turns funny and sad, [My Reading Life] is both a memoir and a manifesto; a memoir of one man’s life journey through books, and a manifesto on the value of all things biblio – books, libraries, writers, bookshops, etc. While in the middle of listening to the book, I had the opportunity to purchase a gently used hardcover copy of it, which I snapped up to add to my permanent collection. This one gets five stars because how can I quibble over such a passionate articulation of the value of books and reading?

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Sure, there are references to a large number of books in this memoir but what really stands out for me, are the people that have influenced Conroy’s “reading life”. First, there is his long suffering mother, who introduced him early on to the insular world of books, creating a shield against

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loneliness and an abusive father. Then there is Mr. Norris, his first English teacher, who becomes his guide through the literary and cultural landscape. There are also librarians, sales reps, book-shop owners and fellow writers, all contributing to this young man’s development.
Now back to the books themselves. I wish there would have been more titles explored in detail but the few he does showcase, are awe-inspiring. His thoughts on Gone With the Wind and War and Peace are wonderful, adding a steely jab at me, (inadvertently of course) for my incredible negligence in not reading either one. That will be remedied, I assure you.
This is an engaging book, filled with clever and witty prose. I have only read [The Prince of Tides] but I have been inspired to go back and read all of his work.
“Here is what I want from a book, what I demand, what I pray for when I take up a novel and begin to read the first sentence: I want everything and nothing less, the full measure of a writer‘s heart.” Nicely put, Mr. Conroy.

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"In a reading life, one thing leads to another in a circle of accident and chance."

Taking a quote from the final chapter in Conroy's book was the closest I could come to describing the book itself. I suppose it's most accurate to call this a book of vignettes, all tied to the reading, writing, and

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most of all life of Pat Conroy, all three of which are closely related for him as he makes clear in this collection.

I came to this book having never read Conroy's fiction, or in fact any other book he's ever written. I found an author interview in a magazine that intrigued me, so I put the book on my list to read. I picked it up ready to rush through - enjoy, of course, but read quickly - because it was due back at the library soonest, and I love books about books. But Conroy wouldn't let me rush. I read quickly, yes, but because I had chunks of time here and there and I put aside my other reading to make time for this, because each part of his story wanted me to give my full attention. Every sentence wanted to be considered. One essay made me cry, another made me laugh, and I had to wait before I read the next so that I could separate them out and give each its due. Conroy made me want to pick up [War and Peace] to read right now, and maybe to add [Military Brats] to my list of books to check out from the library. He made me want to read at least one of his novels to see if I like his fiction as well as his nonfiction. I thoroughly enjoyed this glimpse of his love for literature, for story, and for language.

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Pat Conroy has always been one of my favorite authors - I've read everything he ever wrote, and am now determined to re-read all of them again. But nothing he has ever written comes close to being the literary masterpiece this one is IMHO. It's the memoir every bibliophile dreams and lusts

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after---wishing we could close our eyes and pretend that this was the literary legacy of our past, wishing we could put words together and come up with the luscious, gorgeous, delicious images and thoughts that he does.

When I read books, particularly those I've committed to review for the publisher (as I did with this one) I read with pencil in hand to jot down particularly memorable passages, to make note of special ideas, so I can formulate a somewhat coherent description of what I thought of the book, and not leave out anything important. Had I used this technique with this book I would have simply had to copy the entire thing. Here is just one example of what is so memorable:

"I cheer when a writer stops me in my tracks, forces me to go back and read a sentence again and again, and I find myself thunderstruck, grateful the way readers always are when a writer takes the time to put them on the floor. That's what a good book does---it puts readers on their knees. It makes you want to believe in a world you just read about--the one that will make you feel different about the world you thought you lived in, the world that will never be the same." pg. 329-330.

I especially like the fact that he doesn't just concentrate on books however. He spends a great deal of time and effort introducing us to those people who gave him the lifetime gift of books and reading - his mother, his English teacher, a librarian, a bookstore owner, his students. The book is not just a memoir of his reading life - it's a tribute to all those people who molded that life.

This beautiful volume has put him firmly in the ranks of those who hold sway over the reading lives of the rest of us.

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Mr. Conroy loves words. He loves their flow, their tumble and play. And he isn't afraid to use them. I learned this when I first start reading his fiction with its exultant, flowery phrases, with its parallels to his own life. This nonfiction book tells me why he writes as he does.

Although titled

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My Reading Life, this book is also about his writing life and his life in general. The fifteen chapters each address a different person or book or time that ultimately shaped who he is and how he writes.

I grew up a word-haunted boy. I felt words inside me and stored them wondrous as pearls. I mouthed them and fingered them and rolled them around my tongue. My mother filled my bedtime hour with poetry that rang like Sanctus bells as she praised the ineffable loveliness of the English language with her Georgia-scented voice. I found that hive of words beautiful beyond all conveyance.

I was horrified and embarrassed as a woman to learn how badly he was treated at a writers' conference in the early days of militant feminism, how one famous author whose work I have greatly admired dismissed him out-of-hand because he was a Southern white boy. I loved the glimpses into other authors' lives, how their writings and their personalities could be at such odds.

I hated some of the descriptions of his life in Paris, of the horse butchers, of the “fifty Algerian men bidding on the very young girl in the window.”

There was an auctioneer in front of the window chiding the men for their cheapness, and the noise rose in pitch as the bidding grew feverish. The girl was very young, fragile, and she was not smiling.

How can someone see that and not want to do something to help the girl? How can anyone wonder about the girl's thoughts but stay a passive observer?

I am one of those readers who doesn't want all the sentences I read to be lean, even though there can be beauty in their sparseness. I like the sentences that carry me off, let me smell and see and feel. Pat Conroy can write these sentences.

I long for that special moment when I take off into the pure oxygen-rich sky of a sentence that streaks off into a night where I cannot follow, where I lose control, where the language seizes me and shakes me in such a way that I feel like both its victim and its copilot.

The next time I read Conroy's fiction, I will appreciate it all the more for understanding a bit of the man who wrote it.

The quotes were taken from a pre-publication bound manuscript and may change in the published edition. Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy.

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Pat Conroy's love affair with books began with his mom's love for literature. A high school English teacher also had a profound influence on him in his early years. In this book, Pat Conroy shares his lifelong love affair with reading. He shares with his readers some of the books that influenced

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his life, some of the people that called attention to books, and to his encounters with others in the book business -- fellow authors and persons more involved in the publishing aspect. Anyone who aspires to be a writer needs to read this book. Persons studying Conroy's works will find a greater appreciation of them by knowing something of Conroy's life and the extent to which he employed his own life in his work. I've missed reading a few of the classics mentioned by the author as being influential in his own life, and his praise for them makes me want to read these. I've already downloaded a free copy of one of these works to my Kindle application. This is, perhaps, the highest form of praise that I can demonstrate.

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Though called "My Reading Life", this book is more about Conroy than about the books he has read. While he does single out a few works that affected him deeply - "Gone with the Wind" through his mother's love of it, "War and Peace", which he calls the greatest novel ever written, and finally, "Look

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Homeward, Angel" where he fell in love with the work of Thomas Wolfe, whose influence on Conroy's own writing has been immense. To me, as someone who thoroughly enjoyed "The Prince of Tides" and "The Great Santini", I gained a much deeper understanding of not just why but how Conroy came to write these autobiographical books.

It would be quite possible to be annoyed with Conroy at points during this series of essays. His focus on himself is laser-like. He is immensely proud of what he has achieved and wants to tell us what he finds important about writing and to defend his own everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach to narrative and to language itself. And, by the end of this wonderful book, he has succeeded, because just like his novels, it takes us on an emotional journey that leaves us exhausted, but happy to have made the trip, though it is filled with almost unbearable emotion and at more than one point it will cause tears to flow. For me, the most emotional part of the book was Conroy's elegy to his English teacher at Beaufort (SC) High School, Gene Norris, who encouraged Conroy to become a writer. They spent an immense amount of time together, including the time Norris took Conroy on a pilgrimage of sorts to Asheville where Conroy visits Wolfe's old home. But the most moving part of the story is about the time Conroy spent with Norris many years later as his beloved teacher lay dying of leukemia.

There are other great stories as well, of Paris, of Atlanta, of a used book store, of a writers conference, and of the island off the South Carolina coast where Conroy taught for a year, the subject of his non-fiction book, "The Water is Wide", which was made into a great movie, "Conrack", with Jon Voight playing the teacher.

Throughout these stories, as he does in his novels, Conroy just overwhelms you with his passion. Passion for great people like Gene Norris, and for great but flawed ones like James Dickey. And always a passion for books. Near the end of this one, Conroy says that when he picks up a book, "I want everything, and nothing less, the full measure of a writer's heart." That is what Conroy puts into his own work, and in the end, you just have to surrender to him.

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Despite his typically overly-dramatized and overly-romanticized style, Pat Conroy’s My Reading Life succeeds because of his sincerity and charm. He explores the history of his reading life from his abused childhood to his success as an author. The violence of his Marine Corps father (non-reader)

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and his autodidact mother (the reader), and their tumultuous relationship, has marked all of Conroy’s writing, and that heavy presence is felt throughout. During his developmental years he looked for father figures in teachers who were the antithesis of his father and found them, most notably in his high school English teacher. All of the characters who paraded through his life and inspired a new tangent of literary exploration are remembered from his crotchety, whiskey nipping high school librarian to literary lights such as James Dickey. The works he discusses will be familiar to many while others will remind you that you always meant to read that one. Although War and Peace did not change my life as Conroy believed it would, and I debate whether it really was the greatest novel ever written, the works that inspired him will likely inspire you too.

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Pat Conroy fans, this one is for you. Longtime readers of Conroy's fiction have often wondered why so many years pass between new books, how much truth is really contained in his novels, how his family reacts about seeing themselves in his novels, and whether Conroy's abuse at the hands of his

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father has had a long term impact on his head. In My Reading Life, Conroy answers all of those questions - and many more.

According to Conroy, reading saved his life. Books were his escape from the harsh realities of growing up in a family headed by the kind of brute his father was. They kept him sane by showing him what was possible. The first reader in his life was his mother, a woman who very literally educated herself with books from the public library topped off by her son's schoolbooks. She did the reading - and the study assignments - because she wanted to master what she had been forced to miss as a young woman

The first time Mrs. Conroy read Gone to the Wind to Pat, he was only five years old. She read it to him so many times (yearly) that it became an intimate part of their mother-son relationship and Conroy credits the experience with making him the novelist he is today.

"I became a novelist because of Gone with the Wind, or more precisely, my mother raised me up to be a `Southern' novelist, with a strong emphasis on the word `Southern,' because Gone with the Wind set my mother's imagination ablaze when she was a young girl in Atlanta, and it was the one fire of her bruised, fragmented youth that never went out."

Conroy's mother was his first influence, but she would not be the only mentor in his life. Pat, knowing that he did not want to become a man that even remotely resembled the man his father was, searched for an alternative role model. To his great relief, he finally found that man in a Beaufort High School classroom. English teacher Gene Norris would become such a positive force in Pat Conroy's life that their relationship would last for decades.

"Though Gene couldn't have survived a fistfight with any of the marines I had met, I knew I was in the presence of the exceptional and scrupulous man I'd been searching for my whole life. The certainty of his gentleness was like a clear shot of sunshine to me. I had met a great man, at last."

Gene Norris would encourage and challenge Pat Conroy in ways that would make him a better writer - and, more importantly, a better man - than he might have been if the two had never crossed paths.

My Reading Life is filled with Pat Conroy's memories. It is a clearly marked roadmap of the life path taken by one of America's most beloved writers. It is both personal and frank in its approach, and it will certainly please those readers already familiar with Conroy's novels and nonfiction work. And readers for whom My Reading Life is their first exposure to Pat Conroy, will almost certainly want to see what they have been missing for the past few decades.

Personally I will remember My Reading Life best because of all the wonderful, bookish quotes it encompasses. This is one of my favorites:

"Books are living things and their task lies in their vows of silence. You touchthem as they quiver with a divine pleasure. You read them and they fall asleep to happy dreams for the next ten years. If you do them the favor of understanding them, of taking in their portions of grief and wisdom, then they settle down in contented residence in your heart."

Yes.

Rated at: 5.0

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While there is no doubt that Pat Conroy can write, his latest title, My Reading Life, assures fans that he is also well read. More of a long essay then anything else, MRL recounts some of Conroy's favorite Novels (Gone with the Wind and War and Peace), some of his favorite authors (Tobias Wolfe and

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James Dickey) and some other antidotes he could someway relate to reading, or at the very least, books. The result is a mix of storytelling and criticism that is punched up with dictionary dependent vocabulary and striking descriptive phrases, but lacks a compelling narrative thread and in some places depth. So it felt like a longer read then it's actual page count. I'd recommend it for fans of the Pat Conroy Cookbook, others may be disappointed.

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Pat Conroy's "My Reading Life" interweaves ruminations on authors and books that have deeply influenced him--"Gone With the Wind," Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, Thomas Wolfe, and many others--and in the process also draws us into what they offer. Furthermore, he crafts splendid portraits of those

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around him who have, through books or by serving as the inspiration for characters in his own work, made him the writer that he is.

Nowhere does he more clearly touch those of us involved in workplace learning and performance, however, than in his essay "The Teacher." Recalling how he first met high school English teacher Gene Norris in 1961, Conroy holds before us the person we all need to be: the one who recognizes the potential in his learners, who remains a lifelong source of encouragement to the student Conroy was and obviously still remains, and who continues to serve as a mentor and a friend as he was struggling with leukemia. Norris, even in his final days, encouraged Conroy the student to "Tell me a story." All of us should be lucky enough to have that sort of trainer-teacher-learner in our lives and, more importantly, remember to emulate them.

Equally compelling, for entirely different reasons, is Conroy’s "Why I Write." Whether it is because he touches the basic insecurities all of us--teachers, trainers, learners, and writers--have when he writes "I have been mortally afraid of the judgment of other writers and critics since I first lifted my proud but insecure head above the South Caroline marsh grass all those years ago" (p. 303) or because he leads us through our struggles by confirming that "Good writing is the hardest form of thinking. It involves the agony of turning profoundly difficult thoughts into lucid form, then forcing them into the tight-fitting uniform of language, making them visible and clear" (p. 304)--a challenge all of us face when we attempt to translate difficult concepts into terms our learns can grasp and absorb--Conroy nearly leaps off the pages of "My Writing Life" to encourage us to join him on his learning journey.

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I truly loved this book. Though only one chapter is identified as a love letter, the entire book is full of them. My Reading Life is Pat Conroy's tribute to the people, places, and books that have shaped his reading and writing life. These tributes are sprinkled with beautiful turns of phrase and

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heartfelt emotions that brought me to tears on several occasions. Conroy's love for his mother is palpable in the opening essay. The first real tears I shed, however, were during an essay titled "The Teacher." The impact one teacher can have on a life is enormous.

It feels as if Conroy hides nothing of himself in this book. He bears all. I've never read a book by Conroy so I was initially shocked by his candor regarding his relationship with his father. Of course, I soon realized he's written an entire book about it (The Great Santini).

You do have to be careful about some literary spoilers if you haven't read all the great classics. I accidentally learned who dies in several books I've been intending to read. There are also essays that talk about Gone with the Wind and Look Homeward, Angel. I haven't read either of these books, and the Gone with the Wind essay goes particularly in depth. It was my least favorite in the entire book, but I blame that on my own ignorance, not Pat Conroy's writing.

I am rarely moved to buy a copy of a book after reading the ARC, but I will definitely be purchasing a copy of this to treasure. I'm also looking forward to delving into Conroy's earlier books. If you share my love of reading, you will most definitely enjoy this book. I encourage you to go get it now.

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This unusual book really is about reading books and a bit about writing them as well. Some of the chapters are entitled: Gone With the Wind (how his mother introduced him to this book as a young kid); The Teacher (about his high school English teacher who guided him through reading); Charles

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Dickens and Daufuskie Island (the last place he worked as a teacher for some illiterate black islanders off the coast of South Carolina for a year and their version of A Christmas Carol); The Old New York Book Shop (a used bookstore in Atlanta that he discovered in the 1970s and began his book collection with them); On Being a Military Brat; A Southerner in Paris (writing his novel in Paris); A Love Letter to Thomas Wolfe (his obsession with the author); The Count (his obsession with War and Peace); My Teacher, James Dickey (taking a class under the author), and the essay Why I write.

His high school English teacher, Gene Norris, was like a father-figure to him. He also helped to guide him on his reading journies. The two would take weekend trips together to go antiquing or to meet the Poet Laureate of South Carolina, which in today's light would be deemed highly inappropriate. Nonetheless, the trips and the extra attention Norris paid to Conroy and to other kids over the years helped to save them. He sounds like he was an extraordinary man, though perhaps, an odd one.

In the essay The Old New York Book Shop, he talks about the used bookstore that he walked past for the longest time in Atlanta on his way to the office he rented to write his novel out of. Until one day he stumbled into it and began buying up books like a fiend. His bookshelf at home pretty much only held textbooks from college. Soon he was getting more bookshelves. He became friends with the owner Cliff Graubart a transplanted New Yorker. He was in there all the time and knew the collection as well as Cliff and helped him to better arrange it since Cliff knew little about literature but a lot about the business end of rare books which he also sold. The bookstore would become a place for other writers to hang out and have launch parties for their books. It was THE place to be in the literary world of the area. Sadly, it closed twenty years ago.

I had trouble reading this book because Conroy's giant ego and what is known as "purple prose" got in the way. Basically, he just wrote so puffed up and went on and on and you wondered if he was ever going to get to a point in your lifetime. But a couple of them were good such as the two I just mentioned and I personally liked the one on Gone With the Wind because I enjoyed that book as a child. Overall, I cannot fully recommend reading this book. Parts were good to read, but at least half of it wasn't worth it.

Quotes
Books contained powerful amulets that could lead to paths of certain wisdom. Novels taught her everything she needed to know about the mysteries and uncertainties of being human. She was sure that if she could find the right book, it would reveal what was necessary for her to become a woman of substance and parts.
-Pat Conroy (My Reading Life p 5)

In the vast repository of language, the poets never shout at you when you pass them by. Thiers is a seductive, meditative art. They hand you a file to cut your way out from any prison of misrule.
-Pat Conroy (My Reading Life p 140)
In Paris, it is a spiritual duty to grow fat
-Pat Conroy (My Reading Life p 223)

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This was a pretty enjoyable little trip down Pat Conroy's memory lane, to look at all of the literature, people and places that sparked him to be not only an author, but a deeply feeling man who reveled in great (and not so great) writing. The book is comprised of a collection of essays, some of

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which work better than others. But he sure did evoke a wild passion in certain novels, authors and friendships. I almost felt like running out to get War and Peace! This is recommended for those who just LOVE the act of reading, sharing about what you read, learning about what you read and growing (however one does that individually) from the process. Some essays will resonate more than others, but I'm pretty sure there will be some each reader will love.

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I bought this book yesterday and finished it this morning since I fell asleep reading it last night with 10 pages to go. I was sorry to reach the end as the journey through the book was delightful.

I have always enjoyed Conroy's books and will probably enjoy them more now since I know more about the

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author.
I felt bad when he related his childhood as a military brat with his brutish father. We have his mother to thank for instilling in him a love of books, reading and words. We can also thank his former teacher for whom he had many kind words and a lasting friendship. I know most of us can count on one hand the outstanding teachers we had in our lives, but one always stands out above others.

Excellent read. Highly recommend.

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Author Pat Conroy tells stories from his life through the lens of books he read and that influenced him profoundly. Initially I wasn't sure about listening to this on audio with the author reading himself (I am in awe of the professionals who narrate audio books), but I found it moving to hear his

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story in his own words and in his own voice. I loved his description of his voracious reading habits, his moony-eyed crushes on particular authors at particular times of his life, the thrill and power of words, and the life-saving and life-altering impact of books and stories (he is an unabashed champion of stories, declaring that "Tell me a story" is the most powerful sentence in the English language, and lamenting the decline of the story in modern fiction). I've never read any of Mr. Conroy's books, but now I am anxious to read about his childhood at the mercy of his brutal father in the Great Santini, about his year of teaching on a remote and desperately poor Carolina island in The Water is Wide, and others. I wept through the chapter about an unforgettable teacher, was spellbound by the description of the profound meaning of Gone with the Wind to southerners, laughed through his account of living in Paris, and have never been more motivated to read Tolstoy, Tolkein, and many others. Mr. Conroy is quite verbose, which he freely -- and frequently -- admits. Following the book there is an interview with the author, and the questions surprised me, as I had spent the past 7 hours listening to his explanations of the same topics, but I was delighted to hear him discuss other books that influenced him, beginning with The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and Black Beauty. He also spoke passionately about the power of read alouds, and I am astonished that his mother, with 7 children, could make reading aloud to her kids individually a priority. Mr. Conroy is also a new and very enthusiastic fan of audio books, claiming that the art form (his words) is helping to revive the oral storytelling tradition in America. While I thoroughly enjoyed the book, that last interview section just made my heart sing, and was a wonderful way to conclude a special book.

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This is about My Reading Life and Pat Conroy's books in general.When I was fifteen years old, my father put the book The Prince of Tides in my hands and told me to read. An unusual choice, some might think, for a 15 year old female from the suburbs in Michigan, who listened to Nirvana and

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frequented Denny's. This was my life though, growing up. My parents started my reading education early, as young as ten when my mother gave me James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small, and never moderated or censored my reading choices; in fact they encouraged me to read whatever I could get my hands on, and suggested many of their favorites, like J.D. Salinger, John Irving, James Herriot, and Kurt Vonnegut. I read voraciously and tenaciously, hanging on every syllable of every sentence.The Prince of Tides was a changing point in my life however; while I always read constantly, and by constantly I mean actually not putting the book down, and read while brushing my teeth, making breakfast, walking from room to room, I really couldn't put this book down. I even convinced my mom the day after I started the book that I was sick, and had to stay home from school. I finished The Prince of Tides that very day, and thus began my lifelong love of the south and southern writers. The lives of the characters in this book could not have been further from my own, yet something in the writing, in the story spoke to me. The setting, the characters, were a million miles away from my own personal landscapes, and I wanted to be part of that world. I wanted the concrete and tall buildings around me to transform into tidal lowlands; I had a crush on Luke, wanted to be Tom's friend, wanted to save Savannah. And later Luke. I can still recite from memory the poem Savannah wrote about Luke, still remember the white porpoise, Caesar, Callonwolde. This book is so full of pain and beauty and love rolled into one. I cried throughout most of it.After that day, I read all of Pat Conroy's published works, and made sure to read every new one that came out after. Now, 20 years later, I am midway through Conroy's book My Reading Life, and am just as enthralled as I always am. It has reminded me just how in love with reading, with words, with books, with the south, with southern writers, Conroy in particular, I really am. He taught me that there is magic in a sentence, and that you can never use too many adjectives. He has shaped my northern world into one that dreams of the south, flawed or unflawed."Books are living things and their task lies in their vows of silence. You touch them as they quiver with a divine pleasure. You read them and they fall asleep to happy dreams for the next ten years. If you do them the favor of understanding them, of taking in their portions of grief and wisdom, then they settle down in contented residence in your heart." Pat Conroy - My Reading Lif

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Now here is a book about reading that does what it oughta. Conroy has erased that disappointed feeling I had after reading Howard's End is on the Landing. Conroy "grew up a word-haunted boy". He tells us how his mother instilled a love of reading and learning in him by bringing home books from the

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library to educate herself; how, even though he attended 11 different schools in 12 years, he managed to connect with some special teachers who made lasting impressions on his reading life (and more). He explains what certain books and authors have meant to him personally and as a writer. Finally, he left me with an urge to read something new with the turn of nearly every page.
November 2011

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My Reading Life is the memoir of author Pat Conroy. However, it's so much more than a memoir. It;s a love song to all the books, authors, and people who have inspired him and influenced his writing.

While this did, at times, seem a bit too overwritten and rapturous, I didn't mind at all because I

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was caught up along with him, soaring with the joy of language, and the written word. I was struck anew by the power of books; how they seemed to provide an anchor for the author who had a fairly rootless and abusive childhood, and how, through writing, he seems to have been able to release some of the demons that haunt him.

I actually deliberately slowed down my reading in order to savor every bit, every word, every phoneme of this book. Rarely does a book cause me to do this, which is evidence of just how much I loved it!

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OK, why did I give this book a three? Because I didn’t have 1/2 and 3/4 stars to use. I loved all his other books. I did like this book but I don't feel that it is one of his best. I couldn't give it 4 stars (really liked it) because a lot of it I had read before in his other books.

One thing

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that I will admit, I kept comparing it to Stephen King's 'On Writing' which was at least 50% on reading. I came away from the book with a long list of books that I wanted to read.
I enjoyed his stories about his mother and her love for reading but could not take any more stories about his father.

My favorite chapters were: 1) The Lily 2) The Old New York Book Shop 3) A Southerner in Paris 4) The Count and 5) My Teacher James Dickey.
What do I think would have made this book better? Shortening it and leaving his father out. To read more about his father is depressing. More stories about other people and less about what is good writing.

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"Each day of my life begins with a poem that will unloose the avalanche of words inside me, that secret ore that, once published, will sit before me disguised as the earth's jewelry." (p 329)

I believe each reader has his own story about the books that have been important in his life. This book is

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Pat Conroy's story and as a writer of several successful novels and memoirs he has created a beautiful paean to those books that influenced his life and writing. And with the books his memoir includes the people who recommended them and encouraged him who are featured beginning with his mother. The most poignant story for me was that of Gene, his high school English teacher, whose encouragement and inspiration lasted beyond high school as they became lifelong friends. Conroy's reading was wide and deep with an emphasis on some of the best authors and many of my own favorites. His love of libraries and book shops is something that this reader could identify with and, although I have not traveled to Paris his chapter on the importance of that city for him was perhaps even more interesting as a result. His love of poetry has become his own catalyst for unleashing the words that his love of reading has provided as a storehouse for his own writing. After many years of that writing this memoir is the result -- a lyrical delight from beginning to end and evidence of a love of reading and words that reminded me why I too love books.

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It took me a while to settle into My Reading Life--I often felt that I was missing key facts about Conroy's life that would have made his remembrances make more sense, and the repetition of certain facts from one chapter to another made me think the material had not made a full transition from a

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collection of essays to a book (which might have been fine if the book were presented as a collection of essays; it is not). I was also a bit put off by Conroy's often unkind stories about writers he's met. I don't mean to suggest that he ought to have fibbed or shied away from truths, but those anecdotes left me feeling unsettled--as if I'd listened to malicious gossip for the sake of it. But in the second half of the book, Conroy speaks more about books and less about people, and then I was happy to hear what he had to say. Ultimately well worth the read, and others may not have the same bugaboos I do and therefore will find My Reading Life enjoyable from beginning to end. I'll also say that this book itself is a beautiful physical thing--a delightful size with lovely two-tone printing and exquisite illustrations.

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If you like to read about books you will enjoy this book which is very well written and always interesting.

What I liked about this book:
- it made me really want to read [34878::Gone with the Wind]. Or maybe get the audio version. Or at least watch the movie again.
- The chapter about Paris, because interesting things are always bound to happen in Paris.
- It made me really want to read [995::War and

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Peace]. Which is nothing new, but still.

What I didn't like about this book:
- Why say something in a few sentences when you can say it using ten thousand words instead?
- His emotional and mental distress must have been catching, because it was making me more upset than I already was.
- I quite admire [[hemingwayernest::Ernest Hemingway]] for the directness and simplicity of his language.
- Pat Conroy on [[wolfethomas::Thomas Wolfe]]: "His art is completely overdone and yet I find it incomparably beautiful."
- It put me off reading Thomas Wolfe, and sort of put me off reading more Pat Conroy too for that matter.

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