My Losing Season
 | By Pat Conroy The Dial Press, 2003, Paperback Customer Rating: 58 reviews Recommend |
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PAT CONROY—AMERICA’S MOST BELOVED STORYTELLER—IS BACK!
“I was born to be a point guard, but not a very good one. . . .There was a time in my life when I walked through the world known to myself and others as an athlete. It was part of my own definition of who I was and certainly the part I most respected. When I was a young man, I was well-built and agile and ready for the rough and tumble of games, and athletics provided the single outlet for a repressed and preternaturally shy boy to express himself in public....I lost myself in the beauty of sport and made my family proud while passing through the silent eye of the storm that was my childhood.”
So begins Pat Conroy’s journey back to 1967 and his startling realization “that this season had been seminal and easily the most consequential of my life.” The place is the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, that now famous military college, and in memory Conroy gathers around him his team to relive their few triumphs and humiliating defeats. In a narrative that moves seamlessly between the action of the season and flashbacks into his childhood, we see the author’s love of basketball and how crucial the role of athlete is to all these young men who are struggling to find their own identity and their place in the world.
In fast-paced exhilarating games, readers will laugh in delight and cry in disappointment. But as the story continues, we gradually see the self-professed “mediocre” athlete merge into the point guard whose spirit drives the team. He rallies them to play their best while closing off the shouts of “Don’t shoot, Conroy” that come from the coach on the sidelines. For Coach Mel Thompson is to Conroy the undermining presence that his father had been throughout his childhood. And in these pages finally, heartbreakingly, we learn the truth about the Great Santini.
In My Losing Season Pat Conroy has written an American classic about young men and the bonds they form, about losing and the lessons it imparts, about finding one’s voice and one’s self in the midst of defeat. And in his trademark language, we see the young Conroy walk from his life as an athlete to the writer the world knows him to be.
From the Hardcover edition.
Title: My Losing Season
Sales Rank: 24275 in Books
Author: Pat Conroy
Publisher: The Dial Press, 2003-08-26, Paperback, 416 pages, ISBN: 0553381903
Package Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches, 0.85 pounds
- The Floor General
- I initially chose to read My Losing Season because I play basketball. The book is not just a basketball story but one that shares life lessons that can be learned through basketball. So even if you don't have a great love for the game like I do, you still can enjoy this book and be inspired. The author uses a lot of good detail… More reviews
- Successful Losing Season
- In My Losing Season Pat Conroy chronicles his painful senior year playing basketball for the Citadel Bulldogs. Though Conroy's timeframe is limited to one year, this memoir melds the past with the present to bring reflection and perspective to the memories. The title forecasts a negative experience--on the court, with his team, and with life in general. It was… More reviews
- If you're in the mood for this sort of thing...
- One of my favorite fictional books of all time is The Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy. I enjoyed it so much I read all of his other books, which I had to confess were disappointing. Nonetheless, when I saw his memoir on the bookshelf, I thought perhaps it was worth a read. Unfortunately, I was disappointed again. In fiction, his characters can be self-absorbed and still be engaging. The character doesn't… More reviews
- salvation through basketball
- Amazon.com Book Review
My Losing Season by Pat Conroy
The difficulty and pain that military basketball players go through are shown in My Losing Season by Pat Conroy. Pat Conroy writes about his life as a Southern college student at The Citadel during the 19676 basketball season.
Pat Conroy's father grew up in the South. His father… More reviews
- A Winning Read
- Growing up Catholic in the 1960's and 1970's and playing basketball every day because we didn't have the money to go on vacation, are two of many drivers that singles out Pat Conroy's "A Losing Season" as the most talked about book among my friends in our New York suburb.
Mr. Conroy's ability to balance brutal honesty with a sensitivity toward young… More reviews
