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Showing 1 - 25 of 29 matches in All Departments
A chorus of essays from a variety of voices, backgrounds, and experiences, exploring what it means to be human and true to yourself. What does it mean to be yourself? To be born here or somewhere else? To be from one family instead of another? What does it mean to be human? Collected by Lori Carlson-Hijuelos, A Path to the World showcases essays by a vast variety of luminaries--from Gary Soto to Nawal Nasrallah to Ying Ying Yu, from chefs to artists to teens to philosophers to politicians (keep your eyes peeled for a surprise appearance by George Washington)--all of which speak to the common thread of humanity, the desire to be your truest self, and to belong. Contributors include: Lori Marie Carlson-Hijuelos, Joseph Bruchac, Jacinto Jesús Cardona, William Sloane Coffin, Pat Conroy, Mario Cuomo, Timothy Egan, Alan Ehrenhalt, Shadi Feddin, Ralph Fletcher, Valerie Gribben, Alexandre Hollan, Molly Ivins, Geeta Kothari, Jeremy Lee, Yuyi Li, Emily Lisker, Kamaal Majeed, Madge McKeithen, Nawal Nasrallah, Scott Pitoniak, Anna Quindlen, Michael J. Sandel, Raquel Sentíes, David E. Skaggs, Gary Soto, Alexandra Stoddard, KellyNoel Waldorf, George Washington, and Ying Ying Yu.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Pat Conroy's classic semi-autographical novel of a harsh Marine father and his son's struggle to come into his own. "Robust and vivid...full of feeling." --Newsday This is the story of Bull Meecham, the epitome of the Marine officer. Demanding, authoritarian, as tough a disciplinarian at home as at the base, Bull is a difficult man to please, and even harder to love. This is also the story of Ben Meecham, Bull's oldest son. A gifted athlete whose best never satisfies his father, Ben must balance his own ambition with his father's expectations--and decide what course he will chart for himself and what kind of man he will become. Piercing, bittersweet, and unforgettable, The Great Santini is Pat Conroy's semi-autobiographical lens into fathers and sons, and the powerful legacy one man can leave behind.
Since its original publication in 1936, "Gone With the
Wind"--winner of the Pulitzer Prize and one of the bestselling
novels of all time--has been heralded by readers everywhere as The
Great American Novel.
"A powerfully moving book . . . You will laugh, you will weep, you will be proud and you will rail." --Charleston News and Courier Yamacraw Island was haunting, nearly deserted, and beautiful. Separated from the mainland of South Carolina by a wide tidal river, it was accessible only by boat. But for the handful of families that lived on Yamacraw, America was a world away. For years these families lived proudly from the sea until waste from industry destroyed the oyster beds essential to their very existence. Already poor, they knew they would have to face an uncertain future unless, somehow, they learned a new life. But they needed someone to teach them, and their rundown schoolhouse had no teacher. The Water Is Wide is Pat Conroy's extraordinary memoir based on his experience as one of two teachers in a two-room schoolhouse, working with children the world had pretty much forgotten. It was a year that changed his life, and one that introduced a group of poor Black children to a world they did not know existed. "A hell of a good story." --The New York Times "[Pat] Conroy cuts through his experiences with a sharp edge of irony. . . . He brings emotion, writing talent and anger to his story." --Baltimore Sun
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 life. But they will learn nothing without someone to teach them, and their school has no teacher.
PAT CONROY–AMERICA’S MOST BELOVED STORYTELLER -- IS BACK!
The publishing event of the season: The one and only Pat Conroy
returns, with a big, sprawling novel that is at once a love letter
to Charleston and to lifelong friendship. "From the Hardcover edition."
PAT CONROY, America’s preeminent storyteller, delivers a sweeping novel of lyric intensity and searing truth–the story of Jack McCall, an American expatriate in Rome, 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.
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.
For years the legendary John Seigenthaler hosted A Word on Words on Nashville's public television station, WNPT. During the show's four-decade run (1972 to 2013), he interviewed some of the most interesting and most impor tant writers of our time. These in-depth exchanges revealed much about the writers who appeared on his show and gave a glimpse into their creative pro cesses. Seigenthaler was a deeply engaged reader and a generous interviewer, a true craftsman. Frye Gaillard and Pat Toomay have collected and transcribed some of the iconic interactions from the show. Featuring interviews with: Arna Bontemps * Marshall Chapman * Pat Conroy * Rodney Crowell * John Egerton * Jesse Hill Ford * Charles Fountain * William Price Fox * Kinky Friedman * Frye Gaillard * Nikki Giovanni * Doris Kearns Goodwin * David Halberstam * Waylon Jennings * John Lewis * David Maraniss * William Marshall * Jon Meacham * Ann Patchett * Alice Randall * Dori Sanders * John Seigenthaler Sr. * Marty Stuart * Pat Toomay
In this powerful, mesmerizing, and highly 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.
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 this powerful and intimate memoir, the beloved bestselling
author of "The Prince of Tides" and his father, the inspiration for
"The Great Santini," find some common ground at long last.
"'You set yourself up as judge, jury, and executioner, ' Pamela had
said, but that was wrong: you set yourself up as angel, and await
the word of God."
"Though our roots are in the Colonial South, we Crackers are essentially just another American fusion culture, and our table and our stories are constantly expanding -- nearly as fast as our waistlines. We aren't ashamed of either, and we're always delighted with the prospect of company: someone to feed and make laugh, to listen to our hundred thousand stories of food and family and our long American past." Crackers, rednecks, hillbillies, and country boys have long been the brunt of many jokes, yet this old Southern culture is a rich and vibrant part of Amer-ican history. In "The Cracker Kitchen," Janis Owens traces the root of the word "Cracker" back to its origins in Shakespeare's Elizabethan England -- when it meant braggart or big shot -- through its proliferation in America, where it became a derogatory term to describe poor and working-class Southerners. This compelling anthropological exploration peels back the historic misconceptions connected with the word to reveal a breed of proud, fiercely independent Americans with a deep love of their families, their country, their stories, and, most important, their food. With 150 recipes from over twenty different seasonal menus, "The Cracker Kitchen" offers a full year's worth of eating and rejoicing: from spring's Easter Dinner -- which includes recipes for Easter Ham, Green Bean Bundles, and, of course, Cracklin' Cornbread -- to summer's Fish Frys, fall's Tailgate Parties, and winter's In Celebration of Soul, honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Recounted in Owens's delightful and hilarious voice, the family legends accompanying each of these menus leap off the page. We meet Uncle Kelly, the Prince of the Funny Funeral Story, who has family and friends howling with laughter at otherwise solemn occasions. We spend a morning with Janis and her friends at a Christmas Cookie Brunch as they bake delectable gifts for everyone on their holiday lists. And Janis's own father donates his famous fundamentalist biscuit recipe; truly a foretaste of glory divine. "The Cracker Kitchen" is a charming, irresistible celebration of family, storytelling, and good old-fashioned eating sure to appeal to anyone with an appreciation of Americana.
A startling, groundbreaking exploration, Military Brats is the first book to identify a cultural group--children of the military--that had been completely below the societal radar. Based on five years of research, including in-depth interviews with eighty military brats from all the armed services as well as physicians, teachers, psychologists, social workers, and others, this book finds the patterns that link all military children to a common cultural identity. Wertsch employs extensive research to probe the consequences-both positive and negative-of being raised in a family characterized by rigid discipline, nomadic rootlessness, dedication to military mission, and the threat of war and personal loss. With its clear-eyed, sometimes shocking depictions of alcoholism and domestic violence, and its empathy for military parents caught up in an extremely demanding way of life, Military Brats provides catharsis, insight, and a path toward healing. Mary Wertsch not only defines America's most invisible minority for the very first time, she also passionately exhorts the children of warriors to come to terms with their native Fortress legacies so that they might take full advantage of the positive endowment that is also their birthright. Civilians will find this book eye-opening. Military parents will find it at once challenging and sympathetic. And military brats will know in their hearts that this is the book they've been waiting for. This new edition retains the same content as the original, with only minor changes. This edition is now labelled Volume 1; a Volume 2 is in the works.
This powerful novel is the story of four cadets who have become bloodbrothers. Together they will encounter the hell of vicious bullying and the rabid, raunchy and dangerously secretive atmosphere of an arrogant and proud military institute. They will experience the violence. The passion. The rage. The friendship. The loyalty. The betrayal. Together they will brace themselves for the brutal transition to manhood... 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.
Paintings, magisterial and universal, that capture the essence of a vibrant African American community In his art Jonathan Green paints the world of his childhood and an ode to a people imbued with a profound respect for the dignity and value of others--the Gullah people of the South Carolina barrier islands. His canvases, beloved for their sense of jubilation and rediscovery, evoke the meaning of community in Gullah society and display a reverence for the rich visual, oral, and spiritual traditions of its culture. His art also reveals a keen awareness of the interpersonal, social, and natural environments in which we live. The 180 images assembled in this collection showcase the meaning, purpose, and beauty that Green finds in the small but critical tasks of life. His work elevates the everyday--preparing morning meals, doing the wash, accomplishing farming chores, finishing a day's work, relaxing in the evening--and celebrates the social and religious--community dances, baptisms, weddings, funerals. Green allows his audience the space and silence to observe people unobtrusively as they pursue life's mission of labor, love, and belonging and as they work in harmony with nature's mysterious, ever changing fabric. While Green's paintings speak specifically to his own upbringing, they transcend racial, cultural, and ethnic boundaries, thus allowing individuals of all backgrounds to recall fond memories and to reflect on the place that purpose and dignity hold in their lives. In addition to a foreword by Pat Conroy, essays by Bettye J. (Mbitha) Parker Smith, Lynn Robertson, and Ronne Hartfield complement Green's images. They tell of the vitality of the Gullah community, the progression of Green's career, and the authenticity of his work.
Bailey Martin is in perpetual motion--a child of the South Carolina lowcountry tides, being pulled to and from a reckoning with destiny. A marine biologist by training and an artist by dedication and talent, Bailey is a woman of contradictions, at once a free-spirited adventurer giving deeply of herself to environmental causes and familial loyalties but also consumed by primal, isolating appetites and dangerous attractions. Restless and troubled, Bailey chafes at her existence, becoming uneasy in her success, her life, and her own skin. Untying the Moon, the debut novel from southern storyteller Ellen Malphrus, is a vibrant tale of self-discovery, approaching the realms of myth and lore as readers ride shotgun with Bailey in Blue Ruby, her '67 Skylark convertible, from Manhattan down the eastern seaboard, from coastal Carolina to the Alaskan wilderness and back again, all in search of the embrace of love and--finally--of home. When Bailey trades the freedom of the road for a relationship with Padgett Turner, a Vietnam veteran haunted by his past, she finds the compelling possibility of settling into one place and one relationship. But the weight of Padgett's emotional scars is too much for either to bear, even together. As Padgett's darkness escalates, a moment of horrific violence pulls Bailey homeward to the Jericho River of Kirk's Bluff, South Carolina--a river of dolphins, dreams, and portents. In her lifelong friendship with neighbour Ben Simmons and under the sheltering gaze of her fisherman father, Cecil, and Ben's parents, George and Retta, Bailey uncovers the healing connections she had been seeking elsewhere and earns her chance at the truest prize of all--a balance between her dedication to her inner life and responsibilities to the outer world. Recalling the writings of James Dickey, Jack Kerouac, Jack London, Pat Conroy, Mary Alice Monroe, and Lee Smith, Untying the Moon explores the redemptive powers of home, nature, creation, and storytelling itself. With prose that ebbs and flows from the lyrical and lush to the staccato and sparse, Malphrus's novel is rich with classical allusions and regional folklore, the enrapturing beauty of its settings, a racially and geographically diverse charismatic cast, and all the mystery and magic of fate. New York Times best-selling writer and Story River Books editor at large Pat Conroy provides a foreword to the novel.
In 1954, in Orlando, Florida, nine-year-old Pat Conroy discovered the game of basketball. Orlando was another new hometown for a military kid who had spent his life transferring from one home to another he was yet again among strangers, still looking for his first Florida friends, but when the 'new kid' got his hands on the ball near the foul line of that unfamiliar court, the course of his life changed dramatically. From that moment until he was twenty-one, the future author defined himself through the game of basketball. In My Losing Season, Conroy takes the reader through his last year playing basketball, as point guard and captain of The Citadel Bulldogs, flashing back constantly to the drama of his coming of age, presenting all the conflict and love that have been at the core of his novels. He vividly re-creates his senior year at that now-famous military college in Charleston, South Carolina, but also tells the story of his heartbreaking childhood and of the wonderful series of events that conspired to rescue his spirit. With poignancy and humour Conroy reveals the inspirations behind his unforgettable characters, pinpoints the emotions that shaped his own character as a you
Jacob Jump, the dark and meticulously crafted first novel from Eric Morris, follows a weeklong ill-fated boating trip down the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia, to the lighthouse at Tybee Island. Chance and danger trump planning and intention at every turn, and the pull of the historic river and of fate itself propels Morris's characters with unrelenting force. Old friends Thomas Verdery and William Rhind, each seeking temporary escape from the failures of their lives, take to the river with Rhind's father. Verdery, a native southerner, has left his job and lover in Nepaug, Connecticut, while Rhind has lost his wife and child to his drinking. Encounters with dangerous weather and unhinged locals imperil the trio, who are held at gunpoint when they try to dock and soon are fighting among themselves. The hazards of the trip and a shocking loss along the way exacerbate William Rhind's drinking and tendencies toward violence. When Verdery and Rhind must become reluctant custodians to young Caron Lee, a lost girl from the backwoods family that had previously accosted them, tensions build toward explosive ends as the serene open waters of the Atlantic Ocean wait just beyond reach on the unknown, unknowable horizon. Guided by a host of influences from William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway to Cormac McCarthy, James Dickey, and Ron Rash, Morris's prose brings readers deep into the uncertainties of a still-wild southern landscape and of the frailties of the human heart yearning for past and future alike while pulled along by the inescapable current of the present. Best-selling writer and Story River Books editor at large Pat Conroy provides a foreword to the novel.
"How should we improve the state of South Carolina?" That
invitingly open-ended question served as the basis for the first
annual South Carolina High School Writing Contest as the call went
out in fall 2013 to juniors and seniors across the Palmetto State,
encouraging them to take a stance through good, thought-provoking
writing. The nearly five hundred responses that resulted were as
impressive in quality as they were in quantity. Young writers
sounded off on issues of race relations, environmental
conservation, economic imbalance, opportunities of infrastructure,
substance and physical abuse, and the maladies of education. Most
wrote on issues of education rooted in their own burgeoning
awareness of its gifts and limitations in their lives. From that
pool of contestants, twenty-three finalists rose to the top to have
their initial entries and subsequent writing on a favorite book or
place judged by best-selling author Pat Conroy. The insightful and
often revelatory responses from those finalists--including the
first, second, and third place winners by grade--are collected here
in Writing South Carolina.
The Headmaster's Darlings is a satirical comedy of manners featuring the morbidly obese Norman Laney, an unorthodox, inspirational English teacher and college counsellor for an elite private school in Mountain Brook, a privileged community outside of Birmingham. A natural wonder from blue-collar Alabama, Laney has barged into the exclusive world of Mountain Brook on the strength of his sensational figure and its several-hundred-pound commitment to art and culture. His mission is to defeat ""the barbarians,"" introduce true civilization in place of its thin veneer, and change his southern world for the better. Although Laney is adored by his students (his ""darlings"") and by the society ladies (also his ""darlings"") who rely on him to be the life of their parties and the leader of their book clubs, there are others who think he is a larger-than-life menace to the comfortable status quo of Mountain Brook society and must be banished. When Laney is summoned to the principal's office one day in November 1983, he expects to be congratulated for a recent public-relations triumph he engineered on behalf of the school. Instead his letter of resignation is demanded with no explanation given. Faced with an ultimatum and his imminent dismissal, Laney must outflank the principal at his own underhanded game, find out who said what about him and why, and launch his current crop of Alabama students into the wider world--or at least into Ivy League colleges. In her debut novel, Clark, Katherine casts a comical eye on southern society and celebrates the power of great teachers and schools to transform the lives of young people and lift up their communities. Surrounded by a colourful cast of his colleagues, his young protegees and Mountain Brook's upper echelon, Laney emerges as a heroically idiosyncratic character with Falstaffian appetites, an inimitable wit and intellect, and a boundless generosity toward his students that reshapes their lives in profound, unexpected ways.
A Clear View of the Southern Sky reveals women in the twenty-first century doing what women have always done in pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. In each of the ten tales from southern storyteller Mary Hood, women have come by circumstances and choice to the very edge of their known worlds. Some find courage to winnow and move on; others seek the patience to risk and to stay. Along the way hearts, bonds, speed limits, fingernails, and the Ten Commandments get broken. Dust settles, but these women do not. In the title story, a satellite dish company promises that happiness--or at least access to its programming--requires just a TV and A Clear View of the Southern Sky. The short story itself reveals the journey of a Hispanic woman whose mission is to assassinate a mass murderer, an agenda triggered by post-traumatic stress wrought by seeing the murderer's cynical grin on a news program. We follow her into the shadow of an enormous satellite dish on a roof across the street from the courthouse and ultimately into a women's prison English-as-Second-Language class where she must confront her life. She has slept but never dreamed, and now she wakes. In other stories Hood introduces us to a kindergarten teacher, stunned by a student's blurted-out question, as she discovers her deepest vocation and the mystery of its source. We meet a widow who befriends a young neighbour, only to realize they must keep secrets from each other and hold fast to their hope. A woman trucker discovers the depth of her love as she imagines her cell phone calls and her sweetheart's own messages winging their way, tower to tower, along her interstate route. Two stories deal with one man and two of his wives and how they learn the lessons only love can teach about the reach and limitations of ownership and forever. The collection concludes with the novella ""Seambusters,"" in which a diverse cast of women workers in a rural Georgia mill sew camouflage for U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. The women are part of a larger purpose, and they know it. When the shadow of death passes over the factory, each woman and the entire community find out what it really means to have American Pride. New York Times best-selling writer and Story River Books editor at large Pat Conroy provides a foreword to the collection. |
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