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Summary: Basketball was the author's vehicle to overcome adversity.
Review: This was a fantastic book. It is an autobiography of the author from his teenage years through his senior year at The Citadel in 1966-67. I am amazed that Pat Conroy survived being at the Citadel, much less dealing with an extremely abusive and violent father. The author is a survivor and it was basketball that helped him through his adversities. Pat Conroy was abused emotionally, verbally and physically by his father, a pilot in the Marine Corp. And if that abuse wasn't enough, he tells an amazing story of survival as a freshman plebe at The Citadel in South Carolina. Since many of us can not imagine dealing with an extremely abusive father or dealing with the violent and demeaning hazing of The Citadel's military-style campus in the mid-1960's, just reading Conroy's exploits is chilling. The author was tough. But as emotionally difficult as his high school years were, the abuse he took as a freshman plebe at The Citadel was even worse than the abuse and violence his father relished dishing out. Getting through college and thriving his senior year on the basketball team is yet another great part of the author's story. Pat Conroy overcame a multitude of adversity. His writing and prose makes this book a fast read and very entertaining. I hope they don't make this one into a movie. It would ruin the vivid images in this book. Five stars, easy.
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Summary: As powerful as it is entertaining
Review: I must admit I had my doubts entering My Losing Season. For starters, most books in the sports genre are dull, uneventful, predictable, and leave little to the imagination. Although a basketball fan myself, I wasn't overly keen on reading this one. To say I'm glad I did would be a vast understatement. Conroy, long known for his semi-autobiographical works that divulge so much of his traumatic childhood, has written his first pure work of nonfiction in the incomparable My Losing Season. Conroy takes us through his unbearably torturous plebe year at The Citadel as he endured unremitting physical torment bordering on categorical sadism - the likes of which he already had suffered from his father. Conroy recounts how it was only on the basketball court where the reticent Pat felt alive and allowed to shine in a futile attempt to build a bond with his mercilessly abusive father. The 12 man team of The Citadel 1966-67 basketball team that had a losing season and lost in the first round of The Southern Conference tournament may not sound like a great subject for a book. That being said, words cannot truly do justice to My Losing Season. It is only through adversity and the stigma created by losing, Conroy writes, that one ideally discovers - via introspective reflection - the person one truly is. Losing, in turn, brings out the best in some and the worst in others. Moreover, it provides previously unexploreed opportunities for self-discovery and growth. Simply stated, My Losing Season is a book that should not only be read, but cherished as a keepsake on one's bookshelf as a pillar of sagacity and wisdom.
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Summary: Another Good One!
Review: Pat Conroy is one of my favorite authors. I've worked down in the Charleston area and I'm familiar with the settings of most of his books. This book is about his college Basketball days and gives you a little more insight into his relationship with his father...INTENSE! Overall a good read!!
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Summary: Dribble, Dribble, Shoot
Review: If you love to read page after page of dribble, dribble, shoot, then you will love this book. If you are not interested in the details of basketball, then you better save your money. Pat Conroy has run out of steam and needs to put the subject of his father and basketball to rest. He has gone from an excellent writer to a sell-out looking to make a quick dollar on a book that could have been written on a piece of toilet paper. Sorry, but the facts are the facts.
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Summary: One for the ages
Review: A Losing Season is a redeemer from start to finish. Conroy is so loyal to his subjects and all he holds sacred...basketball, family, faith, and his memories of youth. All while hitting nothing but net on every page.
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Summary: My Losing Season...a resounding winner!
Review: Pat Conroy's My Losing Season is surely one of the best books I've read this year. I was a little hesitant about reading this non-fiction book about his senior season playing basketball at The Citadel, but found that this should not keep readers away. First, Conroy fleshes out the trials and tribulations of his turbulent childhood with his abusive father, and we realize that all his fiction (The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides, etc.) is more factual than one expected. It's also sad to see Conroy as a boy trying unsuccessfully to reach out to his father through basketball, but the scars that result from his father's rejection are what helped to make Conroy such a masterful storyteller. Conroy once said that the greatest gift than any writer can receive is to be born into a dysfunctional family. It is also interesting to read about college basketball in the late 1960's. This was a period of time when southern colleges were still pretty much segregated and when players still did underhand foul shots. Still, don't let all the basketball intimidate you. The first time I read this book, the development of Pat as a basketball player was my primary focus. But several months later, I listened to this book on tape and I was more tuned in to the development of Conroy as a writer. Conroy truly is an artist and this book will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it will make you want to read more of this talented writer.
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Summary: My Losing Season a Winner!
Review: "My Losing Season" by Pat Conroy is a reflective catharsis of the author's yearning to understand his past from an emotional distance that only the passing of the years can provide. Drawing upon interviews with former basketball teammates, family members, and friends, Conroy paints a picture that, while framed within his senior basketball season, spills over into his whole composite canvas of experiences in life. It is the mixture and texture of his past that create a book that is both haunting and, ironically, uplifting.
Pat Conroy's father was physically and verbally abusive against a helpless son, mother, and family. The monster that was his father hated himself so much that he punished his son for all of his unfulfilled dreams. The glimpses into the abuse are brief yet tangible enough that the reader wishes he could reach through the pages and retaliate for the injustices. Yet out of this abuse, the author chose to not only persevere, but to excel against the odds. Too short and too average to be an exceptional athlete, Conroy instead fused all of his intensity into being the best basketball player he could possibly be. His coach at The Citadel in his "losing season" mirrors his own father in that there was never much communication, especially positive. Conroy, having been told that he will not start any games in his senior season, does not quit; instead, he plays even harder as a point of pride and determination. The quality of not letting others define us and of not allowing other to control our lives is, by itself, a monumental theme for all regardless of the reader's age or gender.
If there's room your book collection for a story that is uplifting and will make you reflect upon your own life's destination, I would highly recommend this as a "must read book."
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Summary: Pat Conroy, Basketball, and a Few Other Things
Review: Pat Conroy has succeeded in writing his most painfully honest book yet. "My Losing Season" deals primarily with Conroy's senior year of basketball playing at the Citadel (1966-67. However, before we get to that point, Conroy discusses much of his childhood and younger years that lead up to this point.
This is not a book for those who cannot stand to read about the physical and psychological abuse of a child by a parent. Unlike "The Great Santini" where Conroy uses a work of fiction to write about his father--as well as giving him a few redeeming qualities--Conroy details the abuse and domestic violence his father inflicted on his family. Its hard to stomach the recitation of this abuse at times. One wishes someone would have intervened and forced his father into therapy and treatment. Conroy writes again about life at the Citadel. Life as a plebe was very hard and at one time Conroy called his mother to complain. She asked "how bad is it". Conroy's response was "Mom, its worse than Dad". Those unfamiliar with hazing rituals at some institutions may have trouble relating to deliberate sleep deprivation, humiliation, and use of food deprivation as tools to destroy the spirit of human beings. Most of the book details individual games played by the team this year as they developed a losing playing record. My sense was not that the Citadel had a bad team, but simply that it was playing more highly skilled teams. One point Conroy made was that recruitment of basketball players at the Citadel was made hard by the fact that many elected to go to school at non-military institutions without hazing rituals. At the end of the book, Conroy followed up with many of his teammates. A number--like he--had been quite successful, making most of their careers in business and industry. My only significant criticism of the book is that at times Conroy chooses to undertake a sort of out-of-place introspection. He criticizes himself for his two failed marriages. He blames this on the fact he had an inner need to "rescue women in distress". In another point in the book he makes another out-of-place comment about feeling bad he didn't serve America in the military in Vietnam (he would have still protested the war, but would have done so when his service ended) All in all, its a good book. I'd have been happier though if Conroy had focused on his childhood, The Citadel, and the basketball teams games that year.
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Summary: From a VMI Cadet
Review: While I wasn't a college athlete myself (1 year of baseball), I did room with a scholarship football player at VMI, so I have witnessed the challenges of being an athlete at a military college in the 1960's (Viet Nam era). Reading "My Losing Season" took me on a personal trip down the VMI memory lane. I graduated from VMI with a degree in English in 1971, and many of the Southern Conference players Pat played against were still competing when I got to VMI in the fall of 1967. Many of the same VMI players were there - Steve Powers, John Kemper (Pat called him "Jim" in the book) John Mitchell, Peyton Brown. Pat's incredible ability to take the reader on the emotional highs and lows of his experience had me laughing out loud at 2:00 A.M. (Chapter 12 - Old Dominion), and crying (descriptions of paternal abuse and humiliation). This is the true measure of a writer - is the reader experiencing, not just reading words on a page? While the book rambles to a degree - especially the final chapter - I sense it was an expression of catharsis for Pat, brought about by years of pain (childhood), self-examination and even guilt over youthful writing indiscretions; so, it is excusable and even beautiful in its resolution and triumph. Another true measure of a great book is the feeling of loss when the last page is read. I was sorry to see this book end and continue to pick it up and re-read, finding tidbits of enjoyment not noticed the first time through. I'm putting it on the required reading list of all my VMI roommates. Two thumbs up and 5 stars. Incredible reading.
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Summary: An excellent re-examination of life
Review: This is a superb piece of writing. I immediately felt a kinship with both the young basketball player and the older writer. It is refreshing in this day and age of laying blame at anyone else's feet that he can look at the past with such an evenhanded gaze. I especially loved the end of the book. The Citadel basketball players did not have a losing season.
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