MY EXAGGERATED LIFE by Pat Conroy as told to Katherine Clark
Pat Conroy will go down in history as a legendary writer of fiction. His novels such as THE LORDS OF DISCIPLINE, THE PRINCE OF TIDES and BEACH MUSIC are well on to their way to becoming literary classics. Therefore the story of his life as told by him to Katherine Clark was one of the year’s most anticipated books. And now it has arrived. MY EXAGGERATED LIFE is Conroy’s story in his own words and it is a book true Conroy fans might want to avoid.
Conroy in person was a brilliant, witty and lovable man. He could write books that touched souls and was so talented even his cookbooks were filled with poignancy. As a friend he was loyal and devoted and as a speaker he was someone who could hold an audience spellbound hour after hour. All of these wonderful traits are not on view in MY EXAGGERATED LIFE.
In this book Conroy comes off as petulant and whiny. Admittedly he came from a rough childhood. We have all read THE GREAT SANTINI. But Conroy overcame that relationship as well as others that threatened his happiness and even at times his sanity. He was triumphant in his later life as he lived wrote and loved with great gusto in all of it.
According to this book his first two marriages were mistakes. Both wives come across as non-supportive of Pat or his career. He did unto them but they never did unto him in a positive way. At least that is the way Conroy sees it in this book. But whatever his relationships with these two women, he hit the jackpot when he married fellow writer Cassandra King. This is the point where his life hit a positive surge and it is the time of his life that gets the least coverage in this book.
Along the way Conroy tells stories about his friends and his family. He doesn’t have a lot of good to say about very many of them. He doesn’t just air the dirty linen in these relationships; he shines a spotlight on them. Perhaps in some instances he was trying to be witty but in the context of all the venom encased in his story that can not be detected. People who were supposedly some of Pat’s closest friends come in for their share of derision.
Pat Conroy and Katherine Clark had their “conversations” primarily by phone. He would call and talk to her at length telling one story after another. She taped everything and only was involved with some gentle prodding along the way. Mainly she let Pat ramble to his heart’s content. This is what this book comes across as – the ramblings of a somewhat bitter man looking back on his life.
Pat Conroy was larger than life in person and on the page. He brought beauty to the world through his stories. He will be remembered for them and hopefully not for his remembrances shared in MY EXAGGERATED LIFE.
MY EXAGGERATED LIFE is published by The University of South Carolina Press. It contains 330 pages and sells for $29.99.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
