I loved my parents... but that can never change the fact that my father's violence ruined my childhood.
From Pat Conroy
My father's violence is the central fact of my art and my life.
I mark the reading of 'Look Homeward, Angel' as one of the pivotal events of my life. It starts off with the single greatest, knock-your-socks-off first page I have ever come across in my careful reading of world literature.
Let me now praise the American writer James Dickey. In 1970, his novel 'Deliverance' was published. I found it to be 278 pages that approached perfection. Its tightness of construction and assuredness of style reminded me of 'The Great Gatsby.'
Though Nathalie Dupree did not remember much about my presence in her class, it marked me forever. I remain her enthusiast, her evangelist, her acolyte, and her grateful student. She taught me that cooking and storytelling make the most delightful coconspirators.
I've never cackled with laughter at a single line I've ever written. None of it has given me pleasure.
When I was 5 years old, my mother read me 'Gone With The Wind' at night, before I went to bed. I remember her reading almost all year.
I only hope to do well enough before I die to have a house as big as my rich Uncle Ed and Aunt Carole.
The University of South Carolina has always played a role in my life and the intellectual life of South Carolina.
A family is too frail a vessel to contain the risks of all the warring impulses expressed when such a group meets on common ground.
3 perspectives
2 perspectives
1 perspectives