"I didn't cry when Ol' Yeller died."

Oh, not LMM, Helen Hooven Santmyer. And Ladies of the Club

I have no idea why that one got me so, except it was chronicling full lives from the onset of adulthood to death.

Oh! I didn't cry with that one, sarameg, but she's an interesting story. Was a published author since the 1920's, I think, but hit the bestseller list when she was 88. Supposedly, the book took her 50 years to write, but she was writing poetry and other books in that time period, so I dunno.

I don't know, if I was an author, if I would be delighted or utterly pissed off, to finally make it big at 88.

I'm bitchy -- I think I'd die grumpy.

Her story is esp. kind of interesting in light of the article Hec linked to.

The latest being Knuffle Bunny 3 for which I was not spoiled and read it to Em as my first time reading it.

That one got a LOT of parents, I suspect.

Another fan of ...And Ladies of the Club here. I can't say I cried, but some moments really hit me in one way or another. Agatha Pinney's ultimate end. Belinda's illness. Johnny's marriage, especially in contrast with his father's. And that's just off the top of my head, and I haven't read the book in the last 10 years or so. In that book, Santmyer really made something special out of the ordinary incidents of life.

The first time I read The Lords of Discipline, one scene hit me so hard that I had to stop reading and go for a walk. Conroy spent much of his career (at least through Beach Music, which is the latest of his books I've read) on the theme of the white Southern male trying to accept the changes in the South during his lifetime. TLoD is the one where he gives it a punch.

Conroy spent much of his career (at least through Beach Music, which is the latest of his books I've read) on the theme of the white Southern male trying to accept the changes in the South during his lifetime. TLoD is the one where he gives it a punch.

I read his newest novel, South of Broad, on vacation. Now, I've loved Pat Conroy for a long time. His writing is definitely florid, but I've been so drawn in by the story he tells that the OTT-ness of some of his language generally doesn't bother me.

South of Broad was a hot mess. He crammed in Shocking Event after Shocking Event, including one completely unnecessary one at the very end. And worst of all was that he spent half the novel *telling* the reader about certain relationships (why so-and-so were friends, for example), rather than *showing* it. About 1/3 of the novel, I think, could have been distilled and then re-worked into something grand. Instead it was just a crazy mess designed to shock by telling the readers that it was shocking.

Also? He *really* needs to stop re-telling the same stories (abusive father, clinically insane wife, blah blah blah). We get it.

He *really* needs to stop re-telling the same stories

That's why I haven't read anything of his since Beach Music. Although I guess if you write long enough, you're going to start repeating yourself.

I think the only one I ever read was Prince of Tides. I loved it, but wow, heavy stuff.

That's one that doesn't get a re-read.

Although I guess if you write long enough, you're going to start repeating yourself.

Nah, he repeats himself in every novel. There's always a Damaged Mentally Ill Woman and always a Horribly Abusive Father and always Oh My God Mother Issues. And usually some weirdness with the Catholic Church. Some that show up in most, but not all, of his novels are Dead Brother, Inexplicable Jewish Character (often Damaged), and Backwoods Hillbillies With An Unbelievably Traumatic Past.

I think the only one I ever read was Prince of Tides. I loved it, but wow, heavy stuff.

God, that's my favorite. I re-read that at least once a year.