. South of Broad.
Conroy, Pat. -- Library Journal, 6/25/2009 9:29:00 AM
Nan A. Talese: Doubleday. Aug. 2009. c.512p. ISBN 978-0-385-41305-3. $29.95. F
“Kids, I’m teaching you to tell a story. It’s the most important lesson you’ll ever learn,” says the protagonist of Conroy’s first novel in 14 years (since 1995’s Beach Music). Switching between the 1960s and the 1980s, the narrative follows a group of friends whose relationship began in Charleston, SC. The narrator is Leopold Bloom King (his mother was a Joyce scholar), a likable but troubled kid who goes from having one best friend, his brother, to having no friends after a tragedy, to having, suddenly, a gang, of which he is perhaps not the leader but certainly the glue. Conroy continues to demonstrate his skill at presenting both the beauty and the ugliness of the South, holding both up for inspection and, at times, admiration. He has not lost his touch for writing stories that are impossible to put down; the fast pace and shifting settings grip the reader even as the story occasionally veers toward the unbelievable. Verdict Filled with the lyrical, funny, poignant language that is Conroy’s birthright, this is a work Conroy fans will love. Libraries should buy multiple copies.—Amy Watts, Univ. of Georgia Lib., Athens
