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Pat Conroys great success as a writer has always been intimately linked with the exploration of his family history. As the oldest of seven children who were dragged from military base to military base across the South, Pat bore witness to the often cruel and violent behavior of his father, Marine Corps fighter pilot Donald Patrick Conroy. While the publication of brought Pat much acclaim, the rift it caused brought even more attention, fracturing an already battered family. But as Pat tenderly chronicles here, even the oldest of wounds can heal. In the final years of Don Conroys life, the Santini unexpectedly refocused his ire to defend his sons honor.

is a heart-wrenching act of reckoning whose ultimate conclusion is that love can soften even the meanest of men, lending significance to the oft-quoted line from Pats novel : In families there are no crimes beyond forgiveness.

Praise for

A brilliant storyteller, a master of sarcasm, and a hallucinatory stylist whose obsession with the impress of the past on the present binds him to Southern literary tradition.

A painful, lyrical, addictive read that [Pat Conroys] fans wont want to miss.

Conroys conviction pulls you fleetly through the book, as does the potency of his bond with his family, no matter their sins.

Vital, large-hearted and often raucously funny.

Conroy writes athletically and beautifully, slicing through painful memories like a point guard splitting the defense.Minneapolis