Título: My Exaggerated Life: Pat Conroy
Autor: Pat Conroy, Katherine Clark
Sinopse: An oral biography that reveals the Southern author's true voice
Pat Conroy's memoirs and autobiographical novels contain a great deal about his life, but there is much he hasn't revealed to readers―until now. My Exaggerated Life is the product of a special collaboration between this great American author and oral biographer Katherine Clark, who recorded two hundred hours of conversations with Conroy before he passed away in 2016. In the spring and summer of 2014, the two spoke for an hour or more on the phone every day. No subject was off limits, including aspects of his tumultuous life he had never before revealed.
This oral biography presents Conroy the man, as if speaking in person, in the colloquial voice familiar to family and friends. This voice is quite different from the authorial style found in his books, which are famous for their lyricism and poetic descriptions. Here Conroy is blunt, plainspoken, and uncommonly candid. While his novels are known for their tragic elements, this volume is suffused with Conroy's sense of humor, which he credits with saving his life on several occasions.
The story Conroy offers here is about surviving and overcoming the childhood abuse and trauma that marked his life. He is frank about his emotional damage―the depression, the alcoholism, the divorces, and, above all, the crippling lack of self-esteem and self-confidence. He also sheds light on the forces that saved his life from ruin. The act of writing compelled Conroy to confront the painful truths about his past, while years of therapy with a clinical psychologist helped him achieve a greater sense of self-awareness and understanding.
As Conroy recounts his time in Atlanta, Rome, and San Francisco, along with his many years in Beaufort, South Carolina, he portrays a journey full of struggles and suffering that culminated ultimately in redemption and triumph. Although he gained worldwide recognition for his writing, Conroy believed his greatest achievement was in successfully carving out a life filled with family and friends, as well as love and happiness. In the end he arrived at himself and found it was a good place to be.
Contexto da obra
Como livro em inglês, esta obra costuma ganhar também uma camada própria de interesse editorial e linguístico. “My Exaggerated Life: Pat Conroy”, de Pat Conroy, Katherine Clark, publicado pela editora University of South Carolina Press, em 2018 e com 352 páginas, integra a categoria Livros em Inglês. Por isso, o interesse da obra tende a se ampliar quando o leitor considera também a relação com a língua em que ela circula.
Editora: University of South Carolina Press
Páginas: 352
Ano: 2018-03-13
Edição:
Linguagem: en
ISBN: 1611179076
ISBN13: 9781611179071
Sobre a editora
Os livros da editora University of South Carolina Press oferecem uma experiência de leitura que mescla história regional, biografias e estudos culturais com narrativas que exploram o Sul dos Estados Unidos em suas múltiplas facetas. O catálogo privilegia obras que investigam relações sociais e históricas profundas, como a trajetória de personagens marcantes e comunidades específicas, além de trabalhos que documentam tradições orais, arte e ciência local. A linguagem costuma ser acessível, com tom que varia do ensaístico ao narrativo, e o ritmo se alterna entre análises detalhadas e relatos envolventes, o que cria um equilíbrio entre informação e imersão. As sinopses sugerem também um interesse por temas como conflitos familiares, memória coletiva e transformações sociais, muitas vezes ambientados em cenários sulistas e históricos.
