The Great Santini

By: Pat Conroy

Narrated by: Michael Crouch

“Conroy takes aim at our darkest emotions, lets the arrow fly and hits a bull’s-eye almost every time.” —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

This is the story of Bull Meecham, the epitome of the Marine officer. Demanding, authoritarian, as tough a disciplinarian at home as at the base, Bull is a difficult man to please, and even harder to love. This is also the story of Ben Meecham, Bull’s oldest son. A gifted athlete whose best never satisfies his father, Ben must balance his own ambition with his father’s expectations – and decide what course he will chart for himself and what kind of man he will become. Piercing, bittersweet, and unforgettable, The Great Santini is Pat Conroy’s semi-autobiographical lens into fathers and sons, and the powerful legacy one man can leave behind.

“Robust and vivid…full of feeling.” – Newsday

“Few novelists write as well, and none as beautifully.” – Lexington Herald Leader

Didn't expect that!

I love to read and listen to Pat Conroy. I can't say this is an all time favorite but I certainly wasn't expecting the ending.

Incredible

Great character development and interplay. A book written from the heart to all types of families.

A Heartbreaking, Yet Beautiful Story

A wonderful deliberation on how we still love those who are cruel to us. Conroy's elegant prose is vividly descriptive and paints an amazing picture of the Lowcountry. He quickly invests the reader emotionally into his characters. My only dislike was that at times the characters spoke so much I became disinterested and skipped ahead. But overall the book is great. That you can hate, and like, a character as much as Bull Meechum is a testament to Conroy's skill as a writer

A Great Read

The late Pat Conroy was a marvelous writer and this was one of his best, along with Prince of Tides and The Lords of Discipline. The book tells the story of Marine Colonel Bull Meachem and his family, with emphasis on his son Ben, who's in his senior year of high school. Bull is quite a character - a strong man but a bully. Ben, his mother and siblings know Bull's faults and deal with them as best they can. You won't like Bull much but you'll be engrossed in the story.

Really good

Sad fun dark chilling aware unaware beware, good really good. Truth real fun, sad but god but life