Beach Music

A Novel

By: Pat Conroy

Narrated by: Jonathan Marosz

Length: 26 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Pat Conroy is without doubt America's favorite storyteller, a writer who portrays the anguished truth of the human heart and the painful secrets of families in richly lyrical prose and unforgettable narratives.

Now, in Beach Music, he tells of the dark memories that haunt generations, in a story that spans South Carolina and Rome and reaches back into the unutterable terrors of the Holocaust.

Beach Music is about Jack McCall, an American living in Rome with his young daughter, trying to find peace after the recent trauma of his wife's suicide. But his solitude is disturbed by the appearance of his sister-in-law, who begs him to return home, and of two school friends asking for his help in tracking down another classmate who went underground as a Vietnam protester and never resurfaced. These requests launch Jack on a journey that encompasses the past and the present in both Europe and the American South, and that leads him to shocking--and ultimately liberating--truths.

Told with deep feeling and trademark Conroy humor, Beach Music is powerful and compulsively readable. It is another masterpiece in the legendary list of classics that his body of work has already become.

©2009 Pat Conroy (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"Astonishing...stunning...the range of passions and subjects that brings life to every page is almost endless." (The Washington Post Book World)

“Reading Pat Conroy is like watching Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel.” (Houston Chronicle)

“Magnificent... Beach Music is clearly Conroy’s best.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

Simply the best!

This is my very favorite of Pat Conroy’s books!!! He is simply a master storyteller and an amazing wordsmith with description and detail. I love how he can use a more minor character’s story to fill in so much backstory. I laughed and cried so many times and it was my third time finishing the book. Do not miss out on this book!!!! Be glad no one tried to make it a movie like they did, Prince of Tides…no movie of this story could come close to this book!!!

PURE PAT CONROY

So many stories within one story. If long books aren't your "cup of tea" this is not for you... I loved it... couldn't stop listening. Someone didn't care for the narrator but I thought he did a great job.

Great Story teller

Pat Conroy holds you to be part of his story.
i have listen to many of his books, and always enjoy his telling, his grabing you into it.
very good listen i recomend

Captures you from the beginning!

Pat pulled me right into the story and made me feel like I was right there in it. I felt like I knew well each of the important people that brought the story to life.

A beautiful though imperfect epic

Beach Music is a sweeping, stirring, at times kind of rambling saga that shows Pat Conroy for the most part doing what he does best—setting real and believable characters in lush, wonderful settings amidst the very best of human relationships and the very worst of human cruelty. It features all the usual themes familiar to Conroy fans—family relationships, abuse, addiction, sports, mental illness, tragedy—and of course the ever-present Low Country of South Carolina. In this book, however, Conroy takes things a bit further, setting a significant portion of the book in Rome and even reliving two characters’ recollections of the horrors of the Holocaust.

As in all Conroy novels, it is the characters’ relationships and interactions that drive the story. From the opening pages to the somewhat drawn-out ending, Jack McCall’s relationships with his parents, his brothers, and his close-knit circle of friends provide story element after story element. From four high-school boys lost at sea in an open boat to a campus prank gone horribly wrong to inadvertent murder and an international flight from justice, Conroy reaches deep into each character’s backstory to provide a multilayered tapestry of affection and, in many cases, dysfunction.

This is not Conroy’s best work, though it may be his most ambitious. There are some surprising miscues, including several repeated dialog segments and at least one character that seems to have been forgotten about for most of the second half of the book. Nevertheless, the overall strength of the writing manages to make up for what might otherwise be distractions.

The audiobook, while a far cry from the artistry of Frank Muller’s narration of The Prince of Tides, is smooth and enjoyable. Jonathan Marosz’s Southern drawl seems a bit affected at times, but in general he provides fairly accurate and consistent character voices, and the pacing is good throughout.

The story contains the usual amount of language and rough content. Because portions of this book deal with the Holocaust, there is perhaps more dark content here than in Conroy’s others. But as always, Conroy dwells on the horrors people can inflict on each other only as much as is needed to bring out the wonder and joy that comes when individuals and communities overcome such obstacles.

Beach Music, though flawed, is a beautiful book, full of rich characterizations, incredible settings, and the indomitable buoyancy of the human spirit. Pat Conroy fans will enjoy the familiar themes and literary patterns, and the uninitiated will be treated to a wonderful introduction to one of modern America’s truly great authors.

Premium Pat Conroy!

Beach Music is another outstanding Pat Conroy Book! I have procrastinated reading Beach Music for about 9 months, moving other Conroy books ahead of it. The reason for the delay was due to the story description not sounding as though the topic of the story would interest me, The use of 2 audible credits, The Title of the book sounding like some romantic sappy romance novel, and the book cover falsely confirming the book was probably a sappy love story. (The 2 best Conroy books available have the 2 most misleading titles. When I tell people my favorite all time book is The Prince of Tides, I usually hear, "You? isn't that a romance novel?" Thank you Barbara Streisand for killing potential book sales with your movie that doesn't remotely resemble the content of the book)

Once I hit play and started in on Beach Music it quickly moved up my list of favorites. After reading / listening to The Prince of Tides last summer I came away wanting my next read to be as good as P.O.T. This is that book! I've now listened to The Lords of Discipline, The Great Santini, South of Broad, and The Prince of Tides and this book feels the closest to The Prince of Tides as all of them!

The narration was excellent though Marosz wasn't able to capture the lightning in a bottle quite as well when it comes to Conroy's sarcastic humor like Frank Muller did in Prince of Tides. But I don't think anyone can recreate Muller's narration miracle in Prince of Tides.

The only criticism I have is what is beginning to appear as the "Conroy comfort zone" As mentioned, I've now read / listened to 5 of Conroy's books and the same story lines with different characters and situations keep popping up in each book. This was the first book of his I listened to and thought to myself on multiple occasions "Again? We've already gone down this road before in 4 other books" It's starting to feel as though these certain subjects are a comfort zone. As though he hits writers block and brings in a theme or topic from an older book changing the details around while keeping the big picture the same.

With that said... Read this one and read the Prince of Tides. In my opinion The 2 best Conroy books. then Lords, then South of Broad, then the Great Santini. Next up on my list is the water is wide.

A must read - Pat Conroy is the greatest

I mostly listen to thrillers, science fiction & mysteries. This book is not in any of those categories. It is a book that everyone should read or listen. Pat Conroy is the best American writer of this age.

This story took me all around the world and back

I had a hard time liking the main character for the first half of the book, but he grew on me as I came to know him. The friendship is what did it for me. Jordan was by far my most favorite character, oh and Lucy, Jack's mother. Just like true Southern Spirit we parade our crazy right on the front lawn with the baby brother John Harden. I would love to see this book made into a movie.

Torn

This book had a lot of intense content and for the most part I came to appreciate it, it can however be a little laborious. Although I liked the narrator's voice the reading could be very flat. I'm not sure if this was done purposely due to the content or just his style. Writing of course here is key and although by far not the worst I had a hard time getting by the "I said" "he said" "she said" so much of that was totally distracting and completely unnecessary. I came into this book with high hopes hearing for many years what a great book it was. Maybe if I visually read it instead of listening it might have delivered differently. I have come to appreciate the combination of writing style, content and delivery as a total package and have gotten pretty discerning of what I can listen to. This time I was left less than enthusiastic.

Anything Conroy wrote is magical, but that bad accent…

Pat Conroy is one of the great American authors. I’ve read most of his books several times and love them every time. I’ve been traveling a great deal for work and decided to listen to one for a change. Sadly, I was constantly distracted by the reader’s efforts to sound Southern. Had he simply read the words in his own voice rather than trying to sound like Boss Hogg, Conroy’s story would have painted the picture better than any actor could. But what do I know? I’m just a simple southerner.