My Losing Season

By: Pat Conroy

Narrated by: Chuck Montgomery

Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best seller

A deeply affecting coming-of-age memoir about family, love, loss, basketball - and life itself - by the beloved author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini

During one unforgettable season as a Citadel cadet, Pat Conroy becomes part of a basketball team that is ultimately destined to fail. And yet for a military kid who grew up on the move, the Bulldogs provide a sanctuary from the cold, abrasive father who dominates his life- and a crucible for becoming his own man.

With all the drama and incandescence of his best-selling fiction, Conroy re-creates his pivotal senior year as captain of the Citadel Bulldogs. He chronicles the highs and lows of that fateful 1966-67 season, his tough disciplinarian coach, the joys of winning, and the hard-won lessons of losing. Most of all, he recounts how a group of boys came together as a team, playing a sport that would become a metaphor for a man whose spirit could never be defeated.

©2002 Pat Conroy (P)2002 Random House Inc., Random House Audio, a Division of Random House Inc.

Critic reviews

"A superb accomplishment, maybe the finest book Pat Conroy has written." (The Washington Post Book World)

"A wonderfully rich memoir that you don’t have to be a sports fan to love." (Houston Chronicle)

"A memoir with all the Conroy trademarks.... Here’s ample proof that losers always tell the best stories." (Newsweek)

EXCELLENT

A great story...Inspiring, Moving, Educational, Entertaining. With over 1,600 audiobooks in my audible Library This one Stands out!

Pat Conroy . . .

I mourn the fact we will have no more books from Mr. Conroy. If you've enjoyed his other books, you'll love this one too.
Not much more to say . . . a fabulous writer, turning phrases as only he can. Loved it.

Enjoyed every minute. I felt part of the team.

Since I travel a lot by car in areas that have no signal for phone or radio, Audible is my companion.
I experienced every moment of Conroy's Losing Season through Chuck Montgomery's great narration .
Chuck's voice brought out every play, emotion, and description to life. I will look for Mr. Montgomery
as well as the author and titles hence forth.

Great book. Bad narration

This is not my first Conroy. Far from it. I read my first Conroy as a summer reading assignment before my 8th grade year. I made my first basket at the age of 8 when I accompanied my father to the basketball court one Saturday morning because I wanted to play on the swing set just off the court. But as we were headed home I lobbed one into the air per my usual ritual... only this time it went in. I made him take me back 3 times that day and so was basketball.

I bought this book the day it was released and realized Coroy would never write anything so dear to my heart as this tale about the south and basketball. My sport. My author. My south.

And so I purchased this audio book to listen to on the treadmill because I knew the prose and the competitive spirit of the boys from that team would push me forward when I didn't want to go. And it worked like a charm until the narration began and I realized that the narration had let down my south.

The author's home town of Beaufort South Carolina and the majestic city of New Orleans are mispronounced at every occasion. And each time it took me out of the narration.

The book is amazing... but it's a far better read than listen.

You will learn about the man!

I have read several of Pat Conroy’s books. With this one I feel like I know him personally. Great read!

Dare I say "Beautiful"?

This is the heartbreaking real-life story of Pat Conroy as a member of the basketball team at The Citadel. It's the true tale of "The Lords of Discipline," but reality is harsher than fiction. Thank God Mr. Conroy grew to loves books as he has and was given the ability to write words that make us laugh hysterically and cry uncontrollably. That's why he's my favorite.
His recounting, especially, of his meeting with basketball teammate Al Kroboth would make even the harshest critic shed a tear.

Brilliant!

What does it mean to compete?

I have never been an athlete or a member of an athletic team. Pat Conroy made me understand this experience better than I ever thought possible. I learned a little of the passion and the drive that keeps a person who is not a star working and striving.

It takes an amazing writer to present a person as detestable as Pat Conroy's father and not make you hate him. Instead, you come to accept him even as Pat has come to terms with him.

It is a great thing to have this author narrate his book. It is an extremely personal narrative, and his voice carries the emotion of this narrative beautifully.

Another winner

What did you love best about My Losing Season?

I loved how intimate the book felt. Just like listening to an old friend talk about his life.

Relateable

This book is something everyone can relate. We have all had these feelings at one point or another, Conroy manages to verbalize them so well. It is a wonderful story of an athlete's struggle with its quality amplified due to the fact it is a true story.

Great insight

This is a wonderful book that provided excellent insight into the mind and heart of a young athlete. It touches on so many of the complicated motivations that young athletes experience as they find their way in the world.