Pat Conroy: the Prince of Tides Essay Example

Pat Conroy: The Prince of Tides Pat Conroy is a New York Times bestselling author that has written many renowned novels and memoirs. “He's not much of a stylist, and his sense of humor needs work, but Pat Conroy has a nice wry perspective and a wholehearted commitment to his job.” (CLC 45). One of his best selling novels is The Prince of Tides. This novel depicts the life of Tom Wingo a southern boy and all the problems he faces with his family. Pat Conroy has won many awards for his writings and continues to be on summer reading lists throughout the country. The most recent award he received was in 2010, the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Governor’s Award for the Arts, South Carolina, Lifetime Achievement.
Many of Pat Conroy's books include references about his childhood as well as his abusive father. This may give us insight into his childhood. Also many characters in Pat Conroy's novels depict people from his own life. The Prince of Tides is not the only book of Conroy’s that gives insights into his childhood many of his books help to understand certain moments and relationships throughout his life. Pat Conroy said, “that Luke Wingo is the one character in this novel (The Prince of Tides) that he cannot account for, that he cannot directly correlate with someone in his own life” (Malphrus 1). The novel The Prince of Tides so closely related to his past that after published his sister Carol depicted as Savannah stopped speaking to him for many years. Despite his hard times as a southern boy in 2009 Conroy’s Prince of Tides was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame. The Detroit Free Press stated "A masterpiece that can compare with Steinbeck’s East of Eden…Some books make you laugh; some make you cry; some make you think. The Prince of Tides is a rarity: It does all three." (Staggs 1) The Detroit Free Press is not the only publication who believes The Prince of Tides was great, however, there is much controversy in regards to the mental abuse, physical