BOOK REVIEW: Conroy Shoots... HE SCORES!!!

If the reader is familiar with Mr. Conroy's work then you know much of his material is taken from his horrible childhood. His 6'4", physically and verbally abusive, Marine dad made his and his siblings' lives a living hell. The memoir reenforces the highly dysfunctional nature of his family as well as life at the draconian Citadel in the mid-1960s. The core of this book is about how basketball was an integral part of the author's identity from age 9 until he graduated from the Citadel. Also, besides his teammates, his college coach, Mel Thompson, plays a big part in this story. Mr. Thompson was still alive when the author's book was published and if the former coach read the sucker, I can't imagine he was too pleased with the depiction of him.

The book, however, is not just a story about basketball, but Mr. Conroy's wonderful game descriptions took me back to when I used to play. Their second game against VMI, which went into four overtimes, was an especially edge-of-your-seat chapter. The book has a lot of heart. The dialogue between the players sounds very authentic. I felt it had the right balance of suspense, insight and humor by the brutally honest Mr. Conroy.

At the ripe age of 51, I still don't understand the coaching approach of using fear and intimidation to guide players. These sort of a-holes view sports as war and they're the tin-pot dicators on massive ego trips. Mr. Conroy also shows how insecure people like Mel Thompson leave lasting scars on many players well into their golden years. Instead of helping shape boys into men, they hinder such development because they themselves have never grown up. Mr. Conroy's coming-of-age story is a truly wonderful memoir for anyone who enjoys or enjoyed basketball.

(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing book reviews under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #288)