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The Great Santini Audiobook
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(4.00) - 11,332 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
“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
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"I am a Pat Conroy fan. Reading this book brought back a lot of memories of growing up as a military brat. He completely nailed that part. I could totally relate to his experience. I liked this book a lot. There were some parts that seemed irrelevant and as much as that bugged me, I still really liked this."
— Donna (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Narrator Michael Crouch portrays the epitome of the Marine fighter pilot, Bull Meecham, with a bar of blue twisted steel in his delivery…Crouch imbues each character with the perfect tone and pitch, letting listeners feel pity, horror, and joy as Ben and his siblings mature…Listen to Crouch’s narration with both ears and an open heart.”
— AudioFile
The Great Santini Listener Reviews
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Scott, 10/17/2021
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" Worth reading. A good story. "
— Win, 2/17/2014 -
" this book was good, but it was amazing. i would suggest it cause its good to try it. very "rough" material[swearing etc.] its worth a shot though "
— Kaleigh, 2/14/2014 -
" I reread this one every now and then! "
— Becky, 2/7/2014 -
" Hands down one of the best books I have ever read. "
— Heather, 2/1/2014 -
" I enjoy all of Conroy's work. While this is good reading, I think this one reveals a lot of Conroy's childhood -- the demanding, hard-drinking officer father had to be his own. "
— Lisa, 1/22/2014 -
" I've probably read this book three times and it just keeps getting better "
— Norma, 1/18/2014 -
" this is my husband's FAVORITE book and he's read it ovr and over so I have to include it, too!Also a great movie "
— Kono, 1/13/2014 -
" Done that. Been there, Bought the T-short and the hat.Gave this to my Mom to read and she said she could have written the book. There is a lot of true stories in this book. "
— Jeffrey, 1/4/2014 -
" Great read - Ben and Bull are well developed characters - flawed but not fatally. "
— Roann, 12/14/2013 -
" I enjoyed this book a lot. It gave me an interesting look into each character and some uncomfortable moments with this dysfunctional family. "
— Barb, 12/11/2013 -
" And I thought Beach Music was bad. This is the worst Conroy book of all that I've read. He should have started & stopped with The Prince of Tides. "
— Ann, 12/6/2013 -
" I read this book in one night...very powerful story. "
— Andrea, 11/29/2013 -
" I did not enjoy this at all. I thought the book was all over the place!! "
— Amypeterson14, 10/7/2013 -
" This book is an incredible haunting description of the reality of growing up with a practicing alcoholic. It is a fascinating story - and Conroy a master story teller. You don't read his books, you immerse yourself in them! "
— Dan, 9/23/2013 -
" Read this years ago. My new goal is to read and own every book Pat Conroy wrote. "
— Mary, 8/17/2013 -
" It was ok. Not my favorite Conroy book. "
— Lauren, 4/1/2013 -
" Great Book... had missed it. Just finished it last night "
— Ron, 3/8/2013 -
" Amazing book. It is a work I read in high school whose passages still resonate with me as an adult. "
— Jeremy, 10/6/2012 -
" Just another fabulous Pat Conroy book. "
— Ron, 4/9/2012 -
" I love this author (my other Conroy reviews I hope make this fact patently clear), but this book was hard to read. The father-son relationship in this one was almost too painful to bear. But as always, Conroy's beautiful writing presented it all beautifully. "
— Karen, 12/21/2011 -
" An okay read about a military brat and his relationship with his father. "
— Veronica, 11/1/2011 -
" Pat Conroy makes you think. Personalities are described to the point where you can feel for the characters. He touches on so many aspects of life and how our lives are shaped by how we are raised. "
— Fran, 8/26/2011 -
" Very fine read. This was at least my 3rd time reading it....... "
— Sara, 7/17/2011 -
" I like Pat Conroy a lot. This book was rather brutal and it hit home because I have a friend who grew up a military brat and his father was very Santini-like. But, Conroy is a master story teller and I cared about the characters enough to finish the book. "
— ms.petra, 7/4/2011 -
" Pat Conroy is my favorite author! Another great book of his! "
— Renee, 6/28/2011 -
" Well, with all the questions I get regarding this book and my name, it was a MUST read. The characters are very well developed, although the dad is a jerk. All in all, a good read. "
— Jennifer, 6/14/2011 -
" I enjoy all of Pat Conroy's books, this being one of his early ones isn't quite as good as some of his more recent work, but it shows so much potential. And you know he's drawing on his own autobiography in this story. "
— Maureen, 5/7/2011 -
" Read it in Semantics and Logic 9th grade. <br/> "
— Amanda, 5/2/2011 -
" I must admit that I didn't like this much. A colleague has used it in class, but I wasn't much taken with it. It seems dated and thus not useful as an exploration of gender roles. "
— Claire, 3/25/2011 -
" There's nothing this man writes that isn't 5 stars. "
— Samantha, 3/13/2011 -
" I had to read this book in High School and I think it was the only one that I really loved. I re-read it again and found it was even better. It's a great story of a father/son and their relationship "
— Kirsten, 3/8/2011 -
" Lived up to expectations. One of my favorite reads of all time. Some of the best characters ever in a book. I'd highly suggest. "
— Trey, 2/27/2011 -
" I have read other Conroy books (Prince of Tides and South of Broad) and loved them. The Great Santini is nothing like those books. This one is about a family in the military with an abusive father. I can't think of anything to recommend it and am struggling to finish it. "
— Judie, 2/25/2011 -
" Classic -- could be set in 1962 or 2011. "
— Sue, 2/23/2011 -
" This was a great book, and I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed all the characters in the story, and it was interesting to watch each of them grow. However, the ending was sad but very good at the same time. "
— Joe, 2/9/2011 -
" I need at least ten stars for this one. It's my favorite of all by Conroy. "
— Diana, 2/2/2011
About Pat Conroy
Donald Patrick “Pat” Conroy (1945–2016) was an American author of acclaimed novels and memoirs, two of which made it to #1 on New York Times bestsellers list: Beach Music and South of Broad. Four of his novels were made into major motion pictures: The Prince of Tides, The Great Santini, Conrack, and The Lords of Discipline. The novel on which the movie Conrack was based, The Water Is Wide, won an NEA Human and Civil Rights Award and an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award.
About Michael Crouch
Michael Crouch is an actor based in New York City. His audiobook narration has won the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration, numerous Earphones Awards from AudioFile magazine, and Best of the Year accolades from Booklist, School Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly. He can also be heard on national commercials, cartoons, video games, and the animé series Pokémon XY and Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V.