Here it is: the blockbuster novel that was the first to hold up a mirror to American military childhood,
and the novel that set the gold standard for any exploration of that rich territory.
Pat Conroy’s brilliant, original, hilarious, mesmerizing, and deeply moving depiction of life in one
Marine Corps family—as only an insider could know it--is required reading for any military brat.
Many brats have seen the fine film made from this book, and starring one of the very best military brat actors,
Robert Duvall. But if you have not read this novel, you have bypassed the mother lode.
From the back cover:
“Step into the powerhouse life of Bull Meecham. He’s all Marine—fighter pilot, king of the clouds,
and absolute ruler of his family. Lillian is his wife—beautiful, southern-bred, with a core of velvet steel.
Without her cool head, her kids would be in real trouble. Ben is the oldest, a born athlete whose best never
satisfies the big man. Ben’s got to stand up, even fight back, against a father who doesn’t give in—not to his
men, not to his wife, and certainly not to his son.
“Bull Meecham is undoubtedly Pat Conroy’s mot explosive character—a man you should hate, but a man you will love. ”
Excerpts from reviews of The Great Santini:
“Stinging authenticity… A book that won’t quit!”
--The Atlanta Journal
“A fine, funny, brawling book.”
--The National Observer
“Robust and vivid…Full of feeling.”
--Newsday
“Reading Pat Conroy is like watching Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel.”
--Houston Chronicle
“Tender, raucous, often hilarious.”
--Booklist
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Softcover, $15.00
Click here
to order
The Yokota Officers Club
by Sarah Bird
Sarah Bird has a devoted readership, and it is easy to see why. Her novels (The Boyfriend School,
The Mommy Club, The Flamenco Academy, among others)
are superbly crafted, her characters true to life,
and her ear for dialogue unmatched. Texans claim this Austin resident as their own, but we had her first:
She is an Air Force brat, and in this extraordinary novel, her fifth, she goes back to her military roots
and tells a story both riveting and resonantly true.
From the back cover:
“After a year away at college, military brat Bernadette Root has come ‘home’ to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa,
Japan, to spend the summer with her bizarre yet comforting clan. Ruled by a strict, regimented Air Force Major father,
but grounded in their mother’s particular brand of humor, Bernie’s family was destined for military greatness
during the glory days of the mid-‘50s. But in Base life, where an unkempt lawn is cause for reassignment,
one fateful misstep changed the Roots’ world forever. Yet the family’s silence cannot keep the wounds of
the past from reemerging…nor can the memory fade of beloved Fumiko, the family’s former maid,
whose name is now verboten. And the secrets long ago covered up in classic military style—through
elimination and denial—are now forcing their way to the surface for a return engagement.”
Excerpts from reviews of The Yokota Officers Club:
“A beautifully multilayered story of family, work, and secrets… Funny, heartbreaking, revelatory,
spot-on about family military life.”
--The Seattle Times
“Who else can write about dancing, music, JP-4 fuel, the military, and strawberries, make it funny,
and also make it about matters of the heart? Only Sarah Bird. This is her best book yet,
a big book that you’ll want to read again as soon as you finish it the first time.”
--Clyde Edgerton, author of The Floatplane Notebooks
“[A] funny, gritty, poignant novel… Like a magician revealing layer upon layer in a complicated trick,
Bird constructs a military family’s story that continues to astonish and impress to the end.”
--Arizona Daily Star
“A melding of exuberant wit and deep compassion… The miracle of The Yokota Officers Club is that it
defies the laws of its own gravity. How can a story about dispossession and unspeakable loss,
about fading national glory and family heartbreak, be so consistently—and authentically—hilarious?”
--Stephen Harrigan, author of The Gates of the Alamo
Softcover, $14.95
Best-selling author Elizabeth Berg, Army brat, is the author of 12 novels, including Talk before Sleep, Range of Motion,
Joy School, and most recently, The Art of Mending.
We are delighted to offer her highly-acclaimed first novel,
Durable Goods, about a girl growing up in an Army family.
From the back cover:
“On the hot Texas Army base she calls home, Katie spends the lazy days of her summer waiting: waiting to grow up;
waiting for Dickie Mack to fall in love with her; waiting for her breasts to blossom; waiting for the beatings to stop.
Since their mother died, Katie and her older sister, Diane, have struggled to understand their increasingly distant,
often violent father. While Diane escapes into the arms of her boyfriend, Katie hides in her room or escapes
to her best friend’s house—until Katie’s admiration for her strong-willed sister leads her on an adventure
that transforms her life.
“Written with an unerring ability to capture the sadness of growth, the pain of change, the nearly visible vibrations
that connect people, this beautiful novel by the bestselling author of Open House reminds us how wonderful—and
wounding—a deeper understanding of life can be.”
Excerpts from Reviews of Durable Goods:
“Rich…timeless.”
--The New Yorker
“A rich coming-of-age novel. Katie’s fresh yet wise voice evokes that tender passage from being a girl to being a grown-up.”
--The New York Times Book Review
“Wrenching…delicately nuanced…Berg handles the elements with sensitivity rather than sentimentality.”
--The Chicago Tribune
“A gem with never a false moment…Durable Goods renders a pitch-perfect image of one girl’s adolescence…
On this small canvas Berg works miracles.”
--New Woman
“This beautifully told tale grips the reader from page one and does not let go.”
--Library Journal
Softcover, $12.95
Click here to order
