Marine Colonel Bull Meecham commands his home like a soldiers' barracks. Cold and controlling but also loving, Bull has complicated relationships witheach member of his family-in particular, his eldest son, Ben. Though hedesperately seeks his father's approval, Ben is determined to break outfrom the Colonel's shadow. With guidance from teachers at his new school, he strives to find the courage to stand up to his father once and for all. Inspired by Conroy's own relationship with his father, The Great Santini is a captivating and unflinching portrayal of modern family life and a moving story of a son becoming a man.

Pat Conroy is the New York Times bestselling author of two memoirs and seven novels, including The Prince of Tides, The Great Santini, and The Lords of Discipline.Born the eldest of seven children in a rigidly disciplined military household, he attended the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. He briefly became a schoolteacher (which he chronicled in his memoir The Water Is Wide) before publishing his first novel, The Boo. Conroy lives on Fripp Island, South Carolina.