Similar to Pat Conroy's earlier novels Beach Music is somewhat autobiographical. The first part of the book takes place in Rome, Italy, a place where Conroy has spent part of his life and has always enjoyed. There is a restaurant that Conroy writes about in this novel that Jack McCall goes to frequently while he is in living in Rome, that really exists. It is located close to the Pantheon and there is actually a waiter named Freddie, like the one in the book. Pat Conroy's passion for food and cooking is seen through Jack McCall, who not only is a restaurant critic, but also throughout the novel he is constantly cooking gourmet meals or talking about food in great detail. Conroy is in the midst of writing a cooking book. Another parallel between Conroy and Jack is they both spend many years of their lives estranged from their families. Jack's reason for separating himself and his daughter from his family was because he did not want his daughter to be apart of the screwed up family he grew up with, however it is a result of Conroy's novels some of his family members cut off any sort of contact with him.
Characters in Conroy's novels are frequently modeled after his own family and Beach Music is no different. The character John Hardin, Conroy modeled after Tom his youngest brother who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Conroy, though worried how his brother might react, he went ahead and wrote a chapter where this John Hardin commits suicide by jumping off a bridge. Though a complete coincidence, before the novel was published or before anyone had even laid eyes on it, Tom took his own life by jumping off a building in Columbia, South Carolina. As a result of Tom's death Conroy decided to remove that chapter from the novel, however he did keep the character. That was the first time that a character of Conroy's did the same thing as the family member he is modeled after, before the family member did it. Also Jack's daughter Leah, Conroy based her on his daughter Susannah. The character who is the most significant to Conroy is Lucy, Jack's dying mother. It was Pat Conroy's mother's death that inspired Conroy to write Beach Music, therefore this novel would not be complete without a character that was based on his Mother. When you read about the death of Lucy, Conroy is describing his mother's death. These two deaths mirror each other. Conroy was very close to his mom and it was she who taught him to love words, therefore it is no surprise the difficulty Conroy faced when writing this novel and the pain he suffered as a result of writing about his mother's death. As Conroy stated in an interview, "I tame my demons and put them in my books."(USA TODAY) The demons he is referring to are the members of his family and his childhood experiences. These are really emphasized in Beach Music, where Conroy has incorporated, "two male characters who have been scarred by abusive fathers and three screwed up families."(The Atlanta Journal and Constitution)
Beach Music was supposed to be published in 1990, but due to many traumatic life issues he had to deal with the publishing of Beach Music was delayed until July of 1995. On top of the pressure Pat Conroy was feeling to have his next book surpass his success he gained from The Prince of Tides, he had also just decided to write the screenplay for the movie version, therefore was occupied with that well into 1990. For the second time in his life Conroy's marriage failed, which he blamed on himself because of inability to control his emotions. Conroy decided to move back to South Carolina, while his ex-wife and daughter Susannah stayed in San Francisco. Then in 1993 Conroy had back surgery and was unable to sit in a chair for long periods of time. This lasted for months therefore preventing him from writing, which just pushed off Conroy's finishing date even more. Due to the stress caused by these problems he had a "nervous collapse"(Burns, 12) and even became suicidal. During this collapse he began to see his therapist again who was able to pull Conroy out of his hole and get him to start writing again. Finally in 1994, Conroy was almost finished writing his manuscript for Beach Music and then the finish was stalled once more due to the suicide of his paranoid schizophrenic brother, Tom.
It was not just these life crisis' that caused the novel to be published five years later, but there were some structural issues that Conroy and his editor Nan Talese had to work out. When he began writing the novel Talese told him to write it in third person because if written in first person she was afraid the main character, Jack McCall, would bear similarity to Tom Wingo, the narrator in The Prince of Tides. When Conroy finished the manuscript for Beach Music it was obvious to Conroy and Talese that the narration should move back to first person, to emphasize Jack McCall as the hero of this novel.
Though it took Conroy nine years to write Beach Music, it was well worth the wait. Keeping to his style of writing, he incorporates many aspects of his life throughout the novel. Conroy commenting on his depression he suffers from said, "Depression can give you a time of great inner contemplation. I hope it makes me a better writer. More difficult to live with, but a better writer."(USA TODAY) This book is by far the best book Conroy has written and who knows he might not have ever finished it or had anything to write about if he had not encountered those few bumps that prolonged his publication date.
Similar to Pat Conroy's earlier novels Beach Music is somewhat autobiographical. The first part of the book takes place in Rome, Italy, a place where Conroy has spent part of his life and has always enjoyed. There is a restaurant that Conroy writes about in this novel that Jack McCall goes to frequently while he is in living in Rome, that really exists. It is located close to the Pantheon and there is actually a waiter named Freddie, like the one in the book. Pat Conroy's passion for food and cooking is seen through Jack McCall, who not only is a restaurant critic, but also throughout the novel he is constantly cooking gourmet meals or talking about food in great detail. Conroy is in the midst of writing a cooking book. Another parallel between Conroy and Jack is they both spend many years of their lives estranged from their families. Jack's reason for separating himself and his daughter from his family was because he did not want his daughter to be apart of the screwed up family he grew up with, however it is a result of Conroy's novels some of his family members cut off any sort of contact with him.
Characters in Conroy's novels are frequently modeled after his own family and Beach Music is no different. The character John Hardin, Conroy modeled after Tom his youngest brother who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Conroy, though worried how his brother might react, he went ahead and wrote a chapter where this John Hardin commits suicide by jumping off a bridge. Though a complete coincidence, before the novel was published or before anyone had even laid eyes on it, Tom took his own life by jumping off a building in Columbia, South Carolina. As a result of Tom's death Conroy decided to remove that chapter from the novel, however he did keep the character. That was the first time that a character of Conroy's did the same thing as the family member he is modeled after, before the family member did it. Also Jack's daughter Leah, Conroy based her on his daughter Susannah. The character who is the most significant to Conroy is Lucy, Jack's dying mother. It was Pat Conroy's mother's death that inspired Conroy to write Beach Music, therefore this novel would not be complete without a character that was based on his Mother. When you read about the death of Lucy, Conroy is describing his mother's death. These two deaths mirror each other. Conroy was very close to his mom and it was she who taught him to love words, therefore it is no surprise the difficulty Conroy faced when writing this novel and the pain he suffered as a result of writing about his mother's death. As Conroy stated in an interview, "I tame my demons and put them in my books."(USA TODAY) The demons he is referring to are the members of his family and his childhood experiences. These are really emphasized in Beach Music, where Conroy has incorporated, "two male characters who have been scarred by abusive fathers and three screwed up families."(The Atlanta Journal and Constitution)
Beach Music was supposed to be published in 1990, but due to many traumatic life issues he had to deal with the publishing of Beach Music was delayed until July of 1995. On top of the pressure Pat Conroy was feeling to have his next book surpass his success he gained from The Prince of Tides, he had also just decided to write the screenplay for the movie version, therefore was occupied with that well into 1990. For the second time in his life Conroy's marriage failed, which he blamed on himself because of inability to control his emotions. Conroy decided to move back to South Carolina, while his ex-wife and daughter Susannah stayed in San Francisco. Then in 1993 Conroy had back surgery and was unable to sit in a chair for long periods of time. This lasted for months therefore preventing him from writing, which just pushed off Conroy's finishing date even more. Due to the stress caused by these problems he had a "nervous collapse"(Burns, 12) and even became suicidal. During this collapse he began to see his therapist again who was able to pull Conroy out of his hole and get him to start writing again. Finally in 1994, Conroy was almost finished writing his manuscript for Beach Music and then the finish was stalled once more due to the suicide of his paranoid schizophrenic brother, Tom.
It was not just these life crisis' that caused the novel to be published five years later, but there were some structural issues that Conroy and his editor Nan Talese had to work out. When he began writing the novel Talese told him to write it in third person because if written in first person she was afraid the main character, Jack McCall, would bear similarity to Tom Wingo, the narrator in The Prince of Tides. When Conroy finished the manuscript for Beach Music it was obvious to Conroy and Talese that the narration should move back to first person, to emphasize Jack McCall as the hero of this novel.
Though it took Conroy nine years to write Beach Music, it was well worth the wait. Keeping to his style of writing, he incorporates many aspects of his life throughout the novel. Conroy commenting on his depression he suffers from said, "Depression can give you a time of great inner contemplation. I hope it makes me a better writer. More difficult to live with, but a better writer."(USA TODAY) This book is by far the best book Conroy has written and who knows he might not have ever finished it or had anything to write about if he had not encountered those few bumps that prolonged his publication date.