![]() In 1985, Conroy published his second book, Midair. At the age of forty he began teaching and eventually served as the director of the literature program at the National Endowment for the Arts (1981–87). In 1975, he married his second wife, Margaret Davidson Lee, and worked as a freelance journalist and a jazz musician. During the interim, he divorced Patty and had to leave his two sons, Daniel and Will, and he left Manhattan for Nantucket, Rhode Island. However, the fans and critics would have to wait.Ĭonroy did not publish another work until 1985. The book was hailed as an extraordinary first work, and readers were eager to see what Conroy would produce next. This story of his childhood in New York City was greeted with intense critical acclaim. Then in 1967, at the age of thirty-one, Conroy published his first book, the uniquely styled autobiography Stop-Time. Patty introduced him to the world of New York's social elite. While there he met Patty Monro Ferguson, whom he married in 1958, the same year he graduated. Yet from this miserable childhood came the inspiration for the writing that would later make him famous.Ĭonroy attended Haverford College in Pennsylvania. He spent much of his childhood escaping from his loneliness by reading books and teaching himself to play jazz on the piano. Born on January 15, 1936, in New York City, Conroy was the son of an absent, mentally ill father and a cold, unloving mother. While Stop-Time was Frank Conroy's autobiography, it is apparent that he continues to draw from his own childhood experiences to create the world in which his characters live. It is, as Conroy himself put it, "a real old-fashioned novel-a big fat book with a lot of people and a lot of plot." Body and Soul encompasses not only the hopes and dreams of its protagonist, but of Frank Conroy fans as well. The saga chronicles his struggles with himself, his environment, his family, his ambition, and ultimately with the talent that has given him everything. It even became a Delta Fiction Publisher's Choice book when it was reprinted in trade paperback format.īody and Soul is the exploration of the life of a child prodigy, raised in poverty and neglect but achieving fame and fortune through his incredible musical gift. Despite the mixed critical reaction, the book became a national best-seller and brought Conroy even more recognition. Others, however, were enthralled by the epic and weaving plot line, numerous and diverse characters, and rapid page-turning pace. Many were disappointed that Body and Soul, while very similar in subject matter to Stop-Time, was not as compelling as the autobiography had been. Body and Soul was released with much hype and fanfare, yet the reaction from critics was mixed. Critics and fans alike had eagerly awaited a book of stature equal to Stop-Time and were ecstatic to hear that at long last Conroy would be published again. He had originally come into the literary spotlight with his autobiography Stop-Time, published a quarter of a century earlier. Published in 1993, Body and Soul was the long-awaited first novel of the acclaimed author Frank Conroy.
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