Tuesday, August 11, 2009

south of broad


today is a big day. i'm sure that somewhere, someone has rescued a cat from a tree or planned to perform an entire opera on twitter or campaigned for world peace. but none of that matters, because today, august 11, 2009, is the day of south of broad.


pat conroy is, in my opinion, one of the best wordsmiths ever to live. he writes like he was born to write, and he's from the south, and his descriptive voice make things and places and people come alive so convincingly that you can smell the magnolia and hear the military barks and see the marsh land behind his house.
so don't come looking for me in the next few days, because i'll be in south carolina.
“I would like to have walked his world, thanking God for oysters and porpoises, praising God for birdsong and sheet lightning, seeing God reflected in pools of creek-water and the eyes of stray cats. I would like to have talked to yard dogs as if they were my friends and fellow travelers along the sun-tortured highways intoxicated with the love of God… I would like to have seen the whole world with eyes incapable of anything but wonder, and with a tongue fluent only in praise.” -- prince of tides

2 comments:

LB said...

I'm pretty excited about your book recommendations. I'm sold..

Laura Ortberg Turner said...

i'm so happy to hear that! i'm such an evangelist for pat conroy. you won't be disappointed.