Dogs Bark, but the Caravan Rolls On

March 18, 2002
Conroy (Body & Soul) delivers a running commentary on life in this collection of articles and essays, at once subtle and dazzling, written over the past 25 years. His observations range from warmly intimate (ruminations on sex and love, shooting pool as a kid) to anonymously civic (the meaning and vitality of smalltown America). In the first half of the book, he grapples with the memory of his remote father, embraces fatherhood himself and peruses the mysteries of life—especially those he finds in reading ("escape") and writing ("experiment"), and even riffs on his position as chair of the famed Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. The second half leads readers into a foray of pieces Conroy has written on his second and well-known love, jazz. He trips into jam sessions with the Rolling Stones, waxes on his evolution as a pianist and profiles the great provocateurs in jazz. His exploration of Wynton Marsalis at 23 and later at 34 minutely reflects the arc of developments in the author's own life. Curiously, key moments in the essays resurface within each other as if in coda; the overlapping details makes reading them even more enjoyable.

May 1, 2002
The director of the famous Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa, Conroy has contributed to such publications as Esquire, Harper's magazine, and the New York Times Magazine, as well as to books on writing, for many years. His miscellaneous essays are now collected in this interesting and well-done anthology. Conroy takes on such topics as learning to play pool, fatherhood, the value of now-disappearing small towns in instilling family values, the enthusiasms of jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, and, of course, the Writers' Workshop. Conroy is a jazz pianist as well as a teacher and writer, so it is natural that a number of essays deal with music and musicians. Previous works by this author include a well-received memoir, Stop-Time, and the novel Body & Soul, whose reception was more mixed. Academic and public collections, particularly those strong in modern American literature or music, will want to consider this title. Nancy P. Shires, East Carolina Univ. Lib., Greenville, NC

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