''My Losing Season'' is a memoir by

Pat Conroy Donald Patrick Conroy (October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016) was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs; his books '' The Water is Wide'', ''The Lords of Discipline'', ''The Prince of Tides'' and ''The Great Santini'' we ...

. It primarily deals with his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

season as the starting

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

on the basketball team of

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a Public college, public United States senior military college, senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one ...

in 1966–67. Conroy describes his tumultuous relationship with his coach, Mel Thompson, as well as the harsh, malevolent, male-dominated society of The Citadel. Pat Conroy tells the story using flashbacks going back to his rough childhood where he remembers growing up with a tough father. He describes one memory when his mother tried to stab his father with a butcher knife and his father backhanded her and started laughing. The book also deals with the team's experience of losing. In his final season, his team finished with an 8–17 record.

References

2002 American novels American autobiographical novels Books by Pat Conroy The Citadel Bulldogs basketball American sports novels {{2000s-autobio-novel-stub