The Boo [Paperback]

The story started when Conroy was fresh out of The Citadel and still wet behind the ears. He discovered that the beloved Thomas Nugent "The Boo" Courvoisie, Commandant of Cadets at The Citadel, was fired from his job. At The Citadel, the Boo could best be described as a character--calling all of his cadets "lambs" and himself The Good Shepherd. If you were naughty, you were a bum, and if not, you were called Bubba. While meting out discipline and demerits, the Boo proved to be a father figure to most of the cadets and tried to make this military college a little more palatable.

The Boo is actually a collection of short stories, anecdotes, letters, cartoons and photographs. And it's not just about The Boo, but The Citadel and the Corps of Cadets as well. Many of them are hysterical, but not all endings were happy at The Citadel. The Fourth Class System could be brutal (and even fatal) for those who were weak or couldn't survive. This book also includes a glossary to help the reader keep track of those military terms Conroy throws around such as brace, rack, pop-off, shako, plebe, knob, etc. Some of the definitions are a hoot including:

Clemson-a cow pasture in the upper part of the state

VMI-a school burned by the Yankees during the Civil War and unfortunately rebuilt soon afterwards

Why this book is so great for a Conroy fan is that it gives the reader a peak at the writer Conroy would later become. The Citadel was not a nurturing environment for aspiring writers, although Conroy did have a few mentors there. The Boo gave Conroy a voice, and even he admits that this book is "The Lords of Discipline in embryo," which became his first best-selling novel. In the movie version of The Lords of Discipline, the character of Boo (called Bear in the movie) is wonderfully played by Robert Prosky.

Since Conroy became a famous author, The Boo has been re-released, and he even writes a new introduction. So for Conroy diehards, The Boo is an absolute must. While it is not great literature and doesn't quite measure up to his later and more famous work, it does provide us with a picture of where this talented author has come from.

"The Boo," of course, is Retired Lieutenant Colonel Nugent Courvoisie, a legendary figure at The Citadel who handed out demerits and discipline for day to day infractions but also served a key role in humanizing military life for many of the cadets.

"The Boo," in fact, is less a novel than a series of essays and anecdotes, some of which are only a couple of paragraphs. Conroy, in the book's introduction, alludes to the "Me and The Boo" chapter as a sign of things to come--he saw the budding (brilliant) writer in him trying to reach the surface. Elsewhere, there are bits and pieces, character sketches and anecdotes ranging from humorous to dramatic which illustrate the way a military school steeped in tradition was run in the 1960's.

In a sense, "The Boo" is comparable to "Ball Four," baseball player Jim Bouton's diary of his 1969 season--although the subject matter is apples and oranges, "The Boo," in a way, ripped the cover of the sacred and secret traditions at The Citadel.

Recommended for anyone with a military background, and especially for Conroy fans--you'll enjoy his early work and get a glimpse of what powered him to write his best-sellers.