The Prince of Tides

by Pat Conroy

“I don’t know how to deal with someone I love who has all the answers,” I said. “Mom has all the answers and you have all the answers and it seems like an endemic disease with all the women in this family. Don’t you ever find yourself plagued with doubts?” “Yes,” she said. “I have great doubts about you, Tom. I’ve got serious doubts about the choices you’ve made in your life. I don’t see any direction to your life. I see no ambition, no desire to change and take chances. I see you floating along, slightly detached from your wife and children, slightly alienated from your job, not knowing what you want or where you want to go.” “That’s what makes me an American, Savannah,” I said. “There’s nothing rare about that.” “You come home after coaching, make yourself a drink, and sit in front of the television set until you’re tired enough or drunk enough to go to sleep,” she said. “You don’t read books, you don’t have conversations, you only vegetate.”