... an intimate, affectionate and candid portrait of [Mewshaw's] friendship with Conroy ... In a letter to Mewshaw in 2003, Conroy asked him to write about 'you and me and what happened.' In The Lost Prince, Mewshaw lovingly, colorfully and splendidly does just that.
... provides an often rollicking account of Conroy’s larger-than-life personality — always quick on the retort, self-deprecating, irresponsibly free spending, and using the same piercing language in conversation as his cutting-edge words on the page ... provides an exquisite, deeply moving portrait of one man’s accepting the very good and the very bad in a treasured friend who did him wrong, and favorably judges Pat Conroy with a large measure of grace.
Resonantly poignant ... Conroy, we quickly come to see, was a complicated, egocentric, generous-when-he-felt-like-it personality; and although Mewshaw stands forthrightly as an estimable personality, not taking refuge in the shadow of his more-famous friend, the book’s lasting value lies in Mewshaw’s letting Conroy’s vibrancy, whether striking the reader as a positive or negative factor, shine through.
Breezy, sympathetic, and affectionate ... Their families also became close, and Mewshaw writes extensively about these relationships—sometimes too much ... The book is full of wonderful anecdotes and vignettes about fellow writers William Styron, Mark Helprin, Nora Ephron, and Gore Vidal ... A fiercely honest and melancholy portrait.
Fascinating ... What could have been a maudlin, self-indulgent memory piece instead proves an honest, eminently readable look at the fraught but rewarding bond between two writers.
