The No Asshole Rule, by Robert I. Sutton, PhD

This audiobook was provided by Overdrive Audio through the Alachua County Public Library. It was 2 hours and 59 minutes long, and was narrated by the author.

I will probably get emails from people whose Victorian sensibilities are offended that I would even review this book. I probably would not have even thought of getting it except that the author was interviewed on a podcast recently, and I found it intriguing.

A-word aside, this book is written like some real scholarship went into it. And even if you are uncomfortable with using that word, you probably have thought it when certain people come to mind. That is because it is a convenient one-word definition of the people who are rude and abusive, particularly of people who are less powerful. I have known a couple of pastors who fit this description. And they would probably miss the point that their behavior is the real issue, and not just the rude word I imagine when I think of them. That sort of obtuseness is part and parcel of the malady that afflicts not only themselves, but others.

This book is very thought provoking and engaging. It may also be the perfect anonymous Christmas gift. 4 stars.

Fay, by Larry Brown

This audiobook was a free download from NetLibrary.com, was 17 hours and 24 minutes long, and was narrated by Tom Stechschulte.

Fay is pretty while trailer trash living in an abusive home situation. Her story begins with her deciding to go feral with only 2 dollars tucked in her bra. She is 17, vulnerable, and brings out the worst in men. Even the kind and well-intentioned Mississippi State Trooper Sam Harris is sucked into the vortex of sex and violence that is attendant in her life. Although she cannot be blamed for most of what happens, she does change the climate wherever she saunters.

This is a somewhat depressing story of bad choices colliding with bad luck. But it's sense that redemption is just within reach keeps you involved with characters for whom you can want it.

I can't put my finger on what keeps this from being a four star book, but I can only give it 3 and 1/2.

The Lords of Discipline, by Pat Conroy

This audiobook was a free download from NetLibrary.com, was 22 hours and 10 minutes long, and was narrated by Tom Stechschulte.

This was one of Pat Conroy's first novels, published in 1980. It is loosely based on his experiences as a cadet at The Citadel, where Conroy played Division 1 basketball in the mid 60s. Years later, Conroy wrote a non-fiction book about his senior year at The Citadel called "My Losing Season".

This one is about a young cadet, Will MacLean, who survives his plebe year and all the attendant hazing, and continues his college years as an iconoclast. He is a studious English major, a student athlete, and an uninspiring military specimen. Fortunately, he is part of a band of brothers. He and his 3 roommates would take a bullet for each other, and it is all that makes their time at South Carolina Military Academy possible.

During his senior year he is tasked with keeping watch over the school's first black cadet. This mission is not for the faint-hearted. Not only is this boy going to get the hazing of his life; but there is a secret organization on campus dedicated to keeping the school "pure", and they don't observe any limits.

This is a long book, but it flies by because there is so much going on. There is also much that will touch you, anger you, and even inspire you. This is Pat Conroy's most emotional book, in my opinion, because it strikes so close to his own heart. Even "The Great Santini", a book based on his relationship with his father, does not bring up Conroy's bile like this one. He hates bullies, and he hates the system that creates them; even turning former victims into bullies.

It was easy to give this one 4 stars.