McCourt, Frank

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The Personal - Exalted: "Deeper Meaning" Found
It's Not Over Till It's Over
McCourt's Third Best Memoir
needed
good for stand-up, not for an example

Teacher Man: A Memoir
Frank McCourt
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743243781

Amazon.com

For 30 years Frank McCourt taught high school English in New York City and for much of that time he considered himself a fraud. During these years he danced a delicate jig between engaging the students, satisfying often bewildered administrators and parents, and actually enjoying his job. He tried to present a consistent image of composure and self-confidence, yet he regularly felt insecure, inadequate, and unfocused. After much trial and error, he eventually discovered what was in front of him (or rather, behind him) all along--his own experience. "My life saved my life," he writes. "My students didn't know there was a man up there escaping a cocoon of Irish history and Catholicism, leaving bits of that cocoon everywhere." At the beginning of his career it had never occurred to him that his own dismal upbringing in the slums of Limerick could be turned into a valuable lesson plan. Indeed, his formal training emphasized the opposite. Principals and department heads lectured him to never share anything personal. He was instructed to arouse fear and awe, to be stern, to be impossible to please--but he couldn't do it. McCourt was too likable, too interested in the students' lives, and too willing to reveal himself for their benefit as well as his own. He was a kindred spirit with more questions than answers: "Look at me: wandering late bloomer, floundering old fart, discovering in my forties what my students knew in their teens."

As he did so adroitly in his previous memoirs, Angela's Ashes and 'Tis, McCourt manages to uncover humor in nearly everything. He writes about hilarious misfires, as when he suggested (during his teacher's exam) that the students write a suicide note, as well as unorthodox assignments that turned into epiphanies for both teacher and students. A dazzling writer with a unique and compelling voice, McCourt describes the dignity and difficulties of a largely thankless profession with incisive, self-deprecating wit and uncommon perception. It may have taken him three decades to figure out how to be an effective teacher, but he ultimately saved his most valuable lesson for himself: how to be his own man. --Shawn Carkonen

Book Description

Here at last in paperback is Frank McCourt's critically acclaimed and bestselling book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises of teaching in public high schools. Teacher Man shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week, five periods per day, he works to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents.

For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and in Teacher Man the journey to redemption--and literary fame--is an exhilarating adventure.

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"Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he burst onto the literary scene with Angela's Ashes, the Pulitzer Prize -- winning memoir of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland. Then came 'Tis, his glorious account of his early years in New York. Now, here at last, is McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises he faces in public high schools around New York City. His methods anything but conventional, McCourt creates a lasting impact on his students through imaginative assignments (he instructs one class to write ""An Excuse Note from Adam or Eve to God""), singalongs (featuring recipe ingredients as lyrics), and field trips (imagine taking twenty-nine rowdy girls to a movie in Times Square!). McCourt struggles to find his way in the classroom and spends his evenings drinking with writers and dreaming of one day putting his own story to paper. Teacher Man shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week, five periods per day, he works to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents. McCourt's rocky marriage, his failed attempt to get a Ph.D. at Trinity College, Dublin, and his repeated firings due to his propensity to talk back to his superiors ironically lead him to New York's most prestigious school, Stuyvesant High School, where he finally finds a place and a voice. ""Doggedness,"" he says, is ""not as glamorous as ambition or talent or intellect or charm, but still the one thing that got me through the days and nights."" For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and in Teacher Man the journey to redemption -- and literary fame -- is an exhilarating adventure. "

Customer Reviews:

The Personal - Exalted: "Deeper Meaning" Found.......2007-06-02

This wonderful audio narrated by the author is a pinicle in contemporary autobiography/memoir. McCourt focuses on aspects of his life as a H.S. teacher and thru this process transcends his personal history to find the 'deeper meaning' he both dreads: as the death of teaching and creativity thru over/false analsysis, but also inadvertanly finds the meaning of life which he has always been seeking. He finds his place in the world that is wonderfully open and ultimately celebratory and emotionally optimistic. McCourt as writer and performer connects emotionally with everyone thru his 'stories' which carry his personal history to a universal plane. His humanistic view of the teacher and student exalts them both as human and makes them universal. I can think of no higher measure of a man and his success than this book.
P.S. The jewish future framer of america vignette told here is the perfect embodyment of this book : funny, bittersweet, heartfelt, accepting, emotional and humanistic. With this book McCourt finds his (and our) deeper meaning (- and without fanfare or preaching)

It's Not Over Till It's Over.......2007-05-18

In TEACHER MAN, Frank McCourt starts out as a bit of a whiner. He has trouble holding a teaching job; he has personality conflicts with administrators; he can't finish his thesis when he attends Trinity College in Dublin.

That's not to say that McCourt doesn't have his moments. The funniest part of the book occurs while he's teaching at Seward Park High School, where he teaches English a class consisting of 29 black girls and two Puerto Rican boys. They look at him "as if you were a white snowman about to melt." He takes them on a field trip to see a movie on Times Square, where they set about wreaking havoc. Serena, the ring leader, refers to the two boys as Spic and Span. When the movie is finally over, the girls refuse to leave. They want to see the movie again.

McCourt hits his stride when he takes a job at exclusive Stuyvesant High in New York City. He really is an innovative teacher. Some of his methods include having his students read recipes aloud, with musical accompaniment, as poetry. Then there's "dinner interrogation." He asks James what he had for dinner last night, which ultimately leads to the realization that James and his father don't lift a finger to help James's mother and sister prepare the meal. Some of the girls in class are outraged and a raucous discussion ensues. Daniel says he had veal medallions for dinner, served by the maid. Through interrogation, McCourt ultimately discovers that Daniel ate alone because his father is at Sloan Kettering dying of cancer.

As a former English teacher I could relate to much of what McCourt said. He says, "Of course I favor the girls. Give me five classes with a majority of girls and I'm in heaven." Girls do their homework; girls participate in class. If I had taught in a girls' school, I'd still be teaching. He also obsesses over the amount of compositions he's got to read, always on the lookout for excuses not to grade them.

What I always liked about teaching was that you got to meet new people every semester; McCourt really comes alive when he talks about some of his special students. Ben Stein wanted to be a farmer, a pig farmer to be specific, which really upset his Rabbi father. I defy you not to cry when McCourt and Ben meet up six years after graduation. Then there's Phyllis who wrote about alternating between watching Neil Armstrong land on the moon on TV and attending her father who was on his death bed in the bedroom.

Probably the most uplifting thing about TEACHER MAN, besides the human connections McCourt makes, is the realization that McCourt achieved his greatest success at the age of 66, when he published ANGELA'S ASHES and he wrote TEACHER MAN while in his seventies. I guess it's true that it's never over until it's over.

McCourt's Third Best Memoir.......2007-05-11

Teacher Man is an entertaining, very readable book, but it doesn't have the depth or emotion that made Angela's Ashes and 'Tis so memorable. This story is not only about McCourt's classroom teaching, but also deals with many of the personal issues he faced throughout his professional life, but all the little anecdotes are short and seem relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of his life--it is like the stand-up comic version of the McCourt we knew in his previous books. Teacher Man is still worth reading because it is fun and breezy, but certainly not as good as McCourt's previous works.

needed.......2007-05-03

This book does not exclusively relate McCourt's adventures and misadventures in the classroom: frequently he digresses to other things that were going on in his life at the time, such as problems with his marriage.

I thought the first third of the book quite good: there McCourt recounts, honestly and grippingly, his first stints as a teacher and the horrendous mistakes he made in the classroom. You really get pulled in by McCourt's obvious humanity, and the spell of listening to a talented teacher describe the various head-slapping and life-altering mistakes he has made in his career.

So good was this part that the book can easily justify being read by any teacher, although you shouldn't get the idea that it's full of practical advice on how to teach. It's more of memoir.

Unfortunately, the book loses focus about halfway through, as McCourt strays into other areas of his life which are only tenously connected to what he was learning about teaching (such as his escapades in various bars).

In short, a fine book, but one that could have been a lot shorter. I wish there were more books out there, not by teachers who think they're brilliant and know everything you need to know, but by teachers who have failed in myriad ways and are willing to relate their failures honestly, for whatever insight they might offer.

I find things like this immensely useful, so I must say McCourt has partially satisfied me.

good for stand-up, not for an example.......2007-04-29

I skimmed this book for a work assignment, and found it to be entertaining, but the more I thought about what McCourt was actually saying, away from his entertaining style of writing, I began to have some reservations. McCourt obviously wants the reader to like him, but he tends to come across as smug and very self-satisfied in a nasty sort of way. though he professes a belief in a student-centered classroom, it seems to be more like a McCourt-centered classroom. I was also put off by the section in the book in which he gleefully describes knocking a teenage student into a doorknob. if you are looking for some pattern of pedagogy, I would look elsewhere. imo, McCourt has apparently bounced around the bottom of the barrel of the NYC educational system without racking up enough seniority in a steady gig. no wonder he comes across as alienated from his students and cynical towards the system. also, as a side note, I found the whole "the explanation is that I'm Irish Catholic" angle irritating. really, is that his excuse? hmmm.

Average customer rating:

Great stuff!
Outstanding!
Angel's Ashes
Listen to the CDs: it's a must...
Great Read!!!!!

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir
Frank McCourt
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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'Tis : A Memoir

ASIN: 068484267X

Amazon.com

"Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood," writes Frank McCourt in Angela's Ashes. "Worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Welcome, then, to the pinnacle of the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. Born in Brooklyn in 1930 to recent Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank grew up in Limerick after his parents returned to Ireland because of poor prospects in America. It turns out that prospects weren't so great back in the old country either--not with Malachy for a father. A chronically unemployed and nearly unemployable alcoholic, he appears to be the model on which many of our more insulting cliches about drunken Irish manhood are based. Mix in abject poverty and frequent death and illness and you have all the makings of a truly difficult early life. Fortunately, in McCourt's able hands it also has all the makings for a compelling memoir.

Book Description

<blockquote> "When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood."</blockquote>

So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank's mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank's father, Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy -- exasperating, irresponsible and beguiling -- does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story. Frank lives for his father's tales of Cuchulain, who saved Ireland, and of the Angel on the Seventh Step, who brings his mother babies.

Perhaps it is story that accounts for Frank's survival. Wearing rags for diapers, begging a pig's head for Christmas dinner and gathering coal from the roadside to light a fire, Frank endures poverty, near-starvation and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbors -- yet lives to tell his tale with eloquence, exuberance and remarkable forgiveness.

Angela's Ashes, imbued on every page with Frank McCourt's astounding humor and compassion, is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic.

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"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood". So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank's mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank's father, Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy - exasperating, irresponsible and beguiling - does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story. Frank lives for his father's tales of Cuchulain, who saved Ireland, and of the Angel on the Seventh Step, who brings his mother babies.

Customer Reviews:

Great stuff!.......2007-06-14

I read this book a several years ago and didn't want to finish it, it was so good. So imagine my delight listening to the author, "Frankie," telling the story, singing the songs, changing his voice to suit the character and not saying, "Chapter Three . . . etc."!!! The CDs just continue, one into the next, and it's almost like having access to a controlled substance! Wonderful stuff!!!

Outstanding!.......2007-05-29

I really can't say much more - it was just an outstanding story in every way. The sadness of McCourt's childhood losses, deprivation and poverty took me to the depths of sympathetic grief, but then his perseverence and triumphs provided great inspiration.

Angel's Ashes.......2007-05-24

I was given a audio copy of this book, I wasn't sure if it was something I would enjoy but I ended up loving the story. I love that the story was narrated by Frank McCourt himself with his Irish accent. The fact that you can feel his feelings as he reads his own story it makes it so real. I could almost see him at times on the lane he lived on. I felt for him and everything he want through but I love his perseverance to make it even after his near death experiences. He still went on to make something of himself. I am looking forward to "Tis"

Listen to the CDs: it's a must..........2007-05-12

...even if you have read the book, it's a wonderful experience to hear Frank McCourt tell the story himself. Unless you really don't have the time or inclination, do yourself a favor and buy (or borrow) the unabridged version (12 CDs). It really is a delight and privilege to listen to McCourt telling HIS story. One gets so much more insight into the mood of each event whether it be heartbreaking, frustrating or funny. I cannot speak highly enough of the book, and even more highly of the audio book. Some books are just worth hearing - this is one of them.

Great Read!!!!!.......2007-04-11

I thought this was an amazing memoir that really shows the reader that there are so many things in our present day lives that we take for granted, while there are so many people all around us that barely have enough to survive. Frank McCourt tells the reader about his own very scarce childhood in Ireland. He retells how he lived as a little child and eventually grew up into a man by making sure that his family was provided for as best he could provide as a teenager. As he grows into a man he begins to realize how important his contributions are to his starving family.

In this very personal recollection Frank McCourt shows the reader true pain and suffering. He really brings you into the situation and makes you feel the cold and the damp. Although this is such a heart-wrenching story this is by far one of the best books I have read recently.

Average customer rating:

A Natural Born Storyteller
'Tis
Excellent
Coming to America
The Further Adventures of Frank McCourt

'Tis: A Memoir
Frank McCourt
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0684865742
Release Date: 2000-08-29

Amazon.com

The sequel to Frank McCourt's memoir of his Irish Catholic boyhood, Angela's Ashes, picks up the story in October 1949, upon his arrival in America. Though he was born in New York, the family had returned to Ireland due to poor prospects in the United States. Now back on American soil, this awkward 19-year-old, with his "pimply face, sore eyes, and bad teeth," has little in common with the healthy, self-assured college students he sees on the subway and dreams of joining in the classroom. Initially, his American experience is as harrowing as his impoverished youth in Ireland, including two of the grimmest Christmases ever described in literature. McCourt views the U.S. through the same sharp eye and with the same dark humor that distinguished his first memoir: race prejudice, casual cruelty, and dead-end jobs weigh on his spirits as he searches for a way out. A glimpse of hope comes from the army, where he acquires some white-collar skills, and from New York University, which admits him without a high school diploma. But the journey toward his position teaching creative writing at Stuyvesant High School is neither quick nor easy. Fortunately, McCourt's openness to every variety of human emotion and longing remains exceptional; even the most damaged, difficult people he encounters are richly rendered individuals with whom the reader can't help but feel uncomfortable kinship. The magical prose, with its singing Irish cadences, brings grandeur and beauty to the most sorrowful events, including the final scene, set in a Limerick graveyard. --Wendy Smith

Amazon.com Audiobook Review

'Tis a blessing that the author narrates his own work. McCourt follows up his Audie Award-winning performance in Angela's Ashes with another brilliant reading as he chronicles his return to post-World War II New York. Like all good storytellers, McCourt has good stories to tell; 'Tis pulses with grim adversity and quiet triumphs--character-shaping moments that gain the listener's empathy. What makes McCourt a great storyteller is his ability to give these moments just the right amount of humor and perspective. His lyrical tones are wise but not weary; he's survived life's challenges to tell his tale. And while it may be trite to credit McCourt's verbal skills to his Irish heritage, these war stories were undoubtedly polished amongst friends in the pubs. 'Tis is Grammy material, and a perfect example of how an author's voice can enhance the written word. (Running time: 6 hours, 4 cassettes) --Rob McDonald

Book Description

Frank McCourt's glorious childhood memoir, Angela's Ashes, has been loved and celebrated by readers everywhere for its spirit, its wit and its profound humanity. A tale of redemption, in which storytelling itself is the source of salvation, it won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Rarely has a book so swiftly found its place on the literary landscape.

And now we have 'Tis, the story of Frank's American journey from impoverished immigrant to brilliant teacher and raconteur. Frank lands in New York at age nineteen, in the company of a priest he meets on the boat. He gets a job at the Biltmore Hotel, where he immediately encounters the vivid hierarchies of this "classless country," and then is drafted into the army and is sent to Germany to train dogs and type reports. It is Frank's incomparable voice -- his uncanny humor and his astonishing ear for dialogue -- that renders these experiences spellbinding.

When Frank returns to America in 1953, he works on the docks, always resisting what everyone tells him, that men and women who have dreamed and toiled for years to get to America should "stick to their own kind" once they arrive. Somehow, Frank knows that he should be getting an education, and though he left school at fourteen, he talks his way into New York University. There, he falls in love with the quintessential Yankee, long-legged and blonde, and tries to live his dream. But it is not until he starts to teach -- and to write -- that Frank finds his place in the world. The same vulnerable but invincible spirit that captured the hearts of readers in Angela's Ashes comes of age.

As Malcolm Jones said in his Newsweek review of Angela's Ashes, "It is only the best storyteller who can so beguile his readers that he leaves them wanting more when he is done...and McCourt proves himself one of the very best." Frank McCourt's 'Tis is one of the most eagerly awaited books of our time, and it is a masterpiece.

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The sequel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Angela's Ashes, " McCourt's glowing memoir chronicles his story from impoverished immigrant to brilliant raconteur and schoolteacher--a tale of survival as vivid, harrowing, and often hilarious as its bestselling predecessor.

Customer Reviews:

A Natural Born Storyteller.......2007-06-23

The only thing more pleasurable than reading Frank McCourt's memoirs is listening to him read them! Wonderful! You will not be disappointed.

'Tis.......2007-05-04

"`Tis," an Autobiography of Frank McCourt's life, tells how he made his way in life as a young immigrant living in New York. It also explains how he survived the chaos and mayhem without much money or family. Yet it also tells of his struggle to get through the army, how he learned to write and then explains his way through college. Written with passion and full of memory, "`Tis" is an outstanding book that is recommended for any young person about to go on their own in the world. Frank McCourt wrote this book as a sequel to Angela's Ashes, which is an autobiography about Frank's life as a child in Ireland. Full of twists, drama, deaths and love, "`Tis" should be on everyone's top ten list of books to buy. After he wrote this book he wrote "Teacher Man" which is a summary of his life as a teacher and how it changed his life and who he thought he was going to be. -Daniel Archuleta

Excellent.......2007-04-01

This is a great book. Not as good as Angela's Ashes but if you reade the first you will want to read this one.

Coming to America.......2007-02-25

I had "Tis" on my shelf for several years before I could get myself to read it. Angela's Ashes, the story of author Frank McCourt's early life, was a harrowing, powerful book that kept me going, hoping for something good to happen. Nothing good did happen except that the author survived to adulthood.

Tis is a completely different kind of story, and I would recommend that it can be read separately from Angela's Ashes. It's a very personal tale of an Irishman coming to America and trying to make his way. Our parents and grandparents might have had similar experiences (boarding houses, low end jobs, sending money home), but they would never tell you about how it felt in the same immediate and unflinching way as McCourt does. There's pain mixed with humor, because this is a survivor's story.

McCourt's Irishness is a double-edged sword. It opens doors for him from the first page as an American priest befriends him on the boat and lines him up for a job on arrival. But as he tries to assimilate, people only hear his accent and not what he has to say. The title, "'tis" is how he responds over and over again to people who ask "Is that a brogue I hear?". I believe McCourt chose that as the title to exemplify how he had to go along to get along in his new country. The writing is fantastic, a herky-jerky style that reflects a young man's bursts of energy and sudden halts. Like Angela's Ashes, the story sort of trails off at the end, but that's a minor quibble for such a well-written book. I am more motivated to read the sequel, "Teacher Man" than I was to read this one!

As our country struggles to absorb a new flood of immigrants, this tale is worth reading to gain insight into what it's like to try to make a new life in a foreign place.

The Further Adventures of Frank McCourt.......2007-02-22

`TIS is the continuing story of author Frank McCourt's life that he began telling in ANGELA'S ASHES; a dark, moving, and humorous memoir about his life growing up in Limerick, Ireland. That book netted McCourt a host of awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, and ended with McCourt's return to America. `TIS begins right where ANGELA'S ASHES ended. The story tells about McCourt's early adventures in the United States, his service in the military, his return visits to Ireland, his first marriage, the arrival of his brothers and mother to the United States, and some brief tales about his life as an English teacher.

`TIS really is a companion piece and though the book makes some very keen observations about society and culture, the book is written in McCourt's darkly humorous witty style and doesn't stand very well on its own. You can read `TIS by itself, but the book reads better if you've already read ANGELA'S ASHES and are acquainted with McCourt's writing style and his tragic childhood. For example, there are many allusions and references made to things McCourt examined in ANGELA'S ASHES.

`TIS hasn't been as popular as ANGELA'S ASHES. That was bound to happen. ANGELA'S ASHES was a tremendous success and people couldn't believe that McCourt had never written a book before. It won many, many awards and rightly so. `TIS continues the story, but because it's the story of a man finding his place in the world and not that of a child struggling to survive, it doesn't seem as powerful. I really enjoyed `TIS. I knew before I began reading it that it wasn't going to the same story again. To paraphrase THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, life keeps moving on and you either get moving too, or you might as well die. Therefore, I wasn't as disappointed as many readers were by `TIS. I found it a delight to read and was pretty much what I expected. I hope McCourt lives for many more years and writes several more books.

Average customer rating:

Double The Reading Pleasure...But....Check Around For Best Deal
dont write until you're retired
Tears, laughter & wonder
Angela's Ashes- a literary phenomenon
'Tis- A wonder story about the reality of the american dream

The Angela's Ashes/'Tis Boxed Set
Frank McCourt
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0743204018

Book Description

Quite possibly the most perfect holiday gift -- a beautiful boxed collection of two prizewinning, perennial bestselling modern classics: Angela's Ashes and 'Tis.

With almost 8 million copies of Frank McCourt's books in print, fans just can't get enough of their favorite author. From the heartwrenching times young Frank spent in the slums of Ireland to his struggle for the American dream as an impoverished immigrant, readers can now have both of McCourt's remarkable memoirs conveniently combined in one elegant package.

Customer Reviews:

Double The Reading Pleasure...But....Check Around For Best Deal.......2006-11-08

"Angela's Ashes"/"'Tis" by Frank McCourt

"Angela's Ashes"(*****)
You know how sometimes a book is just so good, when you see you are nearing the end, you want to slow down and savor those last few pages? Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt, was that for me. It is a wonderfully beautiful memoir and an engrossing story. McCourt tells the story of his life as a boy, growing up dirt poor in Ireland. And he tells it in a way that makes it impossible to stop reading. I always had a hard time finding a point to stop turning the pages, I had to know what would happen to Frankie McCourt.

The writing is incredibly honest. It flows from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph,page to page. McCourt puts himself right back into the mind of his younger self, and seems to be talking and thinking just as he would from ages 4 through a young man. He speaks of his family. His father that couldn't keep his wages in his pocket on pay day, and could not make it home without stopping for a pint(or two) along the way. Yet a man who seemed to understand his young sons, and always had what seemed sage advice and a great love for his children. His mother's(Angela herself) suffering, with the loss of children dyeing, trying to make do for her family by begging, and did whatever it took to keep her children warm and fed. He writes quite honestly, and uses his wonderful wit and sense of humor to talk about the harsh schooling, the relatives that he looked up to and those he didn't,the many illnesses he and the family went through, his taking to petty thefts to keep from starving, discovering his sexuality, the jobs he had to do, and his great desire to go back to America, where he was born.

The stories are sad,funny and poignant.They will tug at your heartstrings, but the humor he uses in describing the sometimes dehumanizing events(having to empty and clean disgusting chamber pots among them) make this a stand out read instead of a woe-is-me theme.The characters jump off the page, you can hear them speak with their thick Irish accents, or in some cases New York. He writes of all the doors that were closed in his face, when he needed help, but you can feel the tenacity with which he continued to move his life forward. There are many laugh out loud moments of little Frankie's adventures, and other times you may need to have the Kleenex handy.One thing for sure, you'll be thinking of Little Frankie McCourt for a long time after the read. Through thick and thin(mostly thin) this was a family rich with love. A love that is contagious.

"'Tis"(****) is a most enjoyable follow up to his childhood memoir "Angela's Ashes". Frank McCourt now lets us in on life as a poor young immigrant, trying to make his way in the jungle of NYC. Being told over and over, stick with your own kind(the Irish immigrants), Frank as is his nature, does things his own way, which don't always work out to well for him.

When we last left off in Angela's Ashes, Frank had just arrived, eager for a new life in America(the place of his birth). Nothing seems to be going right for him. He is naive in the ways of the world, and learning some hard lessons.Still plagued by bad eyes and teeth, he lands a job, cleaning up in a hotel.He sees the college students, with their movie star smiles and looks, and yearns to be among them. With the war in Korea going on, Frank gets drafted and right away gets himself into trouble by just holding to his beliefs. Stuck as a company clerk, he masters the skill of typing! Later he manages to get into college,even without a High School diploma, which really speaks to his tenacity, and after much hard work between school and jobs requiring much physical labor, he graduates and becomes a teacher.He treats us to some very human moments in and out of the classroom. He also somehow manages to marry the most beautiful girl, the envy of all in his college days.

We are introduced to some new characters that have affected his life in some way. He also goes back to Ireland to visit, and we are reintroduced to some of the people who shaped his early life. His mother is still very much a part of the story, and it is hard not to get emotionally involved with their relationship.

McCourt's refreshing style of writing, still shines through in 'Tis, as he subtly pokes fun at the ways of society and the system of life. It is the tone that is different. As well it should be. In "Angela's Ashes", we saw the hardships of life through the forgiving and eager eyes of a child. It made that book maybe just a little more special. Now the look is that of first a frustrated young man, and then a more experienced adult. There are times, you may not like what he does or says, but this is his life story, and it is honest and life affirming.

I'd been meaning to read Angela's Ashes for a long time. As it turned out, it was a good thing for me that I waited so long. By the time I got to it, 'Tis and even the third in the triology "Teacher Man" had already been published. And if you love Angela as much as I did, you will want to start Tis' right away. You have got to know what has happened to little Frankie McCourt.

So this 2-pack, purchasing them both at once is a really good idea. But it may not be the best deal. Amazon is out of stock of this 2-pack, so you would need to check the outside seller prices. There are several sites and editions to surf around. Keeping in mind that if You purchase these individually from Amazon, and have the required amount in your cart, you will not have to pay shipping charges, and that there is a shipping charge if bought from outside sellers, it still may be the better deal to go with one of the merchants. Even though the 2 pack here is available from a merchant at this time(and you will only be charged the shipping charge for one book, buying them together), check out the prices for buying each one separately. There are some pretty low prices, even with shipping charges applied, that comes out to be a good deal. Just enter "Angela's Ashes" in the book search and all the various editions should come up of both books(you may have to enter Tis' also.)I believe I even saw som audio editions as well.

Here is one example: Enter 0006551815 into the book search, this is a paperback edition of 'Tis that is a really good deal(at this time).

And don't forget "Teacher Man", the third in the memoir trilogy, for more of the wit and wisdom of Frank McCourt.(I'm about half-way through, and will bring you my thoughts on that one soon!)

I would highly recommend these books to everyone, but a must read for teachers or anyone planning to write their own memoirs....Enjoy the read...Laurie

dont write until you're retired.......2006-10-13

I bought Angela's Ashes a few days before christmas as a joke present for my sister (Angela) when it hadn't even been translated into Spanish (I live in Barcelona). Out of curiosity, I read the first few pages and found myself unable to stop. Absolutely amazing.
I don't think many books can compare to this one. Humanity and sincerity in the first degree.
I not only bought it again for my sister, I think I've probably made about 15 other people read it. Not a single one wasn't as elated as I was.

Tears, laughter & wonder.......2004-04-14

McCourt has done a great job, keeping my eyes awake for 6 hours reading his memoir. Time really flies when you are happy!! Veriety of emotions happened from page to page. When I was reading the beginning of the page,I wanna cry. When it came to the end of the page, I just wanted to burst out laughing.
Frank is just an ordinary Irish boy, who just has to struggle with alcoholic dad that used up every penny in the pubs, leaving his Angela and other siblings groaning with empty stomachs.
Frank has truly brought me inspiration!

Angela's Ashes- a literary phenomenon.......2003-04-25

I can easily tell you that Angela's Ashes is my favorite book. I read over parts sometimes, because Frank McCourt's style of writing and his story intrigue me. Frank deserves praise for his survival through little to no means and for of course and excellent book. FIVE STARS!

'Tis- A wonder story about the reality of the american dream.......2002-03-08

One of my favourite books. Mr. McCourt brings tenderness and humor out of the dark and challenge of life. Tis' is essentially the story of an immigrant and his new life in New York City. Beginning with his voyage to America, the autobiographical story follows his struggle to make it in a country that isn't always accepting of strangers. Don't be mistaken to think of this as an extension of the dark tone of Angela's Ashes (which I also liked). I found this book much lighter in tone and more optimistic. McCourt finds his way to the promised land and has to deal with the realities of American society. It's full of the irony of everyday life and his struggles for education, happiness, love, and acceptance. Yes Mr. McCourt is an Irish immigrant, but it's not soley about his being Irish in America. If anything, it's about his struggle to be an American.

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Dublin digitally discerned and declaimed

Dubliners CD
James Joyce
Manufacturer: Caedmon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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The James Joyce Audio Collection

ASIN: 0060789565
Release Date: 2005-05-10

Book Description

The fifteen stories that make up this brilliant audio roam over a human landscape that stretches from the bleakest of despair to the most blinding of epiphanies. First published in 1914, the stories are as lucid and accessible as they are memorably poignant.

Dubliners is an audio experience that will only grow in richness with each time you listen. The stories and performers are: The Sisters • Frank McCourt
An Encounter • Patrick McCabe
Araby • Colm Meaney
Eveline • Dearbhla Molloy
After the Race • Dan O'Herlihy
Two Gallants • Malachy McCourt
The Boarding House • Donal Donnelly
A Little Cloud • Brendan Coyle
Counterparts • Jim Norton
Clay • Sorcha Cusack
A Painful Case • Ciaran Hinds
Ivy Day in the Committee Room • T.P. McKenna
A Mother • Fionnula Flanagan
Grace • Charles Keating
The Dead • Stephen Rea

Customer Reviews:

Dublin digitally discerned and declaimed.......2006-10-16

Handsomely produced, elegantly assembled, and consistently engrossing: these actors read the stories with appropriate sensitivity, wit, pathos, and distance. The detachment of Joyce in his "voice" on the page is re-created well. When I have taught students "Araby" or "The Boarding House," the chance to hear the language repeated as its author would have meant it to be rendered makes these stories come alive for a classroom six thousand miles and a century away from early 20c Dublin.

Although all of the stories succeed, those in the center of the book emerged when conveyed aloud most enlighteningly. Clay, A Mother, A Painful Case, and most of all Two Gallants, After the Race, and Counterparts all hit my ear with more force than they had when I had only read them. These stories are often overlooked compared to the others, but the skill that the actors brought to these more prosaic, less lively, and more nuanced examples of Joyce's careful craft deserve special acclaim. The packaging keeps the CDs securely in place, is itself compact and well-designed, fitting its outwardly austere & Edwardian yet subtly decorated and inviting contents.

Students, the curious newcomer, the experienced teacher, and those who read the book out of delight and not duty: all will benefit from the music on the page that by a technology Joyce himself spoke into at its early gramaphone stages is now digitally preserved so that those of us all over the world and a vastly changed world later can be entertained and instructed. I think JJ might have been pleased at this version of his pioneering, eloquent, yet accessible and moving, accounts of his imagined neighbors and municipal counterparts.

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Brotherhood
Fallen Heroes
From a Firefighter Widow...
Up lifting and moving.
Brotherhood

Brotherhood

Manufacturer: American Express Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Firehouse

ASIN: 0916103730

Book Description

"...collection of evocatively understated photographs showing all 70 of the city's affected firehouses...The pictures by 50 noted photographers show the firehouses in all attitudes of mourning and recovery, crowded with donated flowers, candles, homemade signs, and children's drawings... These displays are evidence of a popular rediscovery of firefighters, writes McCourt in his pitch-perfect foreword to the book. All of September 11's FDNY dead are listed delicately across the bottom of the pages of portraits of the lost men's firehouse beds, wall-posters, empty lockers, boots, and heat-darkened helmets, as well as their squad mates struggling on."--Library Journal.

Customer Reviews:

Brotherhood.......2006-03-17

Outstanding It shows the amazing grief and resolve of New York and its firefighters. It is is visual history of the Sept.11 attacks and their aftermath

Fallen Heroes.......2003-07-04

As you are reading though the tribute to the fallen, you see thenamesof each of the lost Firefighters scrolled across the bottom of the pages. Each page left me more and more with a sense of loss. I did not lose anyone that fateful day, yet, we all lost. The words you read are quite moving, the pictures mean more than the words and poems. Yet i am most moved by the names of those precious and brave firefighters name across the pages from the front cover to the back cover.

From a Firefighter Widow..........2003-05-10

I was moved to tears reading this, not only having witnessed the 9-11 atrocities firsthand but as a widow I know the pain suffered by the widows of those brave firemen that perished that day. This book is a must-read along with the others that are listed. I cannot say enough about it, God Bless Those Brave men.

Up lifting and moving........2002-06-24

I was very moved by this book on the events of 9-11. It has wonderful illustrations and deserves a place on your book shelf

Brotherhood.......2002-06-18

Brotherhood is a moving pictorial of the FDNY. The pictures are moving and haunting at the same time. I would highly recomend this book.

Ireland Ever: The Photographs of Jill Freedman

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Ireland Ever
Ireland, beautiful and human
The Old Country as seen through Jill Freedman's poetic lense
Beautiful, Poetic Images of Ireland from Jill Freedman

Ireland Ever: The Photographs of Jill Freedman
Frank McCourt , and Malachy McCourt
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Voices of Ireland: Classic Writings of a Rich and Rare Land
Singing My Him Song

ASIN: 0810943409

Book Description

In describing his beloved land, the late Irish short story writer Sean O'Faolain wrote: "There is some alchemy of climate in Ireland that bedews the countryside with an unmistakable personality: it is in the softness of color, the mobility of the light, the gentleness with which sound caresses the ear." In this heartwarming photographic portrait, award-winning photographer Jill Freedman captures that softness, mobility, and gentleness in the Irish landscape and in the character of its people.

With texts by best-selling Irish American authors Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes) and Malachy McCourt (A Monk Swimming), Ireland Ever commemorates the traditional life of Ireland in bygone days, just as the modern world began to creep up on it. Freedman celebrates the beauty of the land, the warmth of her people, the simplicity of the old ways, the humor and conviviality, the sharp wit and black moods, and the kindness of the "old country." Beautifully designed and produced, this elegant gift book is a love poem to that wild and passionate beauty that is Ireland ever. AUTHOR BIO: Jill Freedman is a highly respected documentary photographer whose award-winning work is included in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art, the International Center of Photography, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Bibliothèque Nationale. She lives in East Hampton, New York.

Customer Reviews:

Ireland Ever.......2007-05-14

I first saw this book at my daughter's house. She lived in Ireland for years and I traveled there to visit. This book is unique in that it captures unstaged views of Irish life. The photos presnt activities I have obvserved but not recorded. The photos set-forth ungarded moments in many different aspects of the society. The photos present the intereactions and actions of people that portrays the lives they live in the countryside and the cities. It is a most ungaurded and sensative portayal of a unique society.

Ireland, beautiful and human.......2005-11-14

I am a great fan of Frank McCourt, he has lit the fire in me to read again. Although his contribution to this book is little more than a foreword, it is Ireland through his eyes, and through the eyes of the people who adore it.
The images are amazing, from the quiet fields to the pubs, it shows Ireland in all it's lush culture. It is a book that photographers can admire, and people of Irish descent can hold close to their hearts. Although it is expensive (its only downfall), it is more than worth buying, to sit on a coffee table. Where it will never gather dust, because you will always crack it open to see a favorite picture.

The Old Country as seen through Jill Freedman's poetic lense.......2005-05-19

I had never heard of Jill Freedman before I bought this book, but I'm glad I did. She captures a world that is part fun, part sad, and all authentic. From scenes of children to musicians to pint drinkers, the black and white photography is key to viewing a world that is endearing to so many. Although I love Frank McCourt and felt he wrote a very nice introduction, I couldn't help but notice the dig he attempted towards the Catholic Church, still a vital component of life in Ireland. However, this book is wonderful, and I recommend it to anyone who is a Freedman or Ireland fan.

Beautiful, Poetic Images of Ireland from Jill Freedman.......2005-02-13

Gutsy acclaimed documentary photographer Jill Freedman is probably best known for her splendid documentary photographs of New York City police officers and civil rights demonstrations in Washington, DC. So it may surprise people who are unfamiliar with her work that she is also a superb documentary photographer of the Irish people and landscape. Her images show much empathy for both the people and landscape of Ireland, capturing both the honesty of its inhabitants and the beauty of its rural countryside. This book is a collection of the best images of her Irish oeuvre, accompanied by text written by the brothers McCourt, old friends of hers from their days at the Lion's Head, a famous, now departed, Greenwich Village, New York City tavern frequented by many distinguished Irish and Irish-American writers and musicians.

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Do I detect an Irish Brogue? ;)

Tis Unabridged: A Memoir

Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 0743551745

Book Description

<CENTER>FROM THE PULIZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ANGELA'S ASHES</CENTER>

Frank McCourt's glorious childhood memoir, Angela's Ashes, has been loved and celebrated by readers everywhere. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Rarely has a book so swiftly found its place on the literary landscape.

And now we have 'Tis, the story of Frank's American journey from impoverished immigrant to brilliant teacher and raconteur. Frank lands in New York at age nineteen and gets a job at the Biltmore Hotel, where he immediately encounters the vivid hierarchies of this "classless country," and then is drafted into the army and is sent to Germany to train dogs and type reports. It is Frank's incomparable voice that renders these experiences spellbinding.

When Frank returns to America in 1953, he works on the docks, always resisting what everyone tells him. He knows that he should be getting an education, and though he left school at fourteen, he talks his way into New York University. There, he falls in love with the quintessential Yankee and tries to live his dream. But it is not until he starts to teach that Frank finds his place in the world.

Customer Reviews:

Do I detect an Irish Brogue? ;).......2006-01-11

I listened to this book as read by the Author. I recommend that, as I read Angela's Ashes and enjoyed it a lot as well, but there is something special about the reading by the author that adds a diminsion to the work that you can't quite catch reading it.

Up front, many are uncomfortable with this work and Angela's Ashes because of the language, which is quite blue in places. I don't find it the most endearing quality myself, but as a memoir it captures the language of the army, the loading dock, the teachers lounge and the bar. Be warned up front, if you are not comfortable hearing swearing, then this is NOT the book for you.

That having been said, listening to McCourt read, I caught the poetic, lyrical, stream of consciousness attributes that I knew were present in Angela's Ashes, but hearing the cadence, the lilting roll and flow of the language; there are parts of this book that come close to poetry. It is an amazing and endearing quality that is rarely achieved in most modern literature.

McCourt has a rare transparency with his insecurity, his dysfunctional relationships, his family dynamics, his romance with his first wife and his transition to teaching and moving toward writing is very revealing and almost has a therapeutic value as you listen and can recognize the human condition in general.

My one criticism, is that, perhaps, this book stretches a little long for the material he includes. The actual narrative events can be condensed to a very short story line. It is the embellishment, the thinking out loud and the dancing around in what becomes a farily discernible pattern by the end of the book to where, it "almost" becomes a little tedious, although this is faint criticism when weighed against the overall impact of the book.

A very entertaining listen and read! It is hard to follow-up on a Pulitzer Prize. The goal is lofty and the expectations overwhelming. My opinion is this book does not surpass its progenitor, but it certainly comes close and provides more of the same type of reading and entertainment.

I look forward to reading, and hopefully hearing the next installment.

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Teacher Man: A Memoir
Frank McCourt
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0739469347

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This is a touching, gentle telling of the stories of the heart
Beautiful Memoir....Great Style and Wit..Left Me Wanting More

Angela's Ashes A Memoir
Frank Mccourt
Manufacturer: Scribner (Simon & Schuster)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000H20B46

Customer Reviews:

This is a touching, gentle telling of the stories of the heart.......2007-06-04

Frank McCourt has captured the truth of childhood and the gutwrenching reality of a family living in poverty. The voices are just haunting, and he writes in a way that lets his readers peek in the window and examine the daily life of his characters. Somehow, hope and humor are woven through stories of sorrow and deprivation.

Beautiful Memoir....Great Style and Wit..Left Me Wanting More.......2006-09-29

You know how sometimes a book is just so good, when you see you are nearing the end, you want to slow down and savor those last few pages?
Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt,was that for me.It is a wonderfully beautiful memoir and an engrossing story. McCourt tells the story of his life as a boy, growing up dirt poor in Ireland. And he tells it in a way that makes it impossible to stop reading. I always had a hard time finding a point to stop turning the pages, I had to know what would happen to Frankie McCourt.

The writing is incredibly honest. It flows from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph,page to page. McCourt puts himself right back into the mind of his younger self, and seems to be talking and thinking just as he would from ages 4 through a young man. He speaks of his family. His father that couldn't keep his wages in his pocket on pay day, and could not make it home without stopping for a pint(or two) along the way. Yet a man who seemed to understand his young sons, and always had what seemed sage advice and a great love for his children. His mother's suffering, with the loss of children dyeing, trying to make do for her family by begging, and did whatever it took to keep her children warm and fed. He writes quite honestly, about his schooling, his relatives,the many illnesses he and the family went through, his taking to petty thefts to keep from starving, discovering his sexuality, the jobs he had to do, and his great desire to go back to America, where he was born.

The stories are sad, and will tug at your heartstrings, but the humor he uses in describing the sometimes dehumanizing events(having to empty and clean disgusting chamber pots among them) make this a stand out read instead of a woe-is-me theme.The characters jump off the page, you can hear them speak with their thick Irish accents, or in some cases New York. He writes of all the doors that were closed in his face, when he needed help, but you can feel the tenacity with which he continued to move his life forward. There are many laugh out loud moments of little Frankie's adventures, and other times you may need to have the Kleenex handy.One thing for sure, you'll be thinking of Little Frankie McCourt for a long time after the read. Through thick and thin(mostly thin) this was a family rich with love. A love that is contagious.

I am very much looking forward to reading the next books, "Tis" and "Teacher Man", the "sequels".Thanks Mr. McCourt, for a wonderful time, spent with you and your family in Ireland.

Recommended for everyone, but a must read for anyone planning to write their own memoirs.

Enjoy the Read....Laurie

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Authors

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