""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. 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.
Frank McCourt Series
This series delves into the raw realities of life in poverty, exploring the resilience of the human spirit against immense odds. It crafts a narrative rich with humor and compassion, detailing a challenging yet ultimately inspiring journey of survival and self-discovery. The stories illuminate the complexities of family, Irish heritage, and the power of storytelling to transcend hardship. Readers will find a profound exploration of endurance, hope, and the enduring strength found in the human experience.
Recommended Reading Order
´Tis: A Memoir
- 512 pages
- 18 hours of reading
FROM THE PULIZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE #1 "NEW YORK TIMES" BESTSELLER "ANGELA'S ASHES" 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.
Over a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of 66, 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. 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. "Teacher Man" shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as 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.