Product 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.Amazon.com Review
'Tis a blessing that the author narrates his own work. McCourtfollows up his Audie Award-winning performance in Angela's Ashes withanother brilliant reading as he chronicles his return to post-WorldWar II New York. Like all good storytellers, McCourt has good storiesto tell; 'Tis pulses with grim adversity and quiettriumphs--character-shaping moments that gain the listener'sempathy. What makes McCourt a great storyteller is his abilityto give these moments just the right amount of humor andperspective. His lyrical tones are wise but not weary; he's survivedlife's challenges to tell his tale. And while it may be trite tocredit McCourt's verbal skills to his Irish heritage, these warstories were undoubtedly polished amongst friends in thepubs. 'Tis is Grammy material, and a perfect example ofhow an author's voice can enhance the written word. (Running time: 6hours, 4 cassettes) --Rob McDonald ... Read more

Customer Reviews (614)

Bought it for my husband- but neither of us can put it down =)
My husband and I have been fighting over who gets to read it first! First read Angela's Ashes (first of the three books) all of which are a pretty quick read. Each book is written from his point of view at that age, so at times you find yourself saying things out loud to yourself to understand some of the thicker Irish accents. He had a rough life, the "typical" Irish immigrant life. It definitely makes you laugh out loud (try reading it on the bus or in the break room- a few weird looks), a few times I had to put it down because I was crying, a few times my husband needed to put it down because he was getting angry for and with them. I don't want to say much about the story, or I might give it away! But a GREAT read!!!!
(And our seller was great. The pages were a little worn, not completely dog-eared, but rolled. Other than that, no complaints at all. No writing, no creases, nothing. And a great price.)

Heartwarming
I loved the first book Angela's Ashes, it left me wanting to know what happened to Frankie... Tis was as well written as Angela's Ashes.It was good to experience what it must have been like for a young foreigner to attempt to find his way in America.It made me feel grateful for the life I have lived. It is well worth reading!

Mixed Feelings
As a little boy growing up in abject poverty in Ireland, Frank McCourt probably seemed like the last person in the world who would someday write a successful memoir(s). Which just goes to prove that everyone--not just the rich and famous--has a story to tell.

McCourt came back to America (he was born in Brooklyn but grew up in Limerick, Ireland) at age 19 in an attempt to forge a new life and wipe the slate clean on his past. He wasn't altogether successful though--as the years went on, he became more and more like his own father, an alcoholic who had abandoned his wife and young children. But despite his many personal failings, there was a lot to admire about Frank McCourt: his persistence, his lifelong love of literature and his talent for teaching, to name just a few things.

McCourt had a unique style of writing, which readers will probably love or intensely dislike. I have to put myself in the latter camp. The long, rambling run-on sentences and lack of quotation marks made the story very hard to follow at times. Also, McCourt's tone is very flat throughout the book. I never felt any love between McCourt and his wife, or anyone else for that matter, except his daughter. The only times he showed any real emotion was when he was talking about Maggie, his only child. But with everyone else, McCourt seemed very detached and unemotional, almost as if was writing about someone else's life.

Also, McCourt had a tendency to jump around and leave out important information, leaving me completely confused at times. I can't help but wonder:
*What happened to the new house and little plot of land that his mother was so proud of in Ireland? She came to New York to visit her sons one Christmas and apparently never returned to her home in Ireland. A simple one-sentence explanation would have sufficed.
*Why did Alberta (a.k.a. "Mike"), the stunningly beautiful co-ed, fall in love with the skinny Irishman with bad eyes and teeth? Also, what happened to McCourt's eye condition? Did it clear up by itself?
*At the end of one chapter, McCourt was teaching full-time at a vocational school in Staten Island. At the start of the next chapter, he's suddenly teaching at a school in Manhattan, but only part-time? What happened at the first school?
*The book covers the 36-year period from 1949 to 1985. In the late 1960s, the real-life McCourt returned to Ireland and spent 18 months at Trinity College in Dublin working on his PhD (which he didn't complete). Yet these years of his life are never even mentioned in the book, not even in passing!

Although this should have been a fascinating book, I had to force myself to finish it. I never read McCourt's first memoir, "Angela Ashes" (although I loved the movie), and from what I gather from the other reviews, it sounds like a better book. Nonetheless, "'Tis" does have its moments and the ending is haunting and quite moving.

Not worth reading
Publisher: "After the success of Angela's Ashes, you could make a lot of money if you wrote another book."

McCourt: "But I don't really have the material for another story."

Publisher: "I didn't say it had to be a good book."

"Tis" good
This was a good book but not something I would care to re read.
It gets predictable in a lot of ways. ... Read more

Product Description
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.Amazon.com Review
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 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (272)

An Honest Look into the Heart of Education
McCourt reveals such an honest look at himself, that one has to look at our own selves with such honesty.

He still wrestles with his painful youth, struggles to find his place in the classroom, flounders in his marriage and hungers for approval among his peers and women.

As he does so, we see a gradual doff of his "mask" and an entrance into self acceptance.
It is sad to see McCourt cling for so long to false hopes and fanciful ideals that really are not true about him.

Does he ramble? Yes, but it is a pleasure to read his exaggerated and imaginative observations.

Does he stray from talking about teaching? Yes, but that is because what his struggles outside the classroom manifests itself in the classroom. No matter where we go we bring our junk.

Does he have teaching tips? Not really. This isn't for teachers to get creative lesson plans, or clever classroom disciplines. It is about us as adults coping with growing older and a younger generation "pushing us out of the world."

We read books like this to know we are no alone in the way we feel and think about fitting in this world.

Teacher Man
This is an excellent series for anyone teaching or who has taught.Great gift idea.

Worthwhile but flawed
This book refreshingly relates the realities of teaching. Rather than offering a "quick fix" sappy story, as do so many stories of teaching, the book outlines McCourt's gradual metamorphosis into a good teacher. It was pretty tough going at the beginning, though. McCourt's derogatory view of women as nothing but sex objects was tiresome to endure as he told tales of his sexual escapades. His "chip on the shoulder" attitude to college professors - who work every bit as hard as he does - was offensive. His tales of his teaching at technical schools was a bit mystifying: did he ever actually teach anything, or simply read at his desk while they chatted? The book gets a lot better toward the end, as McCourt hits his stride in creative writing classes at an elite high school. Is the moral of his story that good teachers need good students?

My favorite Frank McCourt book.
A "must read" for every teacher and for anyone wanting a rich, well written story of classroom life in the trenches in the New York school system. My favorite Frank McCourt book.

Easy quick read...
Easy quick read. Lack of quotation marks for dialogue takes a bit to get used to, hence 3 stars instead of 4. Entertaining and enlightening read about being a HS teacher decades ago in NYC . Some of the stories a bit scary, some heart-warming yet none of them dull. Can't come away from reading this w/out thinking how much a teacher's experience is incredibly important and that teacher's generally deserve all the money or benefits they can get. Angela's Ashes is now on my short list. ... Read more

Product Description
When my mother, Angela, was six years old, she felt sorry for the Baby Jesus in the Christmas crib at St. Joseph's Church near School House Lane where she lived....

* * * *

Frank McCourt's Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir Angela's Ashes is a modern classic. Now he has written a captivating Christmas story about Angela as a child -- often cold and hungry herself -- compelled to rescue the Baby Jesus and take him home. This story is pure McCourt -- genuine, irreverent and moving.

It is elegantly illustrated by two-time Golden Kite Award winner Loren Long and is the perfect Christmas story for all ages.Amazon.com Review
"When my mother, Angela, was six years old, she felt sorry for the Baby Jesus in the Christmas crib...."

Frank McCourt's first Christmas book is by turns tender and heartwarming, and wholly unforgettable. Angela is six years old and worries for the Baby Jesus on the altar of St. Joseph's Church near School House Lane in Limerick, Ireland, where she lives. December nights are damp and cold, and the church is dark. The Baby Jesus' mother doesn't even have a blanket to cover him. The Baby is sure to need Angela's help, even if she is not allowed to step near the altar, especially by herself.

Filled with the character and incident that have made Pulitzer Prize recipient Frank McCourt internationally renowned and beloved, Angela and the Baby Jesus is a timeless story of family--and all of its joy, tradition, love, and incongruity--and a book for the generations to cherish.

Amazon.com Exclusive
Angela and the Baby Jesus, the first Christmas book from beloved author Frank McCourt, is an unprecedented event, with a children's edition published by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing and an adult edition published by Scribner. Set in Ireland, the story is about the childhood of Angela, of Angela's Ashes. Each edition has the same story written by McCourt but is illustrated by a different artist. Raul Colon illustrated the children's edition and Loren Long illustrated the adult edition. Amazon asked both artists to write about their experiences illustrating the same scene from McCourt's story to get an inside look at how they interpreted McCourt's words.

Raul Colon on the Fireside Scene from Angela and the Baby Jesus:
This image for Frank McCourt's Angela and the Baby Jesus picture book came to me just by thinking of a warm fireplace on a cold night.

In this particular scene the family sits around the fire to chat after tea. Angela's little brother is giving up the secret that the "Baby Jesus" is in the bed upstairs. Angela shows a bit of worry in her face, since she quietly snuck the "baby" into the house. Surely she'll be in trouble now.

Throughout the story I hardly show any of the adult faces, focusing mainly on the children's world. Hence, Mother's back is turned toward us. I also cut off the little brother's face by having Mother's turn-of-the-century hairdo get in the way (A little thing I learned from the great artist Degas.) It gives the scene intimacy, as if the viewer is there taking a snapshot with his camera. All in all a fun and rewarding book to illustrate. It was an honor to turn McCourt's words into actual pictures. --Raul Colon









Loren Long on the Fireside Scene from Angela and the Baby Jesus:
Usually little Angela would want to be right in the middle of the action as the family sits by the fire and talks. But not this time--she has a secret upstairs.

At this point in the story, I'm giving the reader a seat behind the family in the shadows away from the fire. At the same time we, the readers, know about Angela's secret in the bedroom upstairs and we see her hanging back from the others, sneaking peeks up the staircase. We can see that she has something more important on her mind than her family's chattering.

In my visual interpretation of Angela and the Baby Jesus, I wanted to tap into Frank McCourt's sophisticated blend of gritty realism and subtle humor. For this reason, I specifically chose a limited color palette. I worked with acrylics on canvas and tried to keep the paintings a bit edgy and raw.

Choosing images came naturally when working on this story. I was taken with the balance of reverence, innocence, and humor in Frank’s text and I simply tried to come up with creative ways to portray these elements in a subtle but hopefully profound way. --Loren Long

---

... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Angela and the Baby Jesus
I ordered 2 books.Excellent condition.The story is a sweet story that Frank McCourt's mother,(the Angela in "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt) told him when he was a child. I used them for gifts.My grandchildren loved it, also.I had to read it over and over to the 6 year old.

"On the 12th Day of Christmas.....This Little Child Showed Her Love For Baby Jesus!"
Frank McCourt has taken a simple childhood memory and placed it into a story for young children, this Christmas.More than that, he has recalled an event that happened to his Mother when she was the little girl in this story. The illustrator, Raul Colon, uses watercolor of different shades, and uses a tool to strike some detail in the picture.

Six year old Angela would stop in church to visit the Christmas crib ; she noticed how cold it was in the church and felt sorry for the Baby Jesus. She wondered why no one thought to cover him with a blanket. Now, we know that the Jesus in the crib is a statue, and he probably wouldn't feel the cold, but Little Angela, having been cold,herself, knew how uncomfortable that could be.She wanted to do something for the Baby Jesus,and she did.

At first, she hid in the church confessional so that no one would notice her.She watched the old people praying for long periods; she thought that they should go home and have a cup of tea to warm themselves up. One day, she waited till everyone left, and though she knew that stealing was a bad thing, she decided to take care of the Baby Jesus.To her, the statue of Baby Jesus was real.

She looked at him smiling, with his arms out stretched, and she lifted him out and placed him under her coat, hoping to make him warm, as she ran all the way home.So that her Mom wouldn't notice, she decided to toss the Baby Jesus over the fence into her backyard, but the statue just didn't land where she wanted it to.She even spoke to the statue, "Will you help me, little Baby?Will you help me?"And then, the third time she tossed him over the fence, he landed in the yard of a blind woman, next door. Again,she talked to the statue, "Baby Jesus, I have a good mind to leave you there in Mrs. Blake's backyard.....You're not supposed to be flying around like an angel."

One last time, she picked him up and threw him into her own backyard, talking to him the whole time. When her brother came out the back door, she knew that no matter what he said, no one would believe him. Her brother, Pat told her that the Baby Jesus was to be sleeping in his crib in the church. All Angela could think of was keeping Baby Jesus warm.

When her brother told their Mom what she had done, her Mom thought she would just humor him, so they all went upstairs, and there, in her bed, was Baby Jesus, smiling, with his arms outstretched. Her Mom decided that they had to return the statue to the church. They all walked down to the church with their Mom, and were met at the church door by the priest and a policeman. The two men kind of teased her to put a little scare into her. It was when her brother Pat offered to take her place in jail, that the priest and the policeman softened their decision.The priest took the Baby Jesus out of Angela's arms and placed it in the crib, reassuring her that while we're away from the crib, Jesus' Mother makes sure that He is nice and warm.

I recall a Christmas when each of the children was given a small plastic Jesus resting in a half walnut shell,so they could keep Him warm....That happened three years ago.Little children are and will always be fascinated by Baby Jesus.Think of a time when you recall the first Baby Jesus in the crib that was in your childhood, and hold on to the memory.

Catholic story
I wish I had known that this book is written from a Catholic perspective. Mary is always referred to as "Virgin Mary" or "Our Lady", Joseph is "St. Joseph". The parish priest is "Father" of course.The mother in the story twice exclaims, "Mother o' God!" when she is surprised or dismayed.She asks, "And why, for the love of God?"These comments would be considered taking the Lord's name in vain in our house.

The illustrations are lovely, but I don't plan to read the book again.

Beautiful story told by a fabulous storyteller.
I bought Angela and the Baby Jesus for my three children (ages 2,2 and 4) with the intention of putting it away until they were older.Upon receiving it though, I was captured by the beautiful images on each page and felt compelled to read it to them.The story held the attention of all three girls and they asked for it again and again.

The story reads with warmth and humor and is a fabulous addition to any Christmas book collection.

Poor ending to this to this otherwise interesting book.
I LOVE Frank McCourt's books. There is no story more emotionally riveting and profound than "Angela's Ashes". I just wish his newer books had better endings. This most recent book just dwindles away at the end.I was waiting for something more, and it merely dropped off.Frank is truly the best story teller of our lifetime.I hope he writes many more books about Ireland. ... Read more

Product Description
Special edition of the bestselling classic, to tie-in with the release of Alan Parker's major new film of Angela's Ashes"When I look back on my childhood, I wonder how I survived 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.People everywhere brag or whimper about the woes of their early years, but nothing can compare with the Irish version: the poverty; the shiftless loquacious father; the pious defeated mother moaning by the fire; pompous priests; bullying shcoolmasters; the English and the terrible things they did to us for eight hundred long years. Above all we were wet..."So begins Frank McCourt's stunning memoir of his childhood in Ireland and America, a recollection of unvarnished truth and no self pity, of grinding poverty and indomitable spirit that will live in the memory long after the tape has ended.Now a major film directed by Alan Parker and starring Robert Carlyle and Emily Watson.Amazon.com Review
"Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is themiserable Irish childhood," writes Frank McCourt in Angela'sAshes."Worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholicchildhood." Welcome, then, to the pinnacle of the miserable IrishCatholic childhood. Born in Brooklyn in 1930 to recent Irishimmigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank grew up in Limerick afterhis parents returned to Ireland because of poor prospects in America. Itturns out that prospects weren't so great back in the old countryeither--not with Malachy for a father. A chronically unemployed andnearly unemployable alcoholic, he appears to be the model on whichmany of our more insulting cliches about drunken Irish manhood arebased. Mix in abject poverty and frequent death and illness and youhave all the makings of a truly difficult early life. Fortunately, inMcCourt's able hands it also has all the makings for a compellingmemoir. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (376)

Breathtaking
What an eye opener, a page turner.Leads you right into his next book: 'Tis.

Angela's Ashes
At first I really didn't know what to think as I began reading Angela's Ashes.Angela's Ashes: A Memoir
The author basically writes with an Irish accent. I had been looking forward to reading this book for a long time and I was kind of worried that this style of writing was not going to work for me.
I guess I was very wrong. This was a wonderful read! The stories and his style were perfect! I loved everything about this book except that it ended! It was so sad and desperate at times and funny at other times. I found myself smiling as I read of the conversations between Frankie and his Grandmother. I have met quite a few people that had come over from Ireland in my time but by just reading this book, I felt as if I knew them that much better.
Of course I will read the next book "Tis" because I need more!

MY FAVORITE BOOK...
I would recommend this to anyone.Recently I did a book report on this book and loved every part of it!I would want to warn you ut had funny parts and very depressing parts =D

One Of My Favorites Of All Time!
This is a must read!I just reread this book all in one sitting. It is such a wonderful, however tragic story.Despite the hardships throughout the book with alcoholism, poverty and premature death there were clever and hopefully moments as well leaving me with a "Hurrah" for Frankie!With Frankie's tribulations of an alcoholic father spending all his wages at the pub, too little or nothing to eat, loss of family and enduring Catholic School he seemed to remain unaffected by it all. An innocence of sorts. Frank McCourt's Memoir is a treasure to read and one which left me laughing, cheering and crying all at the same time.I highly recommend it!

ASHES ONLY ASHES
ASHES ONLY ASHES

REVIEW:McCourt, Frank.Angela's Ashes.New York:Scribner, 1996.

Angela's Ashes is the recitation of a life of poverty suffered by an Irish boy in the middle decades of the 20th century.
The book is repellant.There is no other way to describe it.No other response is possible when a reader is presented with such anguish, and repressed anguish, emotionless anguish.
I am uncertain why readers are interested in a story of such unredeeming misery.There must be a masochistic element in the readership of the book.Or, there must remain in our society many persons of repressive Catholic background who remember their miserable Catholicism while coming of age.
But then I do know the interest the story elicits.There is such guilt in our society because of our materialism and hedonism that the book performs a catharsis in its readers.(A corollary of this perception is that white folk like to hear about other white folk in extremity, as it relieves them about the misery they may be inflicting on those who are not white.)The members of this society seek to punish themselves, as evidenced elsewhere by the horrible, frightful and vulgar behavior in our entertainment media and our personal relations.The book is part of that milieu, culturally perverted, the "dumbed-down" of every value and decency.Even though the author may not have intended such an effect, once the book was published it became part of it.
The book is not a triumph of the human spirit.Rather, it is the ravings of a simple ego seeking to survive as does any dog, though a literate one in this case.It plumbs the depths of our dysfunctional society, and resonates there in our psychic malaise.I will demonstrate how the author accomplished it, whether by craft or chance and in his understated manner.Immediately at the beginning (page 11), the author writes:"It was, of course, a miserable childhood:the happy childhood is hardly worth your while."Do you understand how perverted is this statement?The bad childhood is thus the standard for life and art.It casts us immediately into a hopeless existence.Then (on page 145), the author's mother tells us that she is in hell (as are all of us who read the book):"Bridey laughs.Oh, Angela, you could go to hell for that, and Mam says, aren't I there already, Bridey?"It is hell, a special hell created just for the Irish because they believe in it so fervently.It is made of the Damp, the Drink and the Dump, otherwise known as the Church. The author goes on to claim (on page 202):"It's lovely to know that the world can't interfere with the inside of your head."Oh, no, this is disingenuous.The world does nothing except interfere with the inside of your head.That's what the Damp, the Drink and the Dump do.It is the everlasting struggle for your mind, a battle you must fight tenaciously and without rest forever.The author furthers this point (on page 247) by having the young boy think:"It's a mystery.That's what the priests and the masters tell you, everything is a mystery and you have to believe what you're told."Thus life is stupidity compounded with the refusal to use the rationality that the universe endowed you with.The novel culminates with the wisdom distilled from his life that Mr. Sliney (on page 353) imparts to the young Frank:"What I want to tell you is, Never smoke another man's pipe."That's what the entire miserable life of the boy is:smoking another man's pipe.
So there you have it:miserable hopelessness, hell, messy inside of your head, life as mystery, and smoking someone else's pipe.Nothing could be more dysfunctional, and thus a reflection (writ small) of our times.The popularity of the book is the indicator of our malaise.
The book made me feel unclean and violated in mind and in emotion.The grossness of the father sucking the snot out of his infant son's nostrils unfortunately will stay with me forever.It is an ugly book despite the superficial charm of its language.The relentlessness of that language deceives its readers about its repellant nature.It is thus evil, and profoundly depressing.It is a memoir of identity with a vengeance.The book is a symbol of the catastrophe of our civilization, or even of our species.The ashes are those of Angela's poor, hopeless fire, and those dead, sour, caked and soggy ashes encrusted on another man's pipe.
I am happy the author survived his childhood, if indeed he has, and made as an artist a minor masterpiece of a major misery.And in America (on page 363) there is the statement, "...a great country altogether?" Hummmmm.(TRC 03-05-01)



(TRC Final Revision 08-17-09)

... Read more

Product Description
"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.Amazon.com Review
Frank McCourt's haunting memoir takes on new life when the author reads from his Pulitzer Prize-winning book. Recounting scenes from his childhood in New York City and Limerick, Ireland, McCourt paints a brutal yet poignant picture of his early days when there was rarely enough food on the table, and boots and coats were a luxury. In a melodic Irish voice that often lends a gentle humor to the unimaginable, the author remembers his wayward yet adoring father who was forever drinking what little money the family had. He recounts the painful loss of his siblings to avoidable sickness and hunger, a proud mother reduced to begging for charity, and the stench of the sewage-strewn streets that ran outside the front door. As McCourt approaches adolescence, he discovers the shame of poverty and the beauty of Shakespeare, the mystery of sex and the unforgiving power of the Irish Catholic Church. This powerful and heart-rending testament to the resiliency and determination of youth is populated with memorable characters and moments, and McCourt's interpretation of the narrative and the voices it contains will leave listeners laughing through their tears. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1548)

Simply the best
This book is so compelling and so excellently read that you are sad when it is over. It is read by the author and he truly transports you to a different time.No other audio books even come close to how wonderful this one is. McCourt is mischievous, lively, wicked, kind and human.

not so good.
i have heard about this book for years and decided to pick it up at my paperback exchange store. i can't finish it. am a third of the way through, and it's all the same- poverty, starving children, abusive catholic teachers, alcoholic father, dead tired mother. it's just events. no character, nothing to grab onto. it's heartbreaking that this is life in so many places for so many people. but i already know that and see it. and contribute to help. i don't think it's worthy of a prize, it just seems a rambling narrative and nothing more. conditions like this need action, not reporting.

great book
I'd definitely recommend this to a friend.I might even re-read it since it has been a couple years.

WIth Verve
Written with verve and plenty of style, plus inundated with a lot of dark humour. This is a modern Dickens-like autobiography of poverty first in New York and then in Ireland. This is no sociological study and there is little self-pathos - thankfully. Much of their poverty would have been alleviated if their father was not drowning in pubs.If there is anyone despicable in this story it is Frank's father - a man who father's children with no moral rectitude for their upbringing. But the remainder of the family battle onward and not necessarily upward - at the end the author is back in New York with a new life to begin.

All the characters are colourfully depicted. The poverty, more so at the beginning, is rather unrelenting. When the author enters school his world begins to diversify. Some of the anecdotes (particularly the sexual ones) do seem apocryphal.

In Ireland, as one character narrates, the Irish dancing style is akin to having a `pole up your arse'. This restrictive dancing becomes a metaphor for the country which is plagued by tribalism and Catholic indoctrination. Fortunately the author sees beyond this limited horizon and we have a magnificent story.

Angela's Ashes
Book was in excellent shape. As described in listing. Shipped quickly & reasonably. Great deal! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Almost As Good As "Angela's Ashes"
McCourties of the world rejoice! You have nothing to lose but your tears of woe anticipating when he'd return with his next book; the foremost memoirist of our time is back. Frank McCourt's "Teacher Man" is a spellbinding lyrical ode to the craft of teaching. It is a rollicking, delightful trek across nearly thirty years in New York City public school classrooms that will surely please his devout legion of fans, and perhaps win some new admirers too. Truly, without question, it is a splendid concluding volume in his trilogy of memoirs that began in spectacular fashion with "Angela's Ashes". Indeed, we find much of the same plain, yet rather poetic, prose and rich dark humor that defines his first book, along with his undiminished, seemingly timeless, skill as a mesmerizing raconteur. Is McCourt truly now one of the great writers of our time if he isn't already, with the publication of "Teacher Man"? I will say only that he was a marvellous teacher (I still feel lucky to have been a prize-winning student of his.), and that this new memoir truly captures the spirit of what it was like to be a student in his classroom.

"Teacher Man" opens with a hilarious Prologue that would seem quite self-serving if written by someone other than Frank McCourt, in which he reviews his star-struck existence in the nine years since the original publication of "Angela's Ashes". In Part I (It's a Long Road to Pedagogy) he dwells on the eight years he spent at McKee Vocational High School in Staten Island. It starts, promisingly enough, with him on the verge of ending his teaching career, just as it begins in the lawless Wild West frontier of a McKee classroom (I was nearly in stitches laughing out loud, after learning why he was nearly fired on two consecutive days, no less.). Frank manages to break every rule learned in his Education courses at New York University, but he succeeds in motivating his students, raising the craft of excuse note writing to a high literary art. He finds time too to fall in love with his first wife, Alberta Small, and then earn a M. A. degree in English from Brooklyn College.

Part II (Donkey on a Thistle) has the funniest tale; an unbelievable odyssey to a Times Square movie theater with Frank as chaperone to an unruly tribe of thirty Seward Park High School girls. But before we get there, we're treated to a spellbinding account of his all too brief time as an adjunct lecturer of English at Brooklyn's New York Community College, and of another short stint at Fashion Industries High School, where he receives a surprising, and poignant, reminder from his past. Soon Frank will forsake high school teaching, sail off to Dublin, and enroll in a doctoral program at Trinity College, in pursuit of a thesis on Irish-American literature. But, that too fails, and with Alberta pregnant, he accepts an offer to become a substitute teacher at prestigious Stuyvesant High School (The nation's oldest high school devoted to the sciences and mathematics; its alumni now include four Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry, medicine and economics; for more information please look at my ABOUT ME section, or at history at www.stuy.edu or famous alumni at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuyvesant_High_School or Notables at www.ourstrongband.org.).

Surprisingly, Part III (Coming Alive in Room 205) is the shortest section of "Teacher Man". After having spent fifteen years teaching at Stuyvesant High School, you'd think that this would be this memoir's longest section, replete with many tales rich in mirth (Room 205, located a few doors from the principal's office, was Frank's room throughout his years teaching full-time at Stuyvesant High School.). Indeed I'm surprised that it is so brief. Yet there is still ample fodder for Frank's lyrical prose to dwell on, most notably a hilarious episode on cookbooks and how he taught his creative writing class to write recipes for them. He describes with equal doses of hilarity and eloquence, his unique style of teaching at Stuyvesant, which he compares and contrasts with math teachers Philip Fisher and Edward Marcantonio - the dark and good sides of Stuyvesant mathematics education in the 1970s and 1980s (I was a student of both and will let the reader decide who was my teacher while I was a student in Frank's creative writing class.) - but he still implies that his students were having the most fun.

Will "Teacher Man" earn the same critical acclaim bestowed upon "Angela's Ashes"? Who knows? Is it deserving of it? I think the answer is a resounding yes. Regardless, Frank's many devout fans - his flock of McCourties - will cherish this book as yet another inspirational tale from the foremost memoirist of our time.

(EDITORIAL NOTE 7/22/09: Elsewhere online I posted this tribute to my favorite high school teacher, and I think it is worth noting here:

I've been fortunate to have had many fine teachers in high school, college and graduate school, but there was no one like Frank McCourt. Without a doubt, he was the most inspirational, most compelling, and the funniest, teacher I ever had. I am still grateful to him for instilling in me a life-long love of literature and a keen interest in writing prose. Am still amazed that he encouraged me to enter a citywide essay contest on New York City's waterfront, and would, more than a year later, in my senior yearbook acknowledge my second prize award by thanking me for winning him money (His was also, not surprisingly, the most eloquent set of comments I had inscribed in my yearbook from teachers.). He is gone now, but I am sure that for me, and for many of my fellow alumni of his Stuyvesant High School classes, he will live in our hearts and minds for the rest of our lives.)

(EDITORIAL NOTE: Review posted originally for the hardcover edition, except where noted, on 11/15/05.) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Almost as Good As "Angela's Ashes"
McCourties of the world rejoice! You have nothing to lose but your tears of woe anticipating when he'd return with his next book; the foremost memoirist of our time is back. Frank McCourt's "Teacher Man" is a spellbinding lyrical ode to the craft of teaching. It is a rollicking, delightful trek across nearly thirty years in New York City public school classrooms that will surely please his devout legion of fans, and perhaps win some new admirers too. Truly, without question, it is a splendid concluding volume in his trilogy of memoirs that began in spectacular fashion with "Angela's Ashes". Indeed, we find much of the same plain, yet rather poetic, prose and rich dark humor that defines his first book, along with his undiminished, seemingly timeless, skill as a mesmerizing raconteur. Is McCourt truly now one of the great writers of our time if he isn't already, with the publication of "Teacher Man"? I will say only that he was a marvellous teacher (I still feel lucky to have been a prize-winning student of his.), and that this new memoir truly captures the spirit of what it was like to be a student in his classroom.

"Teacher Man" opens with a hilarious Prologue that would seem quite self-serving if written by someone other than Frank McCourt, in which he reviews his star-struck existence in the nine years since the original publication of "Angela's Ashes". In Part I (It's a Long Road to Pedagogy) he dwells on the eight years he spent at McKee Vocational High School in Staten Island. It starts, promisingly enough, with him on the verge of ending his teaching career, just as it begins in the lawless Wild West frontier of a McKee classroom (I was nearly in stitches laughing out loud, after learning why he was nearly fired on two consecutive days, no less.). Frank manages to break every rule learned in his Education courses at New York University, but he succeeds in motivating his students, raising the craft of excuse note writing to a high literary art. He finds time too to fall in love with his first wife, Alberta Small, and then earn a M. A. degree in English from Brooklyn College.

Part II (Donkey on a Thistle) has the funniest tale; an unbelievable odyssey to a Times Square movie theater with Frank as chaperone to an unruly tribe of thirty Seward Park High School girls. But before we get there, we're treated to a spellbinding account of his all too brief time as an adjunct lecturer of English at Brooklyn's New York Community College, and of another short stint at Fashion Industries High School, where he receives a surprising, and poignant, reminder from his past. Soon Frank will forsake high school teaching, sail off to Dublin, and enroll in a doctoral program at Trinity College, in pursuit of a thesis on Irish-American literature. But, that too fails, and with Alberta pregnant, he accepts an offer to become a substitute teacher at prestigious Stuyvesant High School (The nation's oldest high school devoted to the sciences and mathematics; its alumni now include four Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry, medicine and economics; for more information please look at my ABOUT ME section, or at history at www.stuy.edu or famous alumni at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuyvesant_High_School or Notables at www.ourstrongband.org.).

Surprisingly, Part III (Coming Alive in Room 205) is the shortest section of "Teacher Man". After having spent fifteen years teaching at Stuyvesant High School, you'd think that this would be this memoir's longest section, replete with many tales rich in mirth (Room 205, located a few doors from the principal's office, was Frank's room throughout his years teaching full-time at Stuyvesant High School.). Indeed I'm surprised that it is so brief. Yet there is still ample fodder for Frank's lyrical prose to dwell on, most notably a hilarious episode on cookbooks and how he taught his creative writing class to write recipes for them. He describes with equal doses of hilarity and eloquence, his unique style of teaching at Stuyvesant, which he compares and contrasts with math teachers Philip Fisher and Edward Marcantonio - the dark and good sides of Stuyvesant mathematics education in the 1970s and 1980s (I was a student of both and will let the reader decide who was my teacher while I was a student in Frank's creative writing class.) - but he still implies that his students were having the most fun.

Will "Teacher Man" earn the same critical acclaim bestowed upon "Angela's Ashes"? Who knows? Is it deserving of it? I think the answer is a resounding yes. Regardless, Frank's many devout fans - his flock of McCourties - will cherish this book as yet another inspirational tale from the foremost memoirist of our time (EDITORIAL NOTE: Reposted from my review of the original hardcover edition.)

(EDITORIAL NOTE 7/22/09: Elsewhere online I posted this tribute to my favorite high school teacher, and I think it is worth noting here:

I've been fortunate to have had many fine teachers in high school, college and graduate school, but there was no one like Frank McCourt. Without a doubt, he was the most inspirational, most compelling, and the funniest, teacher I ever had. I am still grateful to him for instilling in me a life-long love of literature and a keen interest in writing prose. Am still amazed that he encouraged me to enter a citywide essay contest on New York City's waterfront, and would, more than a year later, in my senior yearbook acknowledge my second prize award by thanking me for winning him money (His was also, not surprisingly, the most eloquent set of comments I had inscribed in my yearbook from teachers.). He is gone now, but I am sure that for me, and for many of my fellow alumni of his Stuyvesant High School classes, he will live in our hearts and minds for the rest of our lives.)

Teacher Man
Having taught 6th through 8th grade and followed some of my students through their high school years, I could relate to this book.I thought it was hilarious the way Mr. McCourt related his experiences.His sense of humor was very refreshing and his experiences were so true.Teacher Man ... Read more

Product Description
Used Hardcover Edition published by Scribner, N.Y., 1999, 367 pages in Very Good Condition. Dust Jacket shows very slight shelf wear. Text is clean and unmarked with no rips, tears, creases, loose or bent pages. Price has not been clipped on the inside Dust Jacket flap.A nice copy. Frank McCourt's American journey continues from impoverished immigrant to brilliant, beloved teacher and raconteur. An entertaining, spellbinding book told by a master storyteller filled with aching sadness and uncanny humor that so beguiles the reader that they want more after they read the last page. McCourt's books capture the immigrant spirit of bygone America, vulerable yet invincible at the same time. Prompt shipping with a Free Delivery Confirmation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent follow-up
'Tis is an excellent follow-up to Angela's Ashes with the same type of hard, touching humor.

A Must Read After Angela's Ashes
I probably would have never read Angela's Ashes ,hadI not heard Frank McCourt interviewed on PBS. Afer reading it I could easily see why it won so many awards and was a best seller for so long. It took me awhile to read Tis because of my busy schedule, but not reading it would have been like walking out of the theater during intermission. ... Read more

Product Description

Product 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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

another badly designed photo book
This book has many wonderful photographs taken over a long time ,although there are nodates(why?)Especially the animal photographs rise often to be very memorable indeed.Pictures of musicans are a delight.There also a few clunkers the editor should have advised against including here.It seems that the whole approach to designing book was more as a travel book that evokes the atmosphere of the emerald isle,which it does very much so,but as a book of work by an artist it hasnt been served well by designers.The reproductions are washed out making it seem like a book from the fifties,the layout is really a hodge-podge .The worst offense is printing the strongest pictures across the gutter making them automatically weaker and annoying to look at in their entirety.The book is square and most of the photos are in the long format ,weird!Much money was surely spend on the cover but the green band with title is unreadable as is the the picture behind it.Still many photos survive this ill treatment and deserve to be seen and enjoyed.I wish that some other time this fine photographer will get a better representation of her work.

Ireland Ever
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 itcaptures 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
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
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.

Beautiful, Poetic Images of Ireland from Jill Freedman
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. ... Read more

Product 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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Double The Reading Pleasure...But....Check AroundFor Best Deal
"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 are a couple of places to start:
Angela's Ashes A Memoir

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir of a Childhood

'Tis


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 toeveryone, but a must read for teachers or anyone planning to write their own memoirs....Enjoy the read...Laurie

dont write until you're retired
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
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
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
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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Amazing
I borrowed a copy of this book from my sister and just had to buy the collection for myself. Have also bought 2 more sets to give as gifts. Truly amazing story told with so much innocence. You will appreciate everything you have been blessed with so much more when you get done with this book. Absolutely AMAZING!!! ... Read more

Product Description
En cada pagina abunda el incomparable sentido del humor y la compasion de Frank McCourt. Con todas las cualidades de una obra clasica, "Las cenizas de Angela" esta ahora disponible en edicion rustica en espanol. Esta autobiografia ganadora del Premio Pulitzer y de gran exito de ventas internatcional trasciende las fronteras culturales y linguisticas con su narracion sobre la infancia, la pobreza y las relaciones familiares. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Excelente!!
Este es definitivamente uno de los mejores libros que he leido. Indiscutiblemente, te hace ver la vida de una manera distinta. La narrativa es simplemente unica. Te envuelve de una manera en la que no puedes dejar de leerlo y te hace sentir parte de la historia, parte de la vida de Frank McCourt

Real, Crudo, Divertido, una historia conmovedora.
Este es uno de esos libros que te hacen cambiar las expreciones en tu rostro mientras los lees, pueder reir, llorar, mostrar asombro o asco mientras pasas un par de paginas. Exelente narrativa, impresionante la manera como el autor describe cada detalle de la de las situasiones que atraviesa y de sus pensamientos mientras estas situaciones ocurren.

Una vez que comienzas a leerlo ya no puedes parar y te quieres llevar el libro a todas partes, para saber que le depara a Franky en el proximo capitulo.

El la mejor memoria que he leido
Soy aficionada a la lectura, y en especial las autobiografias y memorias me atraen, Frank McCourt definitivamente es el mejor, sus letras son reveladoras, dramaticamente expresadas, y un vocabulario sencillo y real del vivir cotidiano, su libro Cenizas de Angela es una historia que llega al corazon.

BRILLANTEZ HUMANA
HABRIA MUCHAS FORMAS DE DESCRIBIR LA HISTORIA, MAS TAL VEZ SERIA SUFICIENTE DESCRIBIRLA COMO LA HISTORIA DEL SER HUMANO QUE POSEE CALIDAD Y BRILLANTEZ.VALORES QUE EN ESTE SIGLO SON OLVIDADOS POR LOS INSUFRIBLESVALORES MATERIALES.

DE LECTURA FLUIDA, SIN GRANDES PRETENSIONESESTRUCTURALES MAS CON UNA SENSIBILIDAD DIGNA DE SER VIVIDA, ESTE ES UNLIBRO QUE NOS RECUERDA QUE EL SER HUMANO, ADEMAS Y ENTRE OTRAS COSAS NUNCADEBERA OLVIDAR SU PROPIA CONDICION HUMANA. ES A FIN DE CUENTA LA LITERATURAQUE NOS NUTRE HORA TRAS HORA. Y ESTA ES A FIN DE CUENTAS LA CULTURA QUE NOSPERMITE CRECER.

LO RECOMIENDO SIN NINGUNA EXCEPCION.

La vida increible de Frank McCourt
Es una historia real.Es increible como su hijo mayor saco su familia adelante y como su padre no le importaba su familia dedicado al alcohol. Fue muy duro en que los ninos se acostaran sin comer cuando su padre sebebia el dinero, y como la gente era tan ignorante para todo.Aveces leiay me daba coraje.Queria meterme en ese libro y caerle a patadas al padrey toda esa gente ignorantes.Hoy termine de leer mi libro y quisiera leerla continuacion.Es un libro maravilloso y triste.Quisiera saber cuandovan hacer el proximo libro en Espanol.Estoy impaciente por leerlo. ... Read more

Product Description
Get your "A" in gear!

They're today's most popular study guides-with everything you need to succeed in school. Written by Harvard students for students, since its inception SparkNotes™ has developed a loyal community of dedicated users and become a major education brand. Consumer demand has been so strong that the guides have expanded to over 150 titles.SparkNotes'™ motto is Smarter, Better, Faster because:

· They feature the most current ideas and themes, written by experts.
· They're easier to understand, because the same people who use them have also written them.
· The clear writing style and edited content enables students to read through the material quickly, saving valuable time.

And with everything covered--context; plot overview; character lists; themes, motifs, and symbols; summary and analysis, key facts; study questions and essay topics; and reviews and resources--you don't have to go anywhere else!



... Read more