Frank Mccourt

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BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR


Title: Angela's Ashes: Description:
"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 clichés 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 of a compelling memoir.

Title: 'tis: Description:
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 dark humour 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, in which Angela's ashes are scattered over a Limerick graveyard. --Wendy Smith

Title: 'tis: A Memoir: Description:
new york times best seller

Title: Angela's Ashes: A Memoir Of A Childhood: Description:
"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 clichés 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 of a compelling memoir.

Title: Angelas Ashes: Description:
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 clichés 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 of a compelling memoir.

Title: 'tis: Description:
From the author of the million-selling Angela's Ashes -- the most keenly anticipated sequel of the decade Angela's Ashes was a publishing phenomenon. Frank McCourt's critically acclaimed, lyrical memoir of his Limerick childhood won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics' Circle Award, the Royal Society of Literature Award and the Los Angeles Times Award amongst others, and rapidly became a word-of-mouth bestseller topping all charts worldwide for over two years. It left readers and critics alike eager to hear more about Frank McCourt's incredible, poignant life. 'Tis is the story of Frank's American journey from impoverished immigrant with rotten teeth, infected eyes and no formal education to brilliant raconteur and schoolteacher. Saved first by a straying priest, then by the Democratic party, then by the United States Army, then by New York University -- which admitted him on a trial basis though he had no high school diploma -- Frank had the same vulnerable but invincible spirit at nineteen that he had at eight and still has today. And 'Tis is a tale of survival as vivid, harrowing, and often hilarious as Angela's Ashes. Yet again, it is through the power of storytelling that Frank finds a life for himself. 'It is only the best storyteller who can so beguile his readers that he leaves them wanting more when he's done...McCourt proves himself one of the very best' (Newsweek). 'Tis blesses readers with another chapter of McCourt's story, but as it closes, they will want still more.

Title: Angela's Ashes. A Memoir Of A Childhood: Description:
Winner of the 1997 Pulitzer Prize A memoir of a Childhood

Title: 'tis: Description:
From the author of the million-selling Angela's Ashes -- the most keenly anticipated sequel of the decade 'The reader of this stunning memoir can only hope that Mr McCourt will set down the story of his subsequent adventures in America in another book. Angela's Ashes is so good it deserves a sequel.' MICHIKO KAKUTANI, New York Times Angela's Ashes was a publishing phenomenon. Frank McCourt's critically acclaimed, lyrical memoir of his Limerick childhood won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics' Circle Award, the Royal Society of Literature Award and the Los Angeles Times Award amongst others, and rapidly became a word-of-mouth bestseller topping all charts worldwide for over two years. It left readers and critics alike eager to hear more about Frank McCourt's incredible, poignant life. 'Tis is the story of Frank's American journey from impoverished immigrant with rotten teeth, infected eyes and no formal education to brilliant raconteur and schoolteacher.Saved first by a straying priest, then by the Democratic party, then by the United States Army, then by New York University -- which admitted him on a trial basis though he had no high school diploma -- Frank had the same vulnerable but invincible spirit at nineteen that he had at eight and still has today. And 'Tis is a tale of survival as vivid, harrowing, and often hilarious as Angela's Ashes. Yet again, it is through the power of storytelling that Frank finds a life for himself. 'It is only the best storyteller who can so beguile his readers that he leaves them wanting more when he's done...McCourt proves himself one of the very best' (Newsweek). 'Tis blesses readers with another chapter of McCourt's story, but as it closes, they will want still more. From the Publisher Reviews for 'Tis''Tis feels like a friend, telling the tales of his life over a pint, with charm and humour, economy and pace. There is a sense of loss when you have to close the pages and sleep, or go on to other things. McCourt is a masterful writer... All who read Angela's Ashes will read 'Tis. The will love and, and so did I.' --Independent on Sunday'Few will be able to resist this pacey and fluid sequel... In post-war New York, McCourt moves through work as a longshoreman, a spell in the army, to night-school, to become a creative writing teacher encouraging his kids to "write about what you know" - the same policy that has led him to belated international celebrity...McCourt's gift lies not simply in having lived through interesting times, but having developed his skills as an editor and narrator to produce two fine, funny and moving slices of a past that is not simply Ireland's, but everyone's.' --Guardian'Every page contains an unforced laugh...The gloom is indivisible from moments of great joy and compassion - the sound of jazz pouring form a club, the comforting arm of a fellow worker - which McCourt is able to express in his fresh and supple prose. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, McCourt has the power to transform even the saddest recollections into sentences of great beauty, and in that beauty lies the possibility of salvation.' -- Mail on Sunday'Full of the narrative brio, the fierce sympathy for human tic and torment, the intuitive feel for character and above all the love of language that made Angela's Ashes a success.' -- LA Times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Title: Teacher Man: Description:
This is the third memoir from the author of the huge international bestsellers "Angela's Ashes" and "'Tis". In "Teacher Man", Frank McCourt details his illustrious, amusing, and sometimes rather bumpy long years as an English teacher in the public high schools of New York City! Frank McCourt arrived in New York as a young, impoverished and idealistic Irish boy - but one who crucially had an American passport, having been born in Brooklyn. He didn't know what he wanted except to stop being hungry and to better himself. On the subway, he watched students carrying books. He saw how they read and underlined and wrote things in the margin and he liked the look of this very much. He joined the New York Public Library and every night when he came back from his hotel work, he would sit up reading the great novels. Building his confidence and his determination, he talked his way into NYU and gained a literature degree and so began a teaching career that was to last 30 years, working in New York's public high schools.Frank estimates that he probably taught 12,000 children during this time and it is on this relationship between teacher and student that he reflects in "Teacher Man", the third in his series of memoirs. The New York high school is a restless, noisy and unpredictable place and Frank believes that it was his attempts to control and cajole these thousands of children into learning and achieving something for themselves that turned him into a writer. At least once a day someone would put up their hand and shout 'Mr. McCourt, Mr. McCourt, tell us about Ireland, tell us about how poor you were!' Through sharing his own life with these kids, he learnt the power of narrative storytelling, and out of the invaluable experience of holding 12,000 people's attention came "Angela's Ashes". Frank McCourt was a legend in such schools as Stuyvesant High School - long before he became the figure he is now he would receive letters from former students telling him how much his teaching influenced and inspired them - and now in "Teacher Man" he shares his reminiscences of those 30 years and reveals how they led to his own success with "Angela's Ashes" and "'Tis". From the Author Louise Tucker talks to Frank McCourt How did the experience of writing Teacher Man differ from that of writing Angela’s Ashes and ’Tis? Teacher Man was much harder to write. I think that, perhaps, I was more self-conscious now that I was a big shot, bestselling author. And the stuff did not flow that easily. I was dealing with thirty years of teaching and thousands of students and there was a heavy process of selection. You end Teacher Man saying ‘I’ll try’. Now that you have tried, and succeeded, how do you feel about that man on the threshold of his ‘second act’?The main thing is I’m a late bloomer and that means I’m having a hell of a second act. You spent years teaching creative writing and yet not writing. Did you find that frustrating? All through my teaching years I tried to write. I filled notebooks with ideas and even nibbled at Angela’s Ashes material but I never sustained anything. Some argue that writing cannot be taught, that MAs and MFAs are a waste of time. Do you think such courses are helpful?I was a ‘creative writing’ teacher at Stuyvesant High School – but for God’s sake don’t tell anyone as I don’t have much faith in such courses. The aspiring writer would be better off out there suffering. Teaching is in some ways good training for the life of a writer now, in that it is as much about performance as it is about sitting at a desk. Do you enjoy the public side of being a writer as much as the private?I enjoy most of the public stuff. At this stage of my life I’m simply recycling my teaching career. The ‘private part’ of writing is hard – especially with Teacher Man. In Chapter Four you tell your students about your experiences of ‘real work’. Do you think it helped you, in both professions, to have experienced a much harder way of earning a living?I’m glad I worked on the docks and at various other jobs. It gives you different perspectives on life and, most of all, material. Such experiences help ground one. One parent in thirty years asks if her child is enjoying school. Enjoyment, a colleague points out, is not the priority for most parents but what, as far as you’re concerned, should a school’s purpose be?I think a school should work like hell to help young people with their ‘potential’ – whatever that is. It should be a liberating rather than a narrowing place where curiosity is encouraged and fostered. Oh, I could go on. You describe teaching as the ‘downstairs maid of professions’. Why do you think that many parents, pupils and social commentators have so little respect for it?People in general look down on teachers the way they regard members of their family: they think they know what teaching is all about when the fact is they don’t have a clue, any more than they know what surgery is all about. Teachers, in my examples, are people who failed in other areas, but that doesn’t take away from those who are gifted, hard-working and committed. Also, many people think teaching is easy. Oh, you simply walk into a classroom and blather and the kids sit and listen. Hell, no. You frequently mention that ‘no one is forcing you to stay in this miserable underpaid profession’. Why did you stay for thirty years?I think I stayed because I didn’t want to admit I couldn’t do it and because, the more I did it, the more I liked the job – profession – and the challenge of getting through to the kids. Is failing to finish your doctorate ever a regret?If I had earned that doctorate I would have wound up teaching in a college. I might have become a pompous academic and there would have been no Angela’s Ashes. Often you mention that the ‘farther you travel from the classroom, the greater the financial and professional rewards’. Were you ever tempted?No, never. Again I would have become a pompous ass with an office. If you could choose one moment, one student, that epitomized what teaching meant to you, what or who would it be?I’d choose a negative moment. I barked at a girl who merely questioned the grade I’d given her and I was so mean about it I shocked myself. I learned never to do that again. From the negative came the positive. What do you miss most about the job? And least?What I miss most is the exuberance and excitement of the classroom. What I miss least is the claustrophobic atmosphere created by bureaucrats and politicians. Are you still in touch with any of your students?I meet former students everywhere. One, Susan Gilman, was recently on the New York Times’ bestseller list with a memoir, Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress. She said she owes it all to me. I agreed with her. The parents called you a fraud for telling stories but the students loved you: how did such conflicting opinions help or hinder your teaching?I paid little attention to parents. Their ideas of education conflicted with mine. I don’t mean that in any disrespectful way but they worried mostly about grades and I didn’t really give a fiddler’s fart. How has teaching changed since you left? Are there any changes that you mourn?Teachers now have to deal with a tsunami of technology that would have driven me out of my mind. I would have had to bar all mobile phones, iPods, etc, from my classroom – and that would have been a great problem Writing is essentially solitary; teaching social. Do you believe that you weren’t ready for the quiet solitude required to write when you were younger?When I was younger I wanted the fame and attention that come with publishing so I would have been more interested in the superficial than in the hard grind of private work. ‘You are your material,’ you tell your students and this has been the case for you. Do you think you have exhausted yours now? Yes, I’m finished with Frank McCourt memoir stuff – unless I draw on it to write a novel. About the Author Frank McCourt's Life at a Glance Born: Manhattan Educated: Leamy’s National School, Limerick; New York UniversityCareer: Telegram boy, letter-writer, Easons delivery boy, houseman at the Biltmore Hotel, US Army, warehouseman, Blue Cross insurance clerk, teacherLives: Connecticut, USA, with his wife EllenFamily: One daughter and three grandchildren.Frank McCourt’s first book, Angela’s Ashes, won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award; it has sold 1.3 million copies in its Flamingo editions alone and tens of millions worldwide. He taught for 30 years in various New York City high schools and in city colleges. His sequel to Angela’s Ashes, ‘Tis, continued its predecessor’s huge success.