Frank McCourt

The author's memoir of his journey from impoverished Irish immigrant to brilliant teacher and raconteur.

A Memoir

'Tis

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.

sariya

"No one is so busy they can't take time to make a decent cup of tea and if you are that busy you don't deserve a decent cup of tea for what is it all about anyway? Are we put into this world to be busy or to chat over a nice cup of tea?"

"I'm sitting up in the bed with my knees pulled to my chest and there are tears that won't come to my eyes but beat instead like a small sea around my heart."

"It's strange to think there are no words for the way I feel unless they're in Shakespeare or Samuel Johnson or Dostoevsky."

"It's strange to think there are no words for the way i feel unless they're in Shakespeare or Samuel Johnson or Dostoevsky."

Tracie McMurray

Beautiful! I’m reading McCourt’s books backwards, by accident. I first read “Teacher Man” and related to his story since I am currently an English teacher. Then, when I found “‘Tis” in a used book store, I knew I would enjoy his style of storytelling, once again. This book covers his life fresh off the boat from Ireland. I must read “Angela’s Ashes” so I can see the origin of this talented man. 

I borrowed the audio of the author reading his book from the public library and it was lovely. Any time a song was included, McCourt would sing it. Wonderful book!!

'Tis A Memoir

Reviews

Highlights