Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10698 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Synopsis
Frank McCourt continues his life story in the brilliant, bestselling sequel to the million-selling Angela's Ashes. 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.

Customer Reviews

Every bit as good as Angela's Ashes
It's very rare a sequel to an autobiography is anywhere near as good as the first,but this flows straight on from Angela's Ashes in exactly the same detailed evocative prose.
Frank's life as a naive just off the boat Irish man in New York is every bit as fascinating as his poverty stricken childhood in Ireland.
There's a touch more humour and a touch less misery but the tale is still full of interesting characters.

I thought had inner turmoil!
Not being the reading type I felt compelled to reading this book after seeing it in my library.
I had seen the film Angela's Ashes and it seemed to tally with tales from and about my Irish Grandparents. I just had to follow the Author on his journey.
McCourt had an unbelievable naivety about the world as a young man finding his feet in New York that mirrored my own, and his constant agonising about each action and its consequences struck a chord with me.
It was like reading about myself one generation before.

More than that though,how Frank McCourt writes is like a window on his world,like an interesting autobiography.

I love the idea that he doesn't paint himself better than he is, you know that certain causes have only one outcome and still he tells the story- even though he looks a chump.
Hats off to the man!

Simon Meech

Tis a Triumph
The sequel to Angela's Ashes is an enchanting tale of what happens to Frank when he leaves the grimy, depressing slums of Limerick as a young man and travels on his own to America in search of a new life. 'Tis avoids the self pitying, sanctimonious tone of many memoirs of people who have toiled their way to fame, and, despite being a sequel, the book stands alone magnificently and is a totally rivetting read.
Frank's experiences in America, ranging from being a scorned cleaner in a hotel, an array of roles in the army, and various manual jobs, and his fight to better himself by going to college, are depicted in vivid, glorious detail, and there are numerous hilarious incidents, and colourful characters who grasp the reader's attention tenaciously and don't let go. Some of the scenes had me doubled up with laughter, in particular, the occasion when Frank tries to surreptitiously eat a slice of pie in the cinema, the time a pal of his is trying to dump a frozen joint of meat, which ends up being hauled away as a suspected accident victim, and Frank's wonderful and unconventional wedding.
Frank's transformation from a spotty, awkward,rotten-teethed, conjunctivitis-ridden boy to a confident young man is mesmerising, and the rites of passage of a young man discovering the world, sex, love and himself are painted with a beautifully light touch.
'Tis is a thoroughly hypnotic read, with moods and emotions spanning the whole gamut from fascinating insights through moving scenes to wonderfully entertaining anecdotes. McCourt manages to transform the everyday to an art form. This is a hard book to put down.