Product Description

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 Book 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 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). 'With 'Tis', McCourt blesses his readers with another chapter of his story, but as it closes, they will want still more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21820 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Review
"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'. They will love it, 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 from 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

About the Author
Frank McCourt is the author of the Pulitzer Prize winning and best-selling Angela's Ashes. It has sold two million copies in the UK and tens of millions worldwide. He followed this with the best-selling Tis and the final in the trilogy, Teacher Man, will be published in 2005. For thirty years he taught in NYC schools, before, in his 60s, settling down to write his story.

Customer Reviews

NOT AS GOOD AS ANGELA'S ASHES
After reading Angela's Ashes I couldn't wait to pick up `Tis to hear of Frank's adventures in America but I was rather disappointed. It was quite a depressing book (at least Angela's Ashes had hope) and I got fed up of hearing about his pussy eyes and him having `the excitement' (feeling randy). Also, I found the writing was a little confusing because there were no speech marks in any of the text, therefore his thoughts and his spoken word couldn't easily be distinguished at times. All in all, if you've read Angela's Ashes leave it at that, it's a bit of a slog when he goes to the other side of the pond.

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.

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.