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'Tis : [Hardcover]

Frank McCourt
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)

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Book Description

22 Sep 1999

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.


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Product details

  • Hardcover: 385 pages
  • Publisher: Flamingo; 1st. Edition edition (22 Sep 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0002570807
  • ISBN-13: 978-0002570800
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.5 x 4.1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 442,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon Review

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

Review

Peter Collier "Los Angeles Times Book Review""'Tis" has those elements that made "Angela's Ashes" such a success -- the narrative brio, the fierce sympathy for human tie and torment, the intuitive feel for character and above all the love of language. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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First Sentence
When the MS Irish Oak sailed from Cork in October 1949, we expected to be in New York City in a week. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Every bit as good as Angela's Ashes 14 Jan 2008
By Chelli
Format:Paperback
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 intriguing characters and events.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Deliciously written 18 Dec 2000
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Frank McCourt has a wonderful style of writing that ties the reader to the pages. He writes in a conversational manner which makes the entire book seem like a story your friend Frank was telling you. The story continues from Angela's Ashes and young McCourt lands himself in America. As a European living in America for a while, I encountered the same oddities and quirks about the Amerikcan McCourt found when he described his experiences in America. All and all it's an entertaining story to read, and and definetly an engaging book.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars a triumphant, if challenging, read. 19 Sep 2001
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
'Tis' holds parallels with 'Sons & Lovers', albeit set in the bustling metropolis of post-war New York as opposed to 19th century Nottinghamshire. The educated elder son of an awkward mother and absent father struggles to find his own identity in a land that displays prejudice against his background and compulsively remarks at 'the Irish brogue'.

The young adult Frankie takes several menial jobs and has to endure providential college students who ride the trains: handsome guys and wholesome girls with perfect teeth and skin and NYU folders flaunting their superiority. A stretch in the army enables Frankie to learn useful administrative skills, and he finally pleads to be allowed to study at NYU, eventually becoming a teacher.

At this point, McCourt's memoirs cease to follow the path of 'Angela's Ashes', and with each progressive chapter the verse loses the lilt and cadence that so coloured the previous work. Writing that was once a joy to read becomes tedious and monotonous: the repetitive references to life back in Limerick and seemingly endless prose leading apparently nowhere. The reader is left confused by Frankie's attitude towards his family and somewhat weary with the dry anecdotes of his time spent teaching dispassionate students.

As with DH Lawrence, however, one can only share McCourt's obvious frustration with his life, particularly the way he feels trapped between the life of a bohemian, listening to jazz and discussing philosophy, and the comfort and security of his wife, child and home. As such, Frankie seldom seems to learn any lessons from his experiences or those of his family. Students, and their fashions, come and go but McCourt treads slowly along, disenchanted and unable to find fulfilment.

Although 'Tis' continues with the life of Frank McCourt a few unanswered questions frustrate throughout, particularly why did it take so long to write 'Angela's Ashes' following the triumphant debut University essay, 'The Bed'? From such an extraordinary life in Limerick to the abject normality of a teacher's lot in New York, the reader can only empathise with the apparent loss of exuberance and vivacity that, despite the unimaginable poverty, 'Angela's Ashes' portrayed.

'Tis' could never match McCourt's Pulitzer Prize winner, but as a reflection of one man's determination and soul searching it still remains a triumphant, if challenging, read.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars Repetitious and mediocre
In my copy there are several pages of the most flowery North American praise for this awful potboiler. Read more
Published 16 days ago by Y
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable
I wanted to know what happened to Frank. A good read but not the same impact as Angela's Ashes. How could it when the most sympathy must go to children. Read more
Published 18 days ago by janet catherine sudworth
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
great book, I would recommend this after you've read Angela's ashes, it is a follow up on the life in America, I couldn't get enough
Published 3 months ago by Anna
5.0 out of 5 stars After reading Angela's Ashes \I was looking forward to reading...
I found Angela's Ashes haunted me, a powerful, moving and at the same time humorous account of his poverty stricken childhood in Limerick, I wanted to know what happened to him and... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Cynthia
2.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the first volume
The innocent humour of the first book is lost in this second volume which, although interesting, is not riviting. A bit disappointing!
Published 5 months ago by Emma Harris
1.0 out of 5 stars Very dull
Five hundred pages of a feckless Irishman's whingeing and self-pity. Is it supposed to be funny? It isn't. Read John Boyle's brilliant and involving 'Galloway Street' instead.
Published 9 months ago by secret squirrel
4.0 out of 5 stars sequal
I did not buy this for myself but for my mother-in-law, She read Angela's Ashes and wanted to read the follow on which is this. So from what I have been told it is very good.
Published 13 months ago by J. Candy
2.0 out of 5 stars Disapointing
Nothing on Angel's Ashes, which I could not put down, found it boring and gave it to a friend to read, she is also finding it hard going.
Published 22 months ago by Ann Overton
5.0 out of 5 stars 'Tis
Recieved quickly and in excellent condition. Would buy from this seller again. Excellent book-highly recommended.
Published on 21 Sep 2009 by Mrs. Rk Lane
4.0 out of 5 stars Very entertaining.
Follow up to Angela's Ashes. It's unlikely I can enlighten anyone more than the other 3 million reviews, however, this is about a growing/grown up Frank who makes his way to... Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2009 by Jenny
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