Review
'McCourt has a compulsion to tell us the story of his life, but he does it so well -- modulating beautifully from ventriloquistically exact repro teen-speak to rhapsodic meditations on his midlife crisis -- that one couldn't possibly want him to stop. I wish I could have been in one of his classes.' Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Sunday Times 'This memoir about teaching is unlike any other I have read: relatively mundane events and incidents shine against that backdrop of that pathetic, abused child.' Francis Gilbert, Sunday Telegraph 'Damn entertaining!McCourt is a master racouteur.' Washington Post 'McCourt's many fans will of course love this book, but it also should be mandatory reading for every teacher in America. And it wouldn't hurt some politicians to read it, too.' Publishers Weekly 'As good as writing gets about teaching and learning and finding yourself through writing.' USA Today 'Heart-warming.' New York Times 'McCourt has an undeniable gift for turning a phrase.' Boston Globe
Observer
'...it is exhilarating to see these generations of tough-talking
teenagers blossom.'