'Tis: A Memoir

Angela's Ashes was a unique accomplishment on many levels. Tis was doomed before it ever came out because it would suffer by comparison. However, this is still a great read by an interesting man who has great sensitivity to dialogue, and makes some stinging social observations with great subtlety. The books cannot be compared unless you have strong feelings about the skill the writer had, or did not have in either volume. Is the language rougher, yes, this is a man describing his life, not a child. Does he have opinions that are black and white, with little room for gray at times, yes. Part of the problem with moving from one book to the next, is that the memories of a child, and terrible memories at that, are a powerful force to draw you in, and cause one to feel great sympathy and pain for the child. Then the child becomes a man, and it's much more difficult to carry the same empathy from the first book to the second. In fact I don't think it is possible. If you have read neither book, read this first, and then Angela's Ashes. The books change dramatically when you do. The harsh criticism of the man becomes infinitely more complex and difficult if you learn of the childhood that was his formative years. Most autobiographies, or biographies cover a life, not pieces of a life that in this case are still unfolding. The abrupt change from book one to book two is caused, I believe, because they are bound separately. If he had covered the same period in his life with a single book it would have been more comfortable for the reader. I am glad that he did break his life up, as Angela's Ashes will forever remain a book that will gain the title of a "Classic". Book one was brilliant, it was the author's first, it won The Pulitzer, it one other awards, it is about to be shown as a major motion picture. There is no one that can follow that act #1. Frank McCourt is a great writer who I wish had come to us sooner. I hope he lives to be a hundred so I may selfishly read as much as possible of what he writes.

I thought 'Tis was a magnificent book and a great complement to Angela's Ashes. Frank McCourt has many strengths. He has the ability to incorporate dialogue into his story and keep the flow extremely smooth. When reading 'Tis I felt like McCourt and all of his friends were acting out their lives in front of me. The images McCourt created were so vivid. Even though McCourt and I come from different backgrounds I could relate to many of his feelings, his uneasiness with dancing, his approach to education. I felt like his feelings were so honest, he included the "good" and "bad" things he felt, from being faithful to his mother to the women at the refugee camp. 'Tis is a story about human nature, with none of the facts or feelings left out, it is painfully honest. McCourt's humor is also unmistakable, his Irish blood shines through his writing! I enjoyed reading about his teaching experiences. I am a student, and I was reminded that teachers have families, pasts, and lives as well as their students. On completing the book, I read a review by Robert Sullivan (Vogue) that was a perfect example of how I felt throughout the book "...funny, sad as hell, written with sentences that seem to come from the dream you wish you hadn't woken up from..." The book's ending disturbed me in that I am still hungry to find out the next chapter of McCourt's life. I'm wondering what happened after Stuyvesant, what happened to Alberta? Maggie?

I was excited when this book came along because it meant that I could revisit Frank and continue hearing his facinating story. I think the brilliance of it is the narrative in which it is written. You hear his voice in every sentence; you hear him as he spoke in whatever stage of his life he was in. It's just a wonderful read and, although his story is mostly a string of tragedies posing as birthdays gone by, it's a story of hope. Hope because despite all he had been through he still managed to become what he wanted to be and has succeeded. And to do that and still retain a sense of humor is amazing. Saying anything more about the actual book's contents would do a browsing customer a great injustice. This is just simply a book you have to buy. That is, of course, AFTER you order and read Angela's Ashes.

I don't understand why so many people seem to see Frank a failure as a teacher. As a teacher myself, I understand exactly what he went through in the schools. His "humor" and "irreverence" towards his students & their "attitudes" is very typical of all teachers--good and bad, and anyone who thinks it isn't, is very out of touch with our American education system. His description of his students was very realistic, and I got the impression that he was a very effective teacher, considering that the majority of kids in this country today have to be "entertained" in order to be "taught."

I would be interested in hearing some reviews from his former students? How about it? Are you out there?

I am so glad I was able to get the unabridged audio cassette version of 'Tis. The story is a lot more "feel sorry for me" than Angela's Ashes. (Sometimes I wanted to tell Frank, "Ah, for the love of God, get off your sobbin', and make something of yourself. Sure, aren't you in the greatest country in the world?") But, listening to the author is like hearing my Irish relatives talk to me---some from their graves---about their first days "in America."

One of "my people," Frank McCourt, reading 'Tis, was my companion driving to work and coming home. And I sometimes either cried---it's so sad---or laughed out loud---it's so funny. Everything I already know about "what it was like" is in 'Tis, and McCourt tells his saga with that mixture of melancholy and hilarity that is---sometimes to our joy and sometimes to our "shame"---our persistent heritage. His story and his way are all so familiar, and, yet, almost unbelievable. McCourt's accent really makes his telling so alive. He sounds so much like my Irish grandmother, I kick myself for not getting her on tape before we lost her. (That's my "Irish talking," because as McCourt says, "No one ever 'dies' in America. People 'pass over' and 'pass away,' but 'dying' is too hard for Americans. And there are no 'gravyards' in America. It's all 'cemeteries.'"

I wish I'd listened to the taped Angela's Ashes. If you haven't read 'Tis--or Angela's Ashes, for that matter--and you've got an Irish granmother in your past, do listen to Frank McCourt. As if you've asked him to "Give us a story, will you, Frank," The Man Himself delivers his memoir in rare and admirable form.