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'Tis

A Memoir

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
A #1 New York Times bestseller and the eagerly anticipated sequel to the Pulitzer Prize–winning Angela's Ashes, this masterpiece from Frank McCourt tells of his American journey from impoverished immigrant to brilliant teacher and raconteur.
Frank McCourt's glorious childhood memoir, Angela's Ashes, has been loved and celebrated by readers everywhere for its spirit, its wit and its profound humanity. A tale of redemption, in which storytelling itself is the source of salvation, it won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Rarely has a book so swiftly found its place on the literary landscape.
And now we have 'Tis, the story of Frank's American journey from impoverished immigrant to brilliant teacher and raconteur. Frank lands in New York at age nineteen, in the company of a priest he meets on the boat. He gets a job at the Biltmore Hotel, where he immediately encounters the vivid hierarchies of this "classless country," and then is drafted into the army and is sent to Germany to train dogs and type reports. It is Frank's incomparable voice—his uncanny humor and his astonishing ear for dialogue—that renders these experiences spellbinding.
When Frank returns to America in 1953, he works on the docks, always resisting what everyone tells him, that men and women who have dreamed and toiled for years to get to America should "stick to their own kind" once they arrive. Somehow, Frank knows that he should be getting an education, and though he left school at fourteen, he talks his way into New York University. There, he falls in love with the quintessential Yankee, long-legged and blonde, and tries to live his dream. But it is not until he starts to teach—and to write—that Frank finds his place in the world. The same vulnerable but invincible spirit that captured the hearts of readers in Angela's Ashes comes of age.
As Malcolm Jones said in his Newsweek review of Angela's Ashes, "It is only the best storyteller who can so beguile his readers that he leaves them wanting more when he is done...and McCourt proves himself one of the very best." Frank McCourt's 'Tis is one of the most eagerly awaited books of our time, and it is a masterpiece.
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  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Leaving Limerick, "the city of gray miseries," behind, Frank McCourt picks up his family story, started in ANGELA'S ASHES , on board the boat to America in 1949. McCourt is a consummate storyteller, interweaving his wry sense of absurdity to leaven the misfortunes and unhappiness that plague the McCourt family. America, the promised land, is fraught with trials for the newly arrived immigrant. McCourt's direct writing style and engaging delivery make this a treat for listeners. Punctuated by soulful fiddle tunes, the abridgment is better developed in McCourt's early years in New York, moving quickly through the last few years before the McCourt sons actually spread Angela's ashes in the Limerick graveyard in 1985. Frank McCourt said in an interview after recording 'TIS that he never anticipated a sequel to ANGELA'S ASHES, nor does he feel that one needs to read, or listen to, the earlier book. This is modesty, perhaps, because 'TIS is an American immigrant's story without the dream that is the brilliant focus and redemption of ANGELA'S ASHES. McCourt seems fully absorbed in the parts of 'TIS that touch on earlier years and have the luminous humanity that distinguish the earlier book. ANGELA is available on audio, in both unabridged and abridged formats, and having McCourt read it to you is an ultimate treat. An interesting production note on this recording--the abridgment was edited from the full-length text. McCourt worked in the Simon & Schuster studios with producer/director Karen Frillman to record the entire work. Mindful of the transitions needed to produce the edited version, Frillman was able to suggest and adjust the segues needed to keep the abridgment smooth and fluid. R.F.W. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Leaving Limerick, "the city of gray miseries," behind, Frank McCourt picks up his family story, started in ANGELA'S ASHES , on board the boat to America in 1949. McCourt is a consummate storyteller, interweaving his wry sense of absurdity to leaven the misfortunes and unhappiness that plague the McCourt family. America, the promised land, is fraught with trials for the newly arrived immigrant. McCourt's direct writing style and engaging delivery make this a treat for listeners. Punctuated by soulful fiddle tunes, the abridgment is better developed in McCourt's early years in New York, moving quickly through the last few years before the McCourt sons actually spread Angela's ashes in the Limerick graveyard in 1985. Frank McCourt said in an interview after recording 'TIS that he never anticipated a sequel to ANGELA'S ASHES, nor does he feel that one needs to read, or listen to, the earlier book. This is modesty, perhaps, because 'TIS is an American immigrant's story without the dream that is the brilliant focus and redemption of ANGELA'S ASHES. McCourt seems fully absorbed in the parts of 'TIS that touch on earlier years and have the luminous humanity that distinguish the earlier book. ANGELA is available on audio, in both unabridged and abridged formats, and having McCourt read it to you is an ultimate treat. R.F.W. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:1280
  • Text Difficulty:10-12

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