Angela's Ashes

By: Frank McCourt, Jeannette Walls - introduction

Narrated by: Frank McCourt, Jeannette Walls - introduction

Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, Biography/Autobiography, 1997

National Book Critics Circle, Biography/Autobiography, 1997

Frank McCourt's Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, movingly read in his own voice, bears all the marks of a classic. Born in Depression-era Brooklyn to Irish immigrant parents, Frank was later raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. His mother, Angela, had no money to feed her children since Frank's father, Malachy, rarely worked, and when he did, he drank his wages. Angela's Ashes is the story of how Frank endured - wearing shoes repaired with tires, begging for a pig's head for Christmas dinner, and searching the pubs for his father - a tale he relates with eloquence, exuberance, and remarkable forgiveness.

Listen to Frank McCourt talk about this book on C-SPAN's Booknotes (7/11/97).

©1997 Frank McCourt, All Rights Reserved (P)1997 Simon & Schuster Inc., All Rights Reserved, Audioworks is an Imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division Simon & Schuster Inc.

Critic reviews

"Frank McCourt is a marvelous writer whose words are made all the better when he reads them aloud..." (Bookpage)

"...one of the best I've heard in years." (The Boston Globe)

"...so good it deserves a sequel" (The New York Times)

"Here we have the stereotypical Irish characters - the drunken poet father; the all-suffering mother; the miserable, hungry kids being turned away by a haughty Church - all made three-dimensional and brought fully to life by both McCourt's language and his loving, intimate narration.... Grim it is - but the tale and its teller transcend the poverty - and so does the listener, who glories in the story and voice from beginning to end." (AudioFile)

One of my all time favorites by an amazing writer!

What made the experience of listening to Angela's Ashes the most enjoyable?

Frank McCourt reading his own work. I don't think anyone else could do it as well.

What about Frank McCourt’s performance did you like?

His lovely accent, his enthusiasm at every stage of his life and the lives of the other people in his world. He did a great job being the voice of the others.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Both. It's hilariously funny in parts and I honestly believe humor made his life bearable. I can vividly remember laughing out loud at times. But it's horribly sad as well.

Any additional comments?

I can't tell you the number of times I've listened to this book. I first read the print version but the audio is so much better. Most audiobooks seem to bring stories more to life in my experience.This is a truly wonderful story.Frank McCourt was a master storyteller.

Do your soul a favor...

...and treat yourself to this gem. I have NEVER listened to a better narrator in my life and dare I say I’ve listened to over 500 books. When an author chooses to narrate their memoir you can sometimes get a doozy. Frank McCourt, in my opinion, raises this literary masterpiece from its already impenetrable pedestal into an Audible class of his own. How the man can write about such sad and painful memories yet tell it in a way that makes me, quite literally, laugh out loud, I will never know. I felt completely immersed in his culture and I now wish I had visited Limerick after listening to this book and not beforehand for I would’ve felt more comfortable and at ease in the company of the towns people when I visited a few years back! They are EXACTLY as Frank describes!

The moment I send this review through I will be downloading his next memoir, “‘Tis”, which I also read previously. ‘Tis no doubt that hearing McCourt read this one to me instead will be just as much a joy as Angela’s Ashes!

Expected More

The narration was excellent, but the story line was mediocre. I expected more of a plot - vice the day to day struggles the author and his family encountered. The ending left me asking the question ... what path Frank follow after his encounter with the "bad women".

have always loved this book

read it the first time as a sophomore in highschool and I loved it. the author paints a vivid picture of his childhood. when I listened to it on audible, I did not like the author's reading of the story. for some reason, it sounded robotic and dull at times.

Delightful narration, story of survival and hope.

What made the experience of listening to Angela's Ashes the most enjoyable?

I loved that I was hearing the author's narration because then I knew I was hearing it as it was intended. Plus, he was a marvelous story teller.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Angela's Ashes?

His feeling of being doomed for being human - masturbation, having sex.

Which scene was your favorite?

No favorite.

Any additional comments?

Some people say that it's bleak and maybe that is true if reading the book, but I don't see how anyone could feel this novel was bleak when heard through the author's voice.

He also has that rare talent of being in touch with his inner child - remembering what it's like to think and feel like a child.

omg!

I'm in love with the narrator's voice. the story, is so incredible. memoirs narrated by the writer are probably my favorite genre. but mr. mccourt... wows me! I love his use of repetition to drive the humor in or the point down... I laughed, cried, gagged, and just couldn't stop until I was done. I'm so glad I can listen to this over and over. I'm thinking in Frank's voice. I can't wait to dive into his other books. and I can't wait to make this one of my Pulitzer choices for the year in my book club. why have I waited so long to read this?

Amazing

The narration draws you into the story. It was a true page turner. The authentic accent of the narrator makes you feel as if you're experiencing everything that's being read. Loved this book

Heart-wrenching, funny, and fantastic.

What made the experience of listening to Angela's Ashes the most enjoyable?

Being written from the standpoint of a 3, 4, 5... year old child makes the book really interesting. I don't think anyone else could have read this book and pulled it off. Frank must have been quite a human being. The story he told was great, but the insights into the extreme poverty that surrounded Frank his entire life was profound and thought provoking. As with any great book, it's changed my thinking just a bit. That says a lot.

What other book might you compare Angela's Ashes to and why?

I can honestly say I've never read anything quite like it. That's partly the reason that this book is a must.

Which scene was your favorite?

Since most of the book is from the standpoint of a young child, it's easiest to relate to the later scenes. I found myself laughing at loud later in the book as Frank was wrestling with his devote catholic upbringing and his adolescent meanderings. Great stuff!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Definitely both!

I liked it....

What did you love best about Angela's Ashes?

I did read other peoples reviews about why they were not fussed on the book. I however thought it was good. It gave me an insight into someone's life, it was interesting what others had to endure, and a great reality as to how far we have come. Obviously, you have to take things with a pinch of salt but I would recommend others to read/listen.

Hemingway-like

Any additional comments?

The story is about growing up in and surviving horrid conditions (by today's standards). Yet it is NOT depressing. Not at all. In fact, it is ultimately a story of high hopes.

The Hemingway-like quality of this richly told tale is in its stark, detailed and vivid accounting for daily life in pre-WWII 20th century Ireland. Particularly in his pre-teen years, the authors depictions of daily life in the impoverished place of his upbringing...before modern medicine, before indoor plumbing...from within a desperately poor family, are so clear as to put you into those scenes and those places in a way you're not likely to have ever been that proximate with before. At times, I was reminded of The Old Man and the Sea. You get to "see" these places up close. In Angela's Ashes, you get to see those conditions and situations so very realistically, which are indeed brutal, and yet you get to see them through optimistic, determined and then successful eyes of the story's protagonist...and author.

All around are the far away, outsized influences of America, England, World War, and Religion. Inside those settings, a boy is born and grows up. This is largely that boy's account of surviving infancy, picking his way through boyhood, and ultimately making it to the promise of a young man's bright American future. When you can understand the childhood he survived, it's no doubt that McCourt accomplished so much more after his great and triumphant return to America at the ripe old age of 19. You won't fully appreciate that until you read about those 1st 19 years though.