'Tis

A Memoir

By: Frank McCourt

Narrated by: Frank McCourt

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.

It certainly 'Tis!

Frank McCourt narrates 'Tis himself, having that beautiful Irish lilt in his voice that made his childhood more real, more touchable as I listened. I could almost smell the filth in the streets above the cooking of fish and whatever is available. I could hear Frank and his siblings playfully fighting in bed, freezing and hungry but having such fun. His mother had many hardships since her husband generally didn't bring home a paycheck and eventually took off. Frank, being the oldest, worked like crazy doing anything at all for money, and became smarter about it. Mostly flat broke, it's less of a moral decision when there's a coin to be made, and he learns the best ways to make more from some. His family needs the money, but Frank is saving to go to America. Often teased about his "dream," the most unlikely people help him to realize his dream, and his family to literally stay alive. I didn't want it to end!

Wow!!

there are times when you would prefer the author not read their own work. This is not the case with this book as the author knows just the right inflections to parlay his own unique sense of humor.

Must Hear/Read Angela's Ashes First

Frank McCourt's wit, wisdom, and honesty relay an immigrant's story. Although he was born in America, wasn't he?

Please listen

If you are like me and just looking for a good book to listen too you find it grips at you more than you bargained for. I initial thought it would kill some time on my rides to and fro to work. However, as i listened i felt as though i knew this Frank Mc Court and have great respect for him. I hung on every chapter and looking forward to listening to his next. Narrated by him his narrarations are as passionable as is his writings. I would definitely recommend this book and thats for sure. Expect to be happy you were able to come across this book.

Great Book

I love the story. Parts of it made me laugh and parts of it made me sad.