Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Angela's Ashes  By  cover art

Angela's Ashes

By: Frank McCourt, Jeannette Walls - introduction
Narrated by: Frank McCourt, Jeannette Walls - introduction
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.98

Buy for $24.98

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

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)

Featured Article: The Audible Essentials Top 100


The spirited (but friendly) debate over these titles could have gone on indefinitely. With years of listening, countless customer reviews, and a catalog of seemingly infinite great listens, 100 suddenly felt like a very small number. What we know for sure—each title that made it to this collection is elevated and made special in some way by audio, whether by a layered performance from a single narrator, a brilliantly cohesive full cast, original music, or immersive sound effects. Discover an audio experience for the ages.

More from the same

What listeners say about Angela's Ashes

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7,189
  • 4 Stars
    1,619
  • 3 Stars
    551
  • 2 Stars
    208
  • 1 Stars
    141
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6,538
  • 4 Stars
    823
  • 3 Stars
    238
  • 2 Stars
    81
  • 1 Stars
    66
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,838
  • 4 Stars
    1,248
  • 3 Stars
    396
  • 2 Stars
    147
  • 1 Stars
    112

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Angela's Ashes (unabridged)

The book gives a real glimpse into life in Ireland and the problems the Mc Court family faced. I appreciated hearing the songs too.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

6 Stars, if I were able to

Frank McCourt is one of my favorite story tellers. The account of his life growing up in a poor Irish family is filled with moments of sadness as well as passages that will tickle your funnybone. But the best part of this audiobook is listening to the man tell the stories. His Irish brogue and his way of interpreting the world through the eyes of a young boy combine to make Angela's Ashes one of my favorite audiobooks.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Listening adds so much!

I started to listen to the book, but then bought a paper copy half way through. (Sometimes you want re-read a section, tough to do on a MP3 player). I enjoyed the spoken version so much more, than if I had just read the book. The songs and pronunciations were lost on me on the page, but the audio version brought them to life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not a book for high school students.

Any additional comments?

Not a book for high school students. I downloaded it from the book list for high school student and would like to delete it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Frank McCourt, what a guy!!!

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

My paternal grandfather was from Ireland (Cork) and so I liked hearing about Frank's experience growing up there. Also.....his narration was great...just great!

What did you like best about this story?

How Frank tried to keep his head above water in a world where poverty was pulling on his legs trying to drown him and his mother, just barely able to cope, was little help to him.

What about Frank McCourt’s performance did you like?

Everything....his accent brings it to life and as he is retelling his own experiences, he often reads like he is telling us a story rather than reading from a book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When his aunt bought him new clothes for his job. Also Paddy Clohessy and the fact that he is even more poverty stricken than Frankie is moving.

Any additional comments?

This is one of those books I have listened to more than once. When Frank McCourt passed away, I heard the news on TV and thought "that voice has been silenced forever, how sad". I loved this book so much and felt like I was drawn into his world with it than when he really died, I was sad and felt like I lost someone I knew.

Highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I almost returned this book...

When I first started listening to this book, I really didn't like it. I had a very hard time following the accent of the narrator. I went to return it and then reread all the reviews, realizing that I needed to give it more time. Like watching a Shakespeare play, the language grows on you and you can follow it easier as you get used to it.

I had a range of emotions while reading this book. I have ancestors who immigrated from Ireland to America and I had to rethink everything I thought I knew about them. I had assumed they came from the vibrant green and cozy Ireland where everyone was spectacularly nice and neighborly. After reading Frank McCourt's autobiography, I realize that my thinking was probably inaccurate. I never realized how stern the Irish were and how miserable and poor so many were. I had heard the stories of the drinking but assumed it was a stereotype; I never realized the damage it did to families. I also didn't understand the impact of the Catholic church on the Irish people and how the families seemed to be motivated by guilt from the church.

This book can be amusing at times, but for the most part it is very serious and very sobering. It was a learning experience for me and I highly recommend that everyone who is interested in the roots of the people who helped build America, read this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

an amazing life read by the man who lived it!

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

First, with Frank McCourt reading his memoir, there is an added air of authenticity to his memories and stories. Second, the way he creates the local denizens of his neighborhoods into excellent characters by interacting with them and not over-describing them is refreshing. It is their relationship with "Frankie" that brings the others in this first-person narrative alive, not just his descriptions of them. Finally, his ability to express his internal thoughts, feelings, angst, and frequent consternation is wonderful and developmentally appropriate for the different ages he traverses. When he is five he sounds like he is five; when he is 15 he sounds like he is 15.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character is Frankie because he is a lad who had no breaks and continues to plod along and succeed.

What about Frank McCourt’s performance did you like?

First, I love his accent. Second, his cadence and intonation provide excellent pacing for the story. Finally, his tone of voice was able to impart wit, humor, irritation, frustration, and irony I am not sure would have been as clearly evident with the written word alone.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When his young sister dies in New York... very sad.

Any additional comments?

I have enjoyed this work so much I have listened to it several times.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great story about a life I would never want...

Frank McCourt is a fabulous writer and a superb narrator of his own story. Unfortunately, his story is so depressing that I simply can't give it a five star rating. Growing up in Ireland where the Catholic Church seems to influence every aspect of life creates an atmosphere of oppression and lost hope. Having a father who is a drunk and and a mother who keeps having children with no real way to care for them adds to the depression of the story. Yet other reviewers talk of Mr. McCourt's forgiveness, which I do not understand nor see. Great writing. Great narration. Horrible story. Thanks anyway, but I think it's time for another romance novel...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

I thought the author narrating would add to the experience but, honestly, his delivery was kind of sing-songy and boring. I think a more dramatic reader would have brought the listener into the story - it lacked the emotional impact I think reading it yourself would garnish.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

I Should Have Talked to Frank More

I knew Frank McCourt in New York City, although not well. He kept so much to himself I didn't have many interactions with him. He sat on a stool in the corner of his brother Alphie's restaurant/bar on the Upper West Side of New York City, where I worked, sipping a glass of something, always alone. I have a feeling that, like all good autobiographies, some events and characters in Frank's book were enlarged, some reduced, others adjusted and sculptured to focus and shape the narrative. If George Orwell did that sort of thing in books like Down and Out in Paris and London then Frank McCourt deserves the same latitude. Frank certainly re-spun the dialogue from what he remembered, aided by years being as aspiring writer and playwright. Be that as it may, the text rings true and it is a thoroughly enjoyable book, narrated well by its writer. It's a tribute to endurance and decidedly a book worth reading or listening to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful