"Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood," writes Frank McCourt in Angela's Ashes. "Worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Welcome, then, to the pinnacle of the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. Born in Brooklyn in 1930 to recent Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank grew up in Limerick after his parents returned to Ireland because of poor prospects in America. It turns out that prospects weren't so great back in the old country either--not with Malachy for a father. A chronically unemployed and nearly unemployable alcoholic, he appears to be the model on which many of our more insulting clichés about drunken Irish manhood are based. Mix in abject poverty, and frequent death and illness, and you have all the makings of a truly difficult early life. Fortunately, in McCourt's able hands it also has all the makings of a compelling memoir.

"His understated voice throws into relief the admirable humour, spirit & humanity of the people who made the degradation of his childhood
bearable."

'McCourt?s reading is captivating from the first moment.'

Angela?s Ashes is Frank McCourt?s sad, funny, bittersweet memoir of growing up in New York in the 30s and in Ireland in the 40s. It is a story of extreme hardship
and suffering, in Brooklyn tenements and Limerick slums ? too many children, too little money, his mother Angela barely coping as his father Malachy?s drinking
bouts constantly brought the family to the brink of disaster. It is a story of courage and survival against apparently overwhelming odds.

Written with the vitality and resonance of a work of fiction, and a remarkable absence of sentimentality, Angela?s Ashes is imbued on every page with Frank
McCourt?s distinctive humour and compassion. Out of terrible circumstances, he has created a glorious book in the tradition of Ireland?s literary masters, which
bears all the marks of a great classic.

Frank Mccourt ?s first book, Angela?s Ashes, won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award; it has sold 1.3 million copies in its Flamingo editions alone and
tens of millions worldwide. For many years a writing teacher at Stuyvesant High School, McCourt performed with his brother Malachy in a musical review about
their Irish youth. He lives in New York.

2008-04-28 A never to be forgotten story.

Much praise for this book, and the movie is even better. Well done to frank mccourt for finding the words..