Tis: Summary and book reviews of Tis by Frank McCourt, plus links to an excerpt from Tis and a biography of Frank McCourt.

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.

Media Reviews

Newsweek Now McCourt drops the other shoe...[an] inimitable account of his life in America...   Library Journal .... Those whose hearts went out to the little boy who suffered so in Limerick might be put off by the hard-drinking, carousing grownup. But there's no denying McCourt's engaging wit. Is it as rewarding as Angela's Ashes? 'Tis.

Recent Reader Reviews

Review (not rated) by shar
A worthy continuation of the most incredible book I've read in Years, Angela's Ashes. The writing is crisp, the descriptions had me laughing out loud at 2 in the morning because I couldn't put it down, and I found myself hoping that he could...   Read More

Rated of 5 by katrina mccleary
I have read this book and Frank McCourts other book approx 10 times each. His books are so heart wrenching that you feel so bad that you as the reader is not there to help Frank and his mother through their poverty. I felt as though I was there in...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Susan
hearing of all the sufferings of frank and his mother and brothers touches the heart. the way he expresses his feelings made me feel for him and wish i was there to comfort him as this is a heart wrenching story which all should read

Rated of 5 by skp
Franks' struggles and abitions are an inspiration. To come from poverty to emotional riches. This is a must read!!

Rated of 5 by Katiemay
Frank McCourt did a wonderfully job of writing honestly. It twas truly a tragic account of his life that makes you wish you were there to comfort him

Rated of 5 by ann
great job frank!

...9 More Reader Reviews

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