I have read all three of McCourt;s books and I must say they remind me of a great Martini. Like the first Martini of the evening, "Angela's Ashes" is remarkable. It flows through your mind awakening thoughts and feelings too long forgotten. It makes the reader feel compassion and sorrow for his fellow man while maintaining one's faith in the human need to survive and thrive. "T'is", like a second Martini, starts off reinforcing the experiences from the first but somewhere along the way it gets muddled and enlightenment fades into confusion. The third Martini "Teacher Man" is a mess. It is a haphazard collection of awkwardly remembered vignettes that are attached to each other in a steam of conscious manner. Everything seems funnier than it is and when it is all finished you can't recall much about it.

I enjoyed reading about Frank McCourt's time in the classrooms of New York. Of course I've read Angela's Ashes, and I read his brother Malachy's autobiography, I knew Mr. McCourt had become a teacher. I STILL found this painful reading; this is Frank McCourt and his past is present in his writing, in fact he spends quite a bit of classroom time talking about his miserable Irish childhood. He tells us he talks about it, he doesn't actually spend very much book time talking about it. But the subject tends to fascinate his students, and the kids enjoy storytelling more than they like school assignments. So even as Frank McCourt entertains us with his stories of teaching in New York high schools, he also tells of us his insecurities and self-criticism, his failures and his sins. All of that self-recrimination rang in me like a struck bell. Frank McCourt is funny, successful, he is a survivor. This book didn't hurt as bad as Angela's Ashes, I cried for about a month with that one, but still; I am feeling pain and I don't want to. I suppose there must be some pain in me that matches with the pain in Frank McCourt that is causing this resonating vibrato of pain.
The book is certainly not all sorrow; as I said, he is funny and really is a masterful teacher in a non-traditional manner. I think his students were fortunate to have him as a teacher and he was fortunate to have them as students.

My fourth book by Frank McCourt and I am still impressed.

Teacher Man (2005) is the last book of his 3-part tragicomic memoir and it is about his experiences as a teacher in at least 3 schools in New York. He spent 33 years teaching high school students before he retired at the age of 60 and wrote his first book, Angela's Ashes at the age of 66. The book changed his life tremendously. He won a Pulitzer in 1997. National Book Critics Circle Award in 1996. He met President Bush, Lady Diana and other well-known personalities because of it. However, looking back, what he most treasured in his life was the opportunity to influence the many future American citizens. The schools were he taught at? vocational and technical school (McKee), adult education - teaching English to immigrants mostly mothers(New York City College of Technology) and later in the Harvard-equivalent for high school in the US: Stuyvesant High School where only the brightest high students are admitted. So, McCourt had enough challenges and to be able to survive that long means that he must have loved teaching. Afterall, teaching is said to be one of the noblest professions.

Although there is almost nothing about Ireland and his poor family background in this book, his funny and witty lines are still much evident. I particularly enjoyed his conversations with his students particularly the immigrants who did not know much about literature and grammar. Those poor immigrants who came to America during that time (early 70's to late 80's) barely knew English and thought of themselves as nobody and McCourt took patience in turning that wrong belief around. They ended up liking William Shakespeare and appreciating Hamlet. Something that I can relate with since I have not read Hamlet yet.

Ah, four lovely lovely books. It was nice knowing you, Frank McCourt!

I will now read those two books (Singing My Him Song and A Monk Swimming) by your brother Malachy McCourt (born 1931) and 1 book (A Long Stone's Throw (1998) by Alphie McCourt (born 1940). I wonder if these younger brothers of yours are also as brilliant as you are when it comes to writing memoirs :)

In this book, McCourt kind of summarizes his 30-year teaching career in four different schools in New York City, highlighting various lessons and memorable situations as he does so. When he teaches, he finds himself retelling various parts of his life and upbringing to his students, which he includes here as well. So this is kind of an autobiography in a sense, but also a book about a specific teaching experience. I thought the stories McCourt described were funny, interesting, sad, hopeful, and all showed that the profession of teaching is one that is highly impactful, both to the students and the teachers themselves.

Also to note: While "#3" is in the title description, you do NOT have to read McCourt's other two books to understand this one.

Ah... a book only English teachers could love. It's not for the faint of heart.

McCourt deals so well with the inner lives of English teachers. How we second guess ourselves, get embarrassed by superiors on not having read enough of the "right literature", fear kids will think we're either too strict or too relaxed, wonder if they'll ever respect us, pray they don't go off about how reading is not relevant to their lives.

He nails it.

Reader be warned though. I found myself laughing hysterically in many parts, but there were other areas where his tortured Irish Catholic background proved a bit much in terms of language and description of other things.

You pity him for his constant lack of courage and how his childhood shaped his dismally poor moral framework. But I suppose in the end reading things like this help you develop empathy even if you disagree with their choices.

Тут должен быть какой-то осмысленный восхищенный текст с цитатами, но я закончила книжку и грандиозно реву, что автор умер и больше ничего никогда не напишет.

This author wrote ANGELA'S ASHES which I have not read, but the title of course intrigued me.

There is a lot of adult information and language, not for the junior high yet.

I could identify with this author on many different levels. I haven't cheated on my wife (or gotten a divorce). I teach junior high, maybe that's the difference (I guess I also teach fifty years after McCourt).

However, when he talks about the suitcase full of papers watching you from the corner (definitely been there and done that).

He takes greater chances than I do (as I give tests and quizzes over what kids read). However, I understand his point. I don't see him asking teachers to follow his model (ask kids to like them, etc.)

I see him sincerely recounting his thought process. His character flaw (one that I share more than I care to admit) is caring about what kids think of him. There are definite comparisons. There are teachers in the book and in real life who DON'T care what the kids (parents, etc) think of them, and they don't necessarily reach the kids in the same way.

Language arts is a different animal than teaching math and history where there are right and wrong answers. We can all read the same poem, believe something is being said (from our own personal experience) and all be right (to a certain extent).

"Why fear the criticism of others when you, yourself, are first out of the critical gate?" Too close to home sometimes.

In Teacher Man, Frank McCourt relates his thirty-five year experiences as a classroom English teacher. He tells it in a straightforward simplistic style that lets the reader gain insight into what many classroom teachers in inner city schools face, teaching five classes of thirty-five students from diverse backgrounds, dealing with all the other things that are required in addition to teaching. His first days as a new teacher he becomes victim of his storytelling prowess. It doesn’t take long for his students to use this as a way to distract him from the lessons he is prepared to teach. He tells them of his life in Ireland; his problems in school, and the jobs he held before becoming a teacher. He relates to them and their parents and the students open up to him. Still he discovers ways to get through to the students on whatever level they happen to be. Since he teaches in a vocational school, most of his students are not going to college. He encounters problems with some of the administrators at the schools where he teachers. He gets his masters in English and gets a position as an adjunct lecturer at Brooklyn Community College. Instead of five classes of English each day, he teaches five classes each week. “I am in Heaven,” though his salary is cut in half. This lasts a year. He goes back to teaching high school. Through the years he learns much. This is an engaging autobiography told with self-deprecating humor and insight. Having been in the trenches, I can relate.

Well, I finally try something by Mr. McCourt, former New York City public high school teacher, now the celebrated and successful writer of best sellers like "Angela's Ashes" and this book here. One can see why this was a popular book. McCourt is an engaging raconteur, in the Irish tradition - witty, anecdotal, ironic - and his story is an interesting one. He never takes himself too seriously, altho some anger occasionally pokes thru.

In this book, McCourt tells a the tale of his college years, the time in his twenties he put in working as a longshoreman on the Brooklyn docks, and most importantly, his life as a teacher. There are tales of romance with a young lady who is also the lover of one of his professors. There are stories of his first couple of jobs, early years bouncing around from school to school, just getting by. He seems to have the knack of getting a little too witty with people from time to time. He teaches at a vocational school in Staten Island, and at a community college, but does not get off to a promising start. He touches a bit on marriage and fatherhood, but does not get too far into his relations with his family. Pubs and drinking seem to be a fairly consistent distraction, and one gets the sense that before he began telling his tales to a word processor, he told them in barrooms over pints of Guinness. At one point, he gets accepted to Trinity College in Dublin for a graduate program, but is unable to pull his dissertation on Irish-American literary relations into a manageable form. McCourt seems to always be the witty outsider, the smart kid from the rough side of the tracks in Limerick who can't quite find his place in the world. But redemption comes calling in the form of a substitute teaching gig at a top high school, where surprisingly enough, he is asked to stay on and ends up a popular and successful writing teacher.

There are numerous recollections of strange and funny encounters with students. There is the bizarre story of the girl whose sister's husband lost his arms in Korea, and wants sex all the time. There is Kevin, an imaginative (and probably schizophrenic) young man who takes a liking to the author. There is the gang of impossible to control Black girls that he takes to a movie in Times Square. There is the recitation of recipes with musical accompaniment. There are hilarious excuse notes which he saves and then turns into a lesson. And there is some good advice for teachers too.

This was a colorful, anecdotal read, but not lacking in some real substance and insight. Still, I am sure there have been more powerful books written about teaching and life in the schools. This is a likeable one however, and I think therein lies the core of McCourt's success as a writer.

Who doesn't want to be a teacher and Irish after reading this, will never be either.

Better the second time around. McCourt is simply funny and entertaining.

You feel yourself in the classroom with him. You feel yourself understanding and understanding the laughter, of teachers that you know. Now that the author is late, I feel like mapping out the sites he mentions in Limerick. We should take the authors who are with us seriously, to appreciate where they're from. Reminds me that I miss both McCourt and Pete McCarthy, humorous Irish writers who have passed since i first read them.

Frank McCourt has been a favourite of mine since high school where I read 'Tis and then Angela's Ashes, so when I saw a copy of the final book in his memoirs, I snapped it up, and read it. I enjoyed it so much that I passed it on the a friend from TColl, who enjoyed it just as much as I did, and so she passed it on to another friend of ours from TColl...so it's done a miniring among friends :-)

I'll probably take this one to the meetup on Tuesday :-)

From the back

"From the Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling author of Angela's Ashes and 'Tis, a wonderfully engaging and appealing book about teaching and storytelling, the subjects closest to Frank McCourt's heart...

In Teacher Man Frank turns his attention to the subject that he most often talks about in his lectures- teaching: why it's so important, why it's so undervalued. He describes his own coming of age - as a teacher, a storyteller and, ultimately, a writer. He is alternately humble and mischievous, down-trodden and rebellious. He instinctively identifies with the underdog; his sympathies lie more with students than administrators. It takes him almost fifteen years to find his voice in the classroom, but what's clear in the thrilling pages of Teacher Man is that from the beginning he seized and held his students' attention by telling them memorable stories.

With all the wit, charm, irreverence, and poignancy that made Angela's Ashes and 'Tis so universally beloved, Frank McCourt tells his most exhilarating story yet - how he became a writer.

Being a teacher myself, I loved this story by one of my favourite authors!