Staff Pick
Is there another memoir so utterly effecting as Angela's Ashes? McCourt's hilarious yet devastating recounting of his Irish Catholic childhood overwhelmed by poverty is in a league by itself. Exploring themes of alcoholism, religious hypocrisy, parenting done both well and poorly, coming of age, both the annoyance and safety of family, the power of stories, the human capacity for suffering, and a scathing condemnation of poverty, McCourt somehow manages to make his heartbreaking story side-splitting as well. I've never read anything that has made me want to simultaneously weep and cackle with uncontrollable laughter more than this book. McCourt's compelling prose will keep you hanging on every word. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
andlt;Iandgt;Angela's Ashesandlt;/Iandgt;, imbued on every page with Frank McCourt's astounding humor and compassion, is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood."andlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank's mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank's father, Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy-- exasperating, irresponsible and beguiling-- does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story. Frank lives for his father's tales of Cuchulain, who saved Ireland, and of the Angel on the Seventh Step, who brings his mother babies. Perhaps it is story that accounts for Frank's survival. Wearing rags for diapers, begging a pig's head for Christmas dinner and gathering coal from the roadside to light a fire, Frank endures poverty, near-starvation and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbors--yet lives to tell his tale with eloquence, exuberance and remarkable forgiveness.
Review
Michiko Kakutani andlt;Iandgt;The New York Timesandlt;/Iandgt; The reader of this stunning memoir can only hope that Mr. McCourt will set down the story of his subsequent adventures in America in another book. andlt;iandgt;Angela's Ashesandlt;/iandgt; is so good it deserves a sequel.
Review
Malcom Jones, Jr. andlt;iandgt;Newsweekandlt;/iandgt; It is only the best storyteller who can so beguile his readers that he leaves them wanting more when he's done. With andlt;iandgt;Angela's Ashes,andlt;/iandgt; McCourt proves himself one of the very best.
Synopsis
Angela's Ashes, imbued on every page with Frank McCourt's astounding humor and compassion, is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic.
"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood."
So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank's mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank's father, Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy -- exasperating, irresponsible and beguiling-- does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story. Frank lives for his father's tales of Cuchulain, who saved Ireland, and of the Angel on the Seventh Step, who brings his mother babies. Perhaps it is story that accounts for Frank's survival. Wearing rags for diapers, begging a pig's head for Christmas dinner and gathering coal from the roadside to light a fire, Frank endures poverty, near-starvation and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbors--yet lives to tell his tale with eloquence, exuberance and remarkable forgiveness.
About the Author
andlt;bandgt;Frank McCourtandlt;/bandgt; (1930-2009) was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Irish immigrant parents, grew up in Limerick, Ireland, and returned to America in 1949. For thirty years he taught in New York City high schools. His first book, andlt;iandgt;Angela's Ashesandlt;/iandgt;, won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the andlt;iandgt;L.A. Timesandlt;/iandgt; Book Award. In 2006, he won the prestigious Ellis Island Family Heritage Award for Exemplary Service in the Field of the Arts and the United Federation of Teachers John Dewey Award for Excellence in Education.
Reading Group Guide
Reading Group Discussion Points
- Countless memoirs have been published recently, yet Angela's Ashes stands out. What makes this memoir so unique and compelling?
- Discuss the originality and immediacy of Frank McCourt's voice and the style he employs -- i.e., his sparing use of commas, the absence of quotation marks. How, through a child's voice and perspective, does McCourt establish and maintain credibility?
- Ever present in Angela's Ashes is the Catholic Church. In what ways does the Catholic Church of McCourt's Ireland hurt its members and limit their experience? How does the Church protect and nurture its followers? What is Frank's attitude toward the Church?
- McCourt writes: "I think my father is like the Holy Trinity with three people in him, the one in the morning with the paper, the one at night with the stories and prayers, and then the one who does the bad thing and comes home with the smell of whiskey and wants us to die for Ireland." Was this your impression of Frank McCourt's father? How can Frank write about his father without bitterness? What part did Malachy play in creating the person that Frank eventually became?
- Women -- in particular mothers -- play a significant role in Angela's Ashes. Recall the scenes between Angela and her children; the MacNamara sisters (Delia and Philomena) and Malachy; Aunt Aggie and young Frank; Angela and her own mother. In what ways do these interactions reflect the roles of women within their families? Discuss the ways in which Angela struggles to keep her family together in the most desperate of circumstances.
- McCourt titles his memoir Angela's Ashes, after his mother. What significance does the phrase "Angela's Ashes" acquire by the end of the book?
- Despite the McCourts' horrid poverty, mind-numbing starvation, and devastating losses, Angela's Ashes is not a tragic memoir. In fact, it is uplifting, triumphant even. How does McCourt accomplish this?
- Irish songs and lyrics are prominently featured in Angela's Ashes. How do these lyrics contribute to the unique voice of this memoir? How does music affect Frank's experiences? How do you think it continues to influence his memories of his childhood?
- Frank spent the first four years of his life in the United States. How do his experiences in America affect Frank's years in Ireland?
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Dubliners, James Joyce
The Liars' Club, Mary Karr
Ironweed, William Kennedy
Up in the Old Hotel and Other Stories, Joseph Mitchell
Mother of Pearl, Mary Morrissey
A Fanatic Heart: Selected Stories of Edna O'Brien, Edna O'Brien
Later the Same Day, Grace Paley
Family Sins, William Trevor
Carry On Jeeves, P. G. Wodehouse
Look Homeward, Angel, Thomas Wolfe
This Boy's Life, Tobias Wolff