Angela's Ashes (AUDIO CASSETTE)

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Summary: One of the saddest, yet funniest, books I've read.
Review: Anybody who grew up poor and in a big city can relate to Frank McCourt, although his poverty is ten times what most of us encountered. His Irish wit tempers a story that would be unbearable to read without it. Yet he doesn't see himself as a "victim" but as a survivor. The pitiful alcoholic father is too far gone to even care what happens to his family. Somehow McCourt lives through all this to tell his stories. Once I started it, the only time I put the book down was during the children's deaths. I had to take a breather from that, but started reading again the next day. I think it's one of the best books I've ever read, it will stay in my mind forever. It's made an indelible impression on me.

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Summary: Like sitting in a pub with McCourt spinning yarns.
Review: Angela's Ashes is glorious. It's like sitting in a smokey Irish pub, a pint in hand (and two or three washed down already) listening to Frank McCourt telling stories. You can hear the rythm of the Irish dialect singing in the lines of prose.

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Summary: Memorable!
Review: I found this book to be one of the most touching I have ever read. It was positively wrenching. It left me hungry to know what happened to the family, and so I found myself reading Malachy McCourt's A MONK SWIMMING (very different), the excerpt from Frank's new book in a February 1999 NEW YORKER, the bio of Frank in the February 1998 CURRENT BIOGRAPHY, and a picture book entitled THROUGH IRISH EYES. None can compare to the power and poignancy of ANGELA'S ASHES.

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Summary: a must read
Review: What more can I say this book is an excellent piece of literature,a story of real life seen through the eyes of a child, his innocence, his defenclessness, his life,this is the best book I have read in many a year,it makes me reflect upon my own life and appreciate it for what it is.Thank You Frank for sharing you life story with us.

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Summary: Ten Stars for Brilliant Writing
Review: Frank McCourt's talented way with words and sheer story telling talent are what make this book stand out. Many people have an interesting story, but it is the way one can tell it that makes the difference between the good old friend who tells stories of his youth, and the masterful, Pulitzer prize winning author. McCourt tells of tragedy and misery. Shocking tales. Yet he never sounds the least bit resentful, never casts blame. He faces life with hope, love and humor. The style is ingenius.

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Summary: Great Book
Review: Angela's Ashes is one of the best books I have ever read. Whoever gave the book one star is obvioulsly a bitter and angry person and probably their idea of a good book is anything mass produced by Stephen King or anyother overated author. Or maybe they are just illerate.

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Summary: Very Addictive.....but I was confused with the Title
Review: Definitely one of the best books I ever read. I think McCourt fully deserves the Pulitzer which he got for this book. The way he framed the story was excellent. I personally found it boaring while i was reading the first chapter and I thought I wasted my money and they wasted their Pulitzer prize, but after that It became more and more addictive. I think he could have come up with a more meaningful title, but since it's a real story and he is the best person to judge, its justified.

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Summary: Only 5 stars? Not enough for this brave and beautiful story!
Review: I have been known to devour a large book in a day, but as I started to do that with "Angela's Ashes" I stopped myself and started over. I wanted to savor every word, every laugh, every tear. The story was so unusual, and the style so refreshingly real, that like good chocolate, I wanted to make it last. I feel like I have been to the streets of Limerick, slept in a bug- infested bed, and fish and chips and "tay" will never again be taken for granted by me. Thank you Mr. McCourt for being brave enough to share your life with us. I have grown from your experiences.

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Summary: A story so tragic it's funny.
Review: I finished Angela's Ashes yesterday but I didn't want to be done with it. I miss it already. Rarely do I find a story that stretches the lunch break ("Just one more page--then I'll go back.") and keeps me up late. This fascinating recounting of a childhood that I can't even imagine is one I will lend out generously--after I put my name in it so I'm sure to get it back!

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Summary: Depressing, disgusting, but not because of McCourt
Review: I had to read this for my book club and it turns out I'm glad they were all checked out at the library and all I could get was the audio tape. That way, I listened to McCourt drone and whine while I sat in traffic and I didn't have to waste valuable time reading it. I'm not Irish, but I was raised Catholic and he used jokes and bromides most of us had heard by the time we were ten. As a society, we deplore poverty, alcoholism, wife and child abuse, yet what voyeurs we become when some opportunist writes about any of the above! McCourt should be applauded for so adeptly using the American reading market to make money off his misery, but as a writer, he offers no more wisdom, insight or inspiration than Joan Crawford, Roseanne Barr or any other come-out-of-the-closet-dysfunctional-family-member who ever wrote a book.