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Tis: A Memoir

Tis: A Memoir

List Price: $14.00
Your Price: $10.50
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A work and a life in progress
Review: ......but what a hard act to follow after the whole world took Angela's Ashes to it's heart. What a book! I resisted reading it for so long as I felt it was in danger of becoming over hyped. In the end it won me over of course, so I wasted no time in reading 'Tis when it arrived. Frank is now in the process of becoming a man, so the perspective is a little different. There's not the same amount of good natured forgiveness towards his parents anymore, rather Frank has to work through some of his feelings, especially when he returns to Ireland, and when his mother arrives in New York. Although there's not as much humour as in the first book his eye for character is as spot on as ever. I particularly loved the tenderness of Frank's description of his workmate Winston, and his feelings for his wife Mike. Imagine being able to evoke those feelings again, I don't know how the man conjures up the memories. I'm looking forward to the next book, and I hope that other readers will remember that it's someones life we're dealing with here and not some work of fiction. (Or, to borrow from Frank, it's not Charles Dickens where the main character turns out to be the long lost son of the Duke of Somerset, and all live happily ever after)! My feeling about 'Tis is that it was Frank's long dark hour of the soul, and having exorcised a few of his ghosts he may write a book that offers a little more hope next time. Bring on the next instalment I say, this man has things to say about life and those who live it that are quite unique. I can't help but want a happy ending, Frank McCourt deserves nothing less from life.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: ...too rushed
Review: McCourt rushed the ending of this book. I truly enjoyed reading the first 250 pages, but I feel like the last several chapters were not written with the same painstaking attention that I expect from him. The day to day details of his life are not that interesting, rather it is his art for storytelling that keeps me turning the pages. Finishing this book was more of a chore than a pleasure.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: 'Tis a gift.
Review: Reading 'Tis was a much different experience for me than reading Angela's Ashes. I couldn't put down Angela's Ashes for fear that something dreadful would happen to the children while I wasn't reading! In 'Tis, McCourt continues writing in the same lyrical style as in Ashes, his storyteller's voice adapting to the changes of McCourt's life. The glimpses McCourt gives the reader of American life and life in the classroom are truly illuminating. I learned as much about my own heritage and the legacy of alcholism and Irish melodrama as I learned about McCourt. Thank you for the gift, Frank.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Save your money & get this one from the library.
Review: The magic of Angela's Ashes was sullied with this ordinary tale of a lost man who drinks too much, stumbles into careers & women. In Angela's Ashes we feel the pain & anger of Frankie, his mother &siblings. Now their stories wander back to the USA & are NO different than any immigrants with or without the big chips on their shoulders.

Mr. McCourt do us a favor & tell us no more of your family. Write fiction from now on.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: We know what it 'tisn't
Review: It's clear what 'Tis isn't - it isn't Angela's Ashes, the Pulitzer Prize winning tale of McCourt growing up in the slums of Limerick. Although this books begins where the last left off with the author arriving in New York, the adult McCourt appears to have very little more to tell and waste the reader's time with tales of his drinking and sexual exploits (or lack thereof) amid endless whining about his career choices.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: I loved "Angela's Ashes" but "Tis" is incredibly boring and self-satisfied. McCourt just waffles on and on and repeats himself endlessly (including large chunks of his first book). I have tried to finish this book but I can't be bothered. I put it down for over a month without missing it - something you can't say about "AA". Please save your money - if you have to read it get it from the library or wait until it's in paperback. Alternatively you can have my copy for a buck!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An Inspiring Story
Review: Frank McCourt's wry, direct style kept us emotionally involved throughout Angela's Ashes, but it inspires the reader in 'Tis. McCourt's sequel comes full circle to Angela's Ashes (literally)in a more realistic, yet idealistic manner. Any author who can balance these two constructs while simultaneously telling a wonderful story (but without becoming too didactic)deserves praise. The book may be a sequel but is truly in a class of its own.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: still a great read
Review: when Frank McCourt came out with Tis,I didn't think that the book could possibly live up to Angela's Ashes. But, I was surprised that this man had still more of those humorus\sad stories that everyone loved in the prequel. It is a little drier than Angela's Ashes but his storytelling ability definitely did not fail his readers in Tis. I continue to be marveled at how many experiences this man has. wow!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Major diasappointment
Review: I loved Angela's Ashes and couldn't wait to read the sequel. What a disappointment! I had to force myself to finish this book. His life in America wasn't very satisfying or fulfilling in any way. He seemed to get nothing out of teaching and his marriage failed due to his own lack of effort. He never reached self understanding which you tend to expect from an author writing a two part memoir. I was amazed that he described without embarrassment the shabby way his family dealt with his mother's funeral. My advice, Reread Angela's Ashes. You will have great sympathy for the child but less and less for the man.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Can Frank Mc Court's 'Tis Match up to Angela's Ashes?
Review: This book was good, but not as good as Angela's Ashes, and not as good as I expected it to be. The book started out just as Angela's Ashes left off, with him starting out in New York City. Then he joins the military and trains dogs in Germany. In the book he experiments with several women and lives his life as a ordinary bachelor, until he meets Alberta. At that point he had already talked his way into NYU. The book gets into the detail about teachers and gets somewhat boring. I still reccomend this book despite it's repetiveness, and droning of hangovers and debt.


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