Rating: 
Summary: Ashes to Ashes
Review: This book is outstanding. As I read other customer reviews, I see criticisms of McCourt's account of his life in Limerick--that it lacks sensitivity or other writers/contemporaries have said life in Limerick wasn't as gloomy as McCourt paints. This book is this one man's story. It begins in the limited perspective of a child and broadens to that of a nineteen-year-old young man. Rarely have I read a book where I find my self laughing hysterically at one passage and then crying as I read the next. McCourt is a master with words. As devastating the reality of his childhood was, this story was hopeful. McCourt had his sights and mind set on more than the limited options he had as a poor child in Limerick. This is a story of a young man setting and accomplishing goals even through adversity. The story-telling narrative is engaging. If you are criticizing his telling of his story, perhaps you should steer clear of memoirs. Otherwise, I would highly recommend this book and his next book Tis.
Rating:
Summary: The best memoir to date.
Review: Mccourt has written what I think is the most ambitious true-story in our lives today! Wow, what a book this is, I recommend that everyone should at least read it and decide for themselves, everyone at Amazon should read it as well. Great reading is what this book is!
Rating:
Summary: My favourite book this year
Review: I totally disagree with the negative reviews of Angela's ashes, that say it is insensitive. It is the way it's written in Frankie's chidish perspective, that makes it so good.Once you pick it up you will find it extreamly hard to put down, each page gives the next shocking step of the story. Although it shocks you, it also makes you smile and laugh. It's not a sorrowful, depressing book as you might think and I would recommend it to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: angela's ashes
Review: My sister suggeted I read this book. We were raised by an Irish Catholic mother so my sister thought I would enjoy it as much as she. I would call my sister throughout my reading to share some laughs and some of the saddness. It is compelling reading even though his style can be difficult to get through at times. I wonder about the title. I have some ideas about the meaning, but I would love to hear the ideas of some other people. What do you think?
Rating: 
Summary: I might be the only person in America who feels this way,
Review: but I didn't like Angela's Ashes. I thought it was insincere. If I were from Limerick, Ireland, I'd be offended. I find it hard to believe that almost everyone in Limerick is as cruel as Mr. McCourt portrays them. Mr. McCourt's book is bitter and raw, but to what purpose? I have no desire to read 'Tis, but I'm hoping that many chapters are devoted to Mr. McCourt's therapy sessions.I would recommend Rick Bragg's All Over but the Shoutin'. Bragg deals with the same theme, growing up impoverished and overcoming a difficult childhood, but he writes with a lot more sensitivity. Of course, Rick Bragg had a wonderful mother. And, I bet that makes all the difference.
Rating:
Summary: A Wake Up Call
Review: Just finished "Angela's Ashes" a few minutes ago. Couldn"t wait to pass on my opinion of it. This was my first biography and certainly won"t be my last. Frank McCourt tells his story in such a way it kept me wanting more. Also, my 12 year old daughter would listen intently as I read excerpts to her or retold parts that weren't too explicit for her. We were both in awe of the brevity of the poverty the McCourt family endured. I don't think either of us will look at the unfortunate people of this world or our own hunger the same, ever again. I am getting ready to start the second book "Tis: A Memoir."
Rating:
Summary: "is the grass greener on the other side.."
Review: If we all could look at a cold and unforgiving world thru the eyes of young Frank McCourt and see a silver lining on the most grim events of our own times wouldn't the world become a better place for us all? Not only was I awstruck by the poverty laid out before me but at the same time warmed by the way a child can cultivate his interpretations of dire circumstances with the innocence of youth and a never-ending thirst for tomorrow. I raise a glass to the author for reminding me of the blessings of youth and for reminding me how lucky I am. If this book touches another as I have been than you are truly a product of the childhood you so couragously shared with us!
Rating:
Summary: Och Och Aye Ye Feckin book is good.
Review: Och Och Aye! Get off yer arse and read this book 'tis better than a pint 'o Guiness Then get blind stinkin' drunk and curse the 800 years of the English rule! Now is the time to die for Ireland!
Rating: 
Summary: Well Written Sadness
Review: And I don't know if that is a recommendation, or not. Yes, I know Mr. McCourt is a Pulitzer Prize winner; yes, I know this book has been made into a movie. But I kept finding myself wondering if I could go on to yet one more chapter or sadness, poverty, devestation, etc. Well written? Of course. Compelling? Not for me. There was a reason I put off reading this, even though I owned my copy for over a year. I was right. This is part of the reason I don't read any of Oprah's picks. This kind of reading is not for me, but I know why many others might enjoy it, in the meer fact that it is superbly written.
Rating: 
Summary: A Memoir, Not a Fictional Novel
Review: I had to keep in mind that this was a memoir, and not a work of fiction, otherwise, I would have hated this book. Wasn't anyone else bothered by the mother? She is content to just sit there and exist. Her children are starving and dying and she doesn't even think about getting a job. No, she'd rather go begging for scraps of meat and rags for clothing. Why take care of your teeth? You can just go and get a set of falsies! The book was well-written and intriguing. My only complaint is that I did not see the mother as an angel, or as anything admirable at all.
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