“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 … 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. 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.
more
Frank McCourt is great storyteller. Funny, sad, gruesome in parts . Kept my interest from beginning to end. Fell in love with him. I’ve read all his books.
Proof that life was meant to be full of hardships, but still filled with humour and hope.
Good but but too depressing
Incredible story that leaves you wondering how any of the family survived.
A must read for everyone who enjoys finding out what life is like for others in the world.
A very good book!
Well written biography.
I loved this story and the reality it brought forth in the telling of a life.
A sad story yet I loved every minute of it. I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys history and gifted writers.
I loved his very sad but true journey. Will make you a very thankful person. Many twist in his journey to survive.
A masterpiece. A book I’ve recommended to many.
One of the best memoirs I have ever read.
This falls into the category I think of as “misery porn.” The characters go through a lot of tough stuff.
Probably one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read.
Written by a talented storyteller who conveys the pathos of the times but the courage & resiliency of individuals.
If you haven’t read this, you really should.
I didn’t get the inspiration that this book was supposed to offer. Maybe I need to reread it, but Angela was not a sympathetic or admirable character.
Historically significant.
Tremendous writing.
One of my all-time favorite books! Read it and listened to it on tape. You must listen to the book on tape read by the author. Beautiful!