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What are readers saying about Tis A Memoir?
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-31 01:24:51.
(Language: English)
 
love reading about people who have actually experienced life, like his style of writing but still didn't love quite as much as angela's ashes.
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Emma posted a review at 2010-09-14 05:23:21.
(Language: English)
Had high hopes for this after Angelas Ashes. First half was good but second half lost my interest.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-23 06:39:19.
(Language: English)
I picked up this one from the stack of books at the beach house & then had to borrow it from the library since I was 3/4 finished when we left the beach. Intersting read. Frank came such a long way in life - amazing! Next I will read his brother's book - A Monk Swimming. I was told it's funnier.
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Louise posted a review at 2011-01-23 08:49:48.
(Language: English)
This was Frank McCourt's second novel after "Angela's Ashes" which was fantastic. However, "Tis" fell short of the mark and was a terrible story that was terribly written.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-10-08 07:35:29.
(Language: English)
First, I don’t know if I have encountered many people who are as seemingly unhappy with everything that happens in their life as Frankie! Geeze, I understand that times were rough in the era he grew up, but have a bit of a bright side to life, ’eh? To me, much of the book read like this:Frank wants to do this... Frank tries to do this... Frank begins to do this, and it’s hard, so he complains and wishes it was easier... Frank KNOWS it’s easier for the people with the white teeth and tan legs... Frank thinks he shoulda just swept the floors and empties ashtrays... Frank somehow makes it through.... The book started really weird, with a pervert priest and the rich Protestants on the boat, which just was a bit freaky.... I liked the bit about him being in the army....it really did seem like he was happy for a little bit at least...especially when he was training the dogs. and yes, the part about his friend carrying the meat and putting it in a sink, as well as allowing it to be in the street and the cops coming was somewhat amusing. I didn’t care of the run on sentences, it really did feel like i was reading out of breath...i’m not sure if that makes sense. Anywhoo, I haven’t read too many memoirs, (Bill Clinton’s, Barack Obama’s, and Clarence Thomas’), but it would be the least favorite of them for me. I would give it 2/5 stars and would recommend it to people who think they have had a hard life.
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Nan posted a review at 2012-02-26 12:48:37.
(Language: English)
Is there any better than Frank McCourt? Few are his equal. I love his books.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-05-18 07:32:45.
(Language: English)
I loved the first 80% of this book. It was a continuation of Angela's Ashes. I got a little lost toward the end. I wanted to know more about the relationship between Frank and Alberta and between Frank and his daughter Maggie. For a while I was unsure if Frank and Alberta were still married since he never mentions her. There are several characters who are introduced late in the book and I could never figure out who they all were. But I did enjoy reading it.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-14 12:16:52.
(Language: English)
Frank McCourt's second volume of autobiography starts exactly where the first finished, with Frank about to reach New York. In New York he holds a series of menial jobs, before being drafted into the army then becoming a high school teacher. Along the way he experiences life in a way that anyone who has ever been a shy, self-conscious person will recognise. He butts his head against more petty rules and comes away beaten and bewildered. He falls in love and discovers his vocation. Written in the same casual, episodic manner of Angea's Ashes, this is just as good.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-25 09:18:58.
(Language: English)
This is a heart moving true story of heart break, strength and the will to survive. A family desperate to hold onto each other. I love the book, Frank McCourt is a absolute dream writer! Everything else dulls when you have read him...or listened to his audio books. The Best Book ever written, honest, painful, tears poured, laughed...what else can you ask for!
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-11-22 05:50:52.
(Language: English)
If your'e feeling left out or low on cash around the holidays then this book will knock things into perspective for you right quick. Read it whenever I'm feeling sorry for myself.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-10-18 03:57:44.
(Language: English)
After Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, one of the bleakest books I’ve ever read, I wasn’t sure what to expect from ’Tis. Frank McCourt was born in New York City , but moved back to Ireland with his family as a small child. The fact that young Frank, at the age of 19, was able to escape extreme poverty in Ireland and move to New York City is an accomplishment by itself. Within several days of arriving, he receives the first of many warnings about the evils of drink and is urged to become acquainted with the New York Public Library – by a bartender. After a period of time working as a janitor at the Biltmore Hotel, the Korean War begins, and within weeks McCourt receives his Army draft notice. After basic training in New Jersey , McCourt is sent to a dog training unit in Germany and avoids combat. Within several weeks, he is selected for Company Clerk training. After his military obligation ends, McCourt returns to New York City and labor in the warehouses on the New York City waterfront. McCourt’s descriptions of Army life are hilarious, but throughout the first half of the book there are several somber themes that surface again and again. McCourt is extremely naïve about women, wants to break free of the stifling variety of Catholicism that he grew up with in Ireland , and early on after arriving in New York realizes that education is his only way out of a life of manual labor. McCourt also learns very quickly that in the United States , extreme racial divisions have replaced the class divisions of Ireland . This reviewer thought it remarkable that from the time of his arrival in New York City onward, McCourt repeatedly encounters individuals (sometimes rank strangers) who recommend works of literature and encourage his initial ambivalence about pursuing education. I guess you could call them literary angels. McCourt eventually overcomes his ambivalence about education and starts a college degree at New York University – without a high school diploma. After graduation, McCourt lands his first teaching position at a Vocational High School on Staten Island . Over the next decade or so there’s an interesting contrast in the book between Frank, pursuing a career in education, and Malachy McCourt, the younger brother who purchased a bar, is still deeply immersed in Irish culture, and has a drinking problem. McCourt earns a Masters degree from Brooklyn College and better jobs follow, but throughout the book he effectively describes the pull of Irish immigrant culture – where he doesn’t really fit anymore – versus his ambition to live a “normal” middle-class American life. McCourt has a great idea for detail, society, and the randomness of life, and describes a journey out of poverty that is hard for most readers to imagine.
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Pete posted a review at 2009-08-14 05:39:06.
(Language: English)
Not as good as the first. Lots of random ramblings and sad to see the author be just as a jerk as his father.Good story but nowhere near as good as the first. I appreciate the authors honesty when writing himself but he was a real selfish jerk as he grew up, made me feel very sorry for his wife. I hear he died recently, may he rest in peace.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-15 06:48:30.
(Language: English)
When I set about majoring in literature, my excuse for not writing the Great American Novel was that I had not lived enough to have anything interesting to write about. This man lived. Positively amazing. We're lucky he paused now and then to take notes. Brief thumbs-down to the need to mention carnal relations on every page - but there was plenty of more interesting material there.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-11-07 09:25:28.
(Language: English)
Liked Angela's Ashes better, but still a good book.
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Jane posted a review at 2010-07-07 12:19:23.
(Language: English)
I love his natural way of writing - like as if he's talking to you - makes it very real. Hard times though. Sometimes a bit depressing
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-07 05:03:11.
(Language: English)
Although it was a good read, I didn't find it as fascinating as Angela's Ashes. This was darker and more depressing.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-18 02:12:14.
(Language: English)
this book was pretty good. i especially liked the first 2/3 before he gets married. then he's teaching and working and it's kinda boring after that. the beginning where he's a newcomer to america, and where he works at all the different jobs was very interesting. touching and funny throughout, i found it a good follow up to Angela's Ashes. this book read so fast and was strangely funny! i couldnt stop laughing in a few parts. i was surprised by the humor and wit in a book i thought would be more grim.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-01-20 12:03:11.
(Language: English)
Tis is the continueing story of Frank McCourt's life. It starts in 1949 when he is on a ship coming to America. The end of the story takes place in 1985 when he and his brother's have returned to Limerick with their mother's ashes.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-29 08:33:06.
(Language: English)
I love the detail Mr. McCourt wrote in this book and I commend his accomplishment at overcoming his hard beginnings. Plus, I would have loved to have been in his Creative Writing class. However, I felt that after his marriage, his life was getting covered quite quicky almost as if he was in a time crunch to finish. Also, the ending is definitely not what I expected as I had hoped it would be something more about himself.
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Susan posted a review at 2007-08-31 02:43:23.
(Language: English)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: Coming to America, February 24, 2007 I had "Tis" on my shelf for several years before I could get myself to read it. Angela's Ashes, the story of author Frank McCourt's early life, was a harrowing, powerful book that kept me going, hoping for something good to happen. Nothing good did happen except that the author survived to adulthood. Tis is a completely different kind of story, and I would recommend that it can be read separately from Angela's Ashes. It's a very personal tale of an Irishman coming to America and trying to make his way. Our parents and grandparents might have had similar experiences (boarding houses, low end jobs, sending money home), but they would never tell you about how it felt in the same immediate and unflinching way as McCourt does. There's pain mixed with humor, because this is a survivor's story. McCourt's Irishness is a double-edged sword. It opens doors for him from the first page as an American priest befriends him on the boat and lines him up for a job on arrival. But as he tries to assimilate, people only hear his accent and not what he has to say. The title, "'tis" is how he responds over and over again to people who ask "Is that a brogue I hear?". I believe McCourt chose that as the title to exemplify how he had to go along to get along in his new country. The writing is fantastic, a herky-jerky style that reflects a young man's bursts of energy and sudden halts. Like Angela's Ashes, the story sort of trails off at the end, but that's a minor quibble for such a well-written book. I am more motivated to read the sequel, "Teacher Man" than I was to read this one! As our country struggles to absorb a new flood of immigrants, this tale is worth reading to gain insight into what it's like to try to make a new life in a foreign place.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-11-02 09:29:52.
(Language: English)
Angela's Ashes was the most powerful books ever. This book was disappointing. Mr. McCourt, a powerful writer seemed to have lost his groove. Not cohesive . . .
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-30 08:45:04.
(Language: English)
Not as lovely and memorable as some of McCourt's others, but well worth the read.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-15 06:01:14.
(Language: French)
Suite des "Cendres d'Angela", moins bon que le premier mais quand même émouvant. Une histoire irlandaise qui se continue à New-york
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-11-29 05:41:52.
(Language: English)
Not as good as Angela's Ashes but a decen read anyway
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