Classification: memoir, non-fiction
Brother #1 came to visit last night. We were talking about books (he’d brought me yesterday’s New York Times Book Review) when he stopped and said, “Oh! I didn’t even know that Frank McCourt was dead. Did you know that?”
“What?” I said. “No, he’s not.”
“Yes, he is! It’s true.” My brother whipped out his iPhone and pulled up McCourt’s wiki page. “Look, right there.”
I pretended to disbelieve the information for another minute. How on earth did I miss that news? Then again, McCourt died in July of 2009, when I was still nursing my second baby. There isn’t a whole lot I remember from that time period.
After Angela’s Ashes (McCourt’s memoir) was published in 1996, even after all the hype and praise, even after the awards, I resisted reading the book for a long time. The main reason? When I picked it up at the store and flipped through it, I noticed that McCourt didn’t use quotation marks around the dialogue in the book.
Well, that’s ridiculous and confusing, I thought, and I set the book down and wandered away.
Eventually, sometime in the early 2000’s, I caved in and bought the book. Once I started reading it I couldn’t stop (and those missing quotation marks were no trouble at all.) When I finished the last page, I looked up and said to myself:
Stunning, stunning, stunning.
That is the most stunning book I’ve ever read.
That’s what I subsequently told anyone who would listen, and it may still be true, all these years later. If you haven’t read Angela’s Ashes, oh, you should.
Frank McCourt grew up in Ireland in the 1930’s, and his childhood defines the term “abject poverty.” His Father was a drunk who periodically abandoned the family; McCourt’s mother, Angela, was left to provide food and shelter for her four surviving children (three others died in infancy.) McCourt lived in places where the floors were covered in water throughout the cold winters, places where there was one outdoor toilet that was shared by the entire neighborhood and was never cleaned by anyone. He ate whatever food his mother could beg for – sometimes there was no food, and the children went hungry. He attended school wearing shoes that were patched together with rubber from bicycle tires, and was taught by Catholic masters who beat their small pupils whenever they felt like it.
The distinctive magic of McCourt’s writing is that it doesn’t contain a trace of self-pity, even when he’s describing the most awful events. His story should be too heartbreaking to read, but it isn’t, because McCourt infuses it with just enough gentle humor and hope.
Angela’s Ashes was so extraordinary, it earned McCourt a Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and spent more than two years on international bestseller lists. McCourt went on to write two more bestselling memoirs, ‘Tis and Teacher Man.
Weeks ago, my brother sent me a quote from the TV show Mad Men, and before he even explained the context, I adored the words. “She was born in a barn and she died on the 37th floor of a skyscraper. She’s an astronaut.”
Frank McCourt grew up chasing rats from his crumbling home, battling typhoid and chronic conjunctivitis, and literally licking food grease off of newspaper pages when he got too hungry. He died as one of the most famous, feted, successful writers in the world.
Frank McCourt was an astronaut.
Cathy LaGrow 
A funny thing not really related to the book…..
There’s a 2nd Frank McCourt that is one of the most unpopular guys in LA these days — he owns the Dodgers and most fans think he’s destroying the franchise……
The reason this is funny? I had no clue until I saw the “I didn’t know Frank McCourt died” comment that it was a different Frank McCourt….. Dohhh! (If I still lived in LA, I suppose I would’ve heard enough news to know that the owner was a real estate guy not an author….)
Valerie told me a few years ago what a good book Angela’s Ashes was, so I’m not surprised to find that you like it. I hadn’t read it myself — I’m kind of like your hubby… I don’t do much reading myself, do it mostly vicariously through my wife.
I would’ve pegged you as a reader!!
I will admit…when I googled him and saw a site pop up about the Dodgers, I thought “oh, Frank McCourt (writer) bought a ball team before he died?” Funny!
When I have time, I’ll read. If I start, I have a hard time putting it down… and I can’t afford to do that often, so I tend to avoid starting books unless I really want to read it. I also tend to read “thinking” books like Mere Christianity or Pursuit of God (Tozer) rather than novels.
What I don’t have is the insatiable desire that makes me want to read like you do. I’m ok with getting tidbits here and there, and revisiting sections of favorites when I need a fix. I guess I am sort of a reader, just not an “incessant” one…
OMG I totes got a little teary, you should have written his obit. I love you used the mad men quote and I agree the best thing about the writting was the lack of self pity, it would have been unreadable if he’d been on a pity trip.
I can’t remember if you or I read this one first…?
Have you noticed you pop up often in my posts? Hmmm…it’s all that book lovin’…
This looks really interesting. I love novels. Reminds me of one I just read recently called “Brooklyn” by Colm Tolbin. It was a coming of age story about a girl who emigrates from Ireland to Brooklyn. Okay so the only connection was Ireland but you see the point. It was one of those that built slowly to a powerful yet subtle ending. It didn’t change my life but it was good.
I’ll have to check out your recommendation here. I’m always scouring for new novels.
Thanks for reading, Tony! I looked at your blog, too. 🙂
Angela’s Ashes is actually McCourt’s memoir, so it’s non-fiction…but it is just as riveting as a novel.
I have also reviewed several novels already, on this blog. They are tagged as “fiction”…I only review ones that I absolutely loved, so they’re all good!
I try to write one book post a week, so stay tuned. So nice to “meet” you.
okay, i am so stunned and yet, not by the book! i am stunned that i, robin lagrow, have that book and actually read it as well!! it’s not often that i have read something that my smart friend, cathy, has read. i am usually into no-brainer fiction books that are a bathroom read and i have committed nothing of myself throughout the short process. but yes, this book tore at me and i took a little more time on it than on other books. i let myself go just a bit and imagined life that way…wow.
I am so glad you’ve read it, Robin! This is another one of those books I wish I had time to go back and read…