false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175968439m/578513.jpg 252577 76 "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood," writes Frank McCourt in <i>Angela's Ashes</i>. "Worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Welcome, then, to the pinnacle of the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. Born in Brooklyn in 1930 to recent Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank grew up in Limerick after his parents returned to Ireland because of poor prospects in America. It turns out that prospects weren't so great back in the old country either--not with Malachy for a father. A chronically unemployed and nearly unemployable alcoholic, he appears to be the model on which many of our more insulting cliches about drunken Irish manhood are based. Mix in abject poverty and frequent death and illness and you have all the makings of a truly difficult early life. Fortunately, in McCourt's able hands it also has all the makings for a compelling memoir. 2883783 book 1996 Angela's Ashes total:37580|5:869|4:1049|3:612|2:159|1:58| 37580 148484 45118 2992 252577 0007205236 9780007205233 29612 2253 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173155771m/252577.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252577.Angela_s_Ashes 4 15 false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 27 11:58:53 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 13 16:54:48 -0700 2007 more...]]> 252577 0007205236 9780007205233 29612 2253 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173155771m/252577.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252577.Angela_s_Ashes 1 14 false Sun Jul 15 12:38:01 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 15 12:40:49 -0700 2007 more...]]> 252577 0007205236 9780007205233 29612 2253 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173155771m/252577.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252577.Angela_s_Ashes 5 10 false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue May 29 22:02:28 -0700 2007 Tue May 29 22:52:06 -0700 2007
The memoir bor...more...]]> 252577 0007205236 9780007205233 29612 2253 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173155771m/252577.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252577.Angela_s_Ashes 4 12 false Sun Mar 16 21:35:20 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 16 21:38:11 -0700 2008 “If you had the luck of the Irish
You’d be sorry and wish you was dead
If you had the luck of the Irish
Then you’d wish you was English instead”

How can ONE book be so WONDERFUL and so HORRIBLE at the same time? I have no idea. But this book is both. Big time. ...more...]]> 347884 068487217X 9780684872179 2028 169 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173940008m/347884.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/347884.Angela_s_Ashes_A_Memoir 1 5 false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 1997 Wed Aug 22 13:34:46 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 22 14:56:46 -0700 2007
I don't think it's stood the test of time and the more I think of it... my grandmother is right. It's a one-sided, depressing view of life in ...more...]]> 77344 0684874350 9780684874357 2407 239 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170900093m/77344.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77344.Angela_s_Ashes 1 6 false Mon Jul 16 21:28:46 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 19 23:37:39 -0700 2007 Angela's Ashes garnered so much attention, much less seemingly endless lofty praise. Not only is it the most contrived, sappiest, self-pitying, typical Tale of A Poor Immigrant, ever, but as one of Irish-Catholic ancestry myself, I found it to be so incredibly, ...more...]]> 376609 068484267X 9780684842677 1290 113 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174287862m/376609.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/376609.Angela_s_Ashes 4 5 false Mon Apr 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 15 17:38:30 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 13 17:11:20 -0700 2009
To say this book is depressing is one of the grossest understatements I've made in the past year. The book is narrated by the very young Frank McCourt and follows a child's stream of consciousness to des...more...]]> 252577 0007205236 9780007205233 29612 2253 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173155771m/252577.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252577.Angela_s_Ashes 3 3 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Oct 19 10:50:59 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 19 10:56:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 347884 068487217X 9780684872179 2028 169 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173940008m/347884.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/347884.Angela_s_Ashes_A_Memoir 1 4 false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Feb 06 15:23:56 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 06 15:25:52 -0800 2008 more...]]> 252577 0007205236 9780007205233 29612 2253 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173155771m/252577.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252577.Angela_s_Ashes 1 2 false Sun Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Wed Jul 09 11:27:14 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 16 11:13:14 -0700 2008
Not only is McCourt a poor writer, but the exaggerated (and villifying) depiction of his father is grotesque. Yes, the man was an alcoholic but look at the circumstances which drove him to drinking in excess. He initially has his family'...more...]]> 77344 0684874350 9780684874357 2407 239 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170900093m/77344.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77344.Angela_s_Ashes 1 2 false Mon Feb 25 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 06 21:43:38 -0800 2008 Tue Apr 22 10:05:26 -0700 2008 Angela's Ashes, is mostly based around such an obvious cycle that its mind-numbing: "Times were tough and we were on the dole. Me father drank and came home late at night waking us up and making us swear we'd ...more...]]> 252577 0007205236 9780007205233 29612 2253 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173155771m/252577.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252577.Angela_s_Ashes 5 2 false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 05 08:04:23 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 11 15:20:07 -0800 2007 more...]]> 77344 0684874350 9780684874357 2407 239 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170900093m/77344.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77344.Angela_s_Ashes 4 4 false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 09 15:17:34 -0800 2007 Thu Jun 05 14:40:14 -0700 2008 Although the account of Frank's bad eyes was almost physically painful to read, the rest of the story didn't seem too odd or sad or overdone to me. My dad's family were immigrants; his father died young of cirrhosis o...more...]]> 252577 0007205236 9780007205233 29612 2253 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173155771m/252577.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252577.Angela_s_Ashes 5 3 false Wed Oct 17 18:19:06 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 09 09:30:54 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 09 09:46:39 -0700 2007 more...]]> 252577 0007205236 9780007205233 29612 2253 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173155771m/252577.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252577.Angela_s_Ashes 5 3 false Wed Apr 30 13:44:39 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 30 14:22:00 -0700 2008 more...]]> 77344 0684874350 9780684874357 2407 239 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170900093m/77344.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77344.Angela_s_Ashes 5 2 false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1997 Sat Jan 31 22:15:10 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 09:41:58 -0800 2009 once more...]]> 252577 0007205236 9780007205233 29612 2253 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173155771m/252577.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252577.Angela_s_Ashes 5 2 false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 15 10:30:41 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 11:07:56 -0800 2009 Frank McCourt begins his story with ...more...]]> 861522 0007117213 9780007117215 43 5 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178982495m/861522.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/861522.Angela_s_Ashes_A_Memoir_of_a_Childhood 4 3 false Thu Sep 04 17:39:01 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 18:07:08 -0700 2008 more...]]> 252577 0007205236 9780007205233 29612 2253 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173155771m/252577.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252577.Angela_s_Ashes 4 2 false Sun Apr 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 10 16:31:52 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 06 11:13:30 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 252577 0007205236 9780007205233 29612 2253 3.95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173155771m/252577.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252577.Angela_s_Ashes 5 2 false Fri Jan 30 14:37:06 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 20:48:03 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 14:37:06 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=578513