Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he burst onto the literary scene with Angela's Ashes, the Pulitzer Prize -- winning memoir of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland. Then came 'Tis, his glorious account
Scribner
November 2005
Featuring: Frank McCourt
272 pages ISBN: 0743243773 Hardcover Add to Wish List
Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star
when, at the age of sixty-six, he burst onto the literary
scene with Angela's Ashes, the Pulitzer Prize -- winning
memoir of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland. Then
came 'Tis, his glorious account of his early years in New
York.
Now, here at last, is McCourt's long-awaited book about how
his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a
writer. Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers
everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his
irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records
the trials, triumphs and surprises he faces in public high
schools around New York City. His methods anything but
conventional, McCourt creates a lasting impact on his
students through imaginative assignments (he instructs one
class to write "An Excuse Note from Adam or Eve to God"),
singalongs (featuring recipe ingredients as lyrics), and
field trips (imagine taking twenty-nine rowdy girls to a
movie in Times Square!).
McCourt struggles to find his way in the classroom and
spends his evenings drinking with writers and dreaming of
one day putting his own story to paper. Teacher Man shows
McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great
story as, five days a week, five periods per day, he works
to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally
charged or indifferent adolescents. McCourt's rocky
marriage, his failed attempt to get a Ph.D. at Trinity
College, Dublin, and his repeated firings due to his
propensity to talk back to his superiors ironically lead
him to New York's most prestigious school, Stuyvesant High
School, where he finally finds a place and a
voice. "Doggedness," he says, is "not as glamorous as
ambition or talent or intellect or charm, but still the one
thing that got me through the days and nights."
For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of
salvation, and in Teacher Man the journey to redemption --
and literary fame -- is an exhilarating adventure.
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