Frank McCourt - Angela's Ashes: A Memoir

Pros: Well-written, brutally honest memoir

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: Angela's Ashes is, undoubtedly, one of the best books to have been published in the past 20 years, and it should be read by everyone.

Review: When I look back at my childhood I wonder how I survived it 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 ...

Pros: Excellently written. What an autobiography ought to be.

Cons: Very few. Style does not quite fit the norm.

The Bottom Line: Stunning look at life in general, and a life in particular, from a man born in America, and desperate and hopeful to return.

Review:
I should make it clear from the beginning, that I have no real love for biographies. There was a time that a biography was written with some purpose. The story of a person’s life was generally not put down on paper for no other reason than to put...

Pros: Quite simply the best autobiography you'll ever read, the images are stark, grim and lyrically beautiful

Cons: The stream of consciousness style may turn some readers off

Review: Has there ever been a worse life than Frank McCourt's? Certainly, if you were a slave on a Mississippi plantation in the 1850s or a Jewish resident of Auschwitz in the 1940s, you would say that McCourt had it pretty easy over in Ireland. Still, it's...

Pros: This true story is hard to read and hard to put down.

Cons: This one ripped at my heart. I can't find any compassion for the parents.

The Bottom Line: Angela's Ashes is a powerful memoir. It's hard to read and hard to put down.

Review: My idea of a good book is on that makes me think and one that makes me feel. Angela’s Ashes fits the bill on both counts, although I almost stopped early on in the book, because I responded so emotionally that I wasn’t sure I could ...

Pros: An extremely well-written book

Cons: The thought of extreme poverty is absolutely depressing.

The Bottom Line: Quite simply, the best autobiographical piece of text out there!

Review: I vividly remember when my mom first told me about the Pullitzer prize-winning book, Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. She kept telling me that it was the best book that she has ever read, and tried to get me to start reading the book. However, 3...

Pros: Brutal, beautiful prose

Cons: None

Review: "Angela’s Ashes" emerges from Frank McCourt’s tragic childhood as a phoenix. This prize-winning work is the first of what promises to be a series of memoirs unparalleled for their poignancy.

"Angela’s Ashes" follows little...

Pros: Captivating Writing

Cons: Very Sad in Parts

Review: Captivating book that grabs you on page one! The book is told through the eyes of a child, Frank McCourt, and tells the story of his childhood beginning in America and then the return to Ireland in hopes of a better life. It begins with an introduction...

Pros: engaging writing style and moving story

Cons: terribly depressing

Review: Childhood and misery are two words that should never be given breath to in the same sentence. Unfortunately, too often they are paired up due to life's unfortunate circumstances. In Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt paints a picture of one such miserable...

Pros: Good

Cons: none

The Bottom Line: If you can, read the book before you watch the movie. It's great reading. If you've already seen the show, read it anyway. I did.

Review: In reading my last few book reviews, I realize that I have been rather negative and I think pretty arrogant in expressing myself. For that I apologize.This time I promise not to say a negative or arrogant word-or at least not very many.

I...

Pros: Powerful, heartbreaking. Writing style as if through the eyes of a child

Cons: None. Great read!

Review: I don't understand why this book was called Angela's Ashes, if it refers to the mother of Frank McCourt (the author, of whom this book is a memoir), who was named Angela because she was born on the Angelus of New Year's Day (Angelus means six o'clock...