'Tis

'Tis is a 2000 American memoir written by Frank McCourt.

Fast Facts

1. Author: Frank McCourt
2. Genre: Nonfiction
3. Publication Date: August 29, 2000
4. Publisher: Scribner
5. Pages: 368
6. ISBN 0684865742
7. Preceded by: Angela's Ashes (1996)
8. Followed by: Teacher Man (2005)

Plot Synopsis

'Tis opens detailing McCourt's struggle to adapt to American culture and society. He is then drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II, and is sent to Germany to serve.

He returns to the U.S. to pursue his studies at New York University, later becoming a teacher at Stuyvesant High School. Despite some difficulties dealing with disobedient and apathetic students, McCourt gradually revises his methods to get through to them.

Meanwhile, McCourt's personal life suffers as he and his wife grow apart. They stay married for their daughter, but like his own father, McCourt leaves them. Things only turn for the worse when both his parents die at the end of the memoir.

Critical Reception

• "It's a quest for an America of wholesome Hollywood happiness that doesn't exist, and it's about the real America -- rendered with comic affection -- that McCourt discovers along the way." - Entertainment Weekly

• "[McCourt] has the nerve to write what he felt. This makes the difference between a real writer and a merely good storyteller." - The Austin Chronicle

Categories