Tis
Frank McCourt, 1996
A memoir of poverty, education, and Irish identity, written with a voice of biting wit and deep, unexpected tenderness. The writing is straightforward and plain, moving at a conversational pace while balancing sharp wit with unexpected emotional depth.
Feels like nostalgia, humor and melancholy. About identity, family and society.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you appreciate a story of humble beginnings told with a strong sense of humor. Because it focuses heavily on poverty and hardship, some readers might find the depiction of daily struggle quite bleak.
Why read it
This memoir offers a poignant look at how family and identity are shaped by difficult circumstances. It is a reflective look at finding tenderness amidst struggle.
A page from the book
The painful weight of a love that comes too late to change things.
I know it wasn’t the dinner wine that had me against the wall in a fit of remorse. It was the thought of my mother being so lonesome she had to sit on a street bench, so lonesome she missed the company of a homeless shopping bag woman. Even in the bad days in Limerick she always had an open hand and an open door and why couldn’t I be like that to her? Frank McCourt.While written in the American context, McCourt’s early life and formative years were spent primarily in Limerick, Ireland.
Books that feel like this
More by Frank McCourt
Angela's Ashes
Frank McCourt, 1996
A boy grows up poor in Limerick with an often-absent father and a mother who keeps the family alive, told with comic timing that makes squalor bearable.
Teacher Man
Frank McCourt, 2005
A New York teacher's wry, profane memoir of thirty years in public-school classrooms, where the real subject is how to become a person.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is Tis for me?
- You may like it if you appreciate a story of humble beginnings told with a strong sense of humor. Because it focuses heavily on poverty and hardship, some readers might find the depiction of daily struggle quite bleak.
- What is Tis like?
- The writing is straightforward and plain, moving at a conversational pace while balancing sharp wit with unexpected emotional depth. Feels like nostalgia, humor and melancholy. About identity, family and society.
- What should I read after Tis?
- If you liked Tis, try Me Talk Pretty One Day (David Sedaris), Me (Katharine Hepburn) and I'm Glad My Mom Died (Jennette McCurdy).
A taste of the feed
What New York couples stay together for, when the children aren't the reason.
In other parts of the country people tried to stay together for the sake of the children. In New York they tried to work things out for the sake of the apartment.
Me Talk Pretty One Day · David Sedaris
A man writes a letter that is mostly a knife, and exactly correct about the sums.
Your income has always been ample, and you never ought to have borrowed any money, and Mary Towle did a great wrong in lending you any money. My opinion of you is the same as it always has been—that you are an extravagant, deceitful, dishonest, worthless person. You have squandered thousands of dollars and left your honest debts unpaid. But I do not think you are capable of comprehending the mistakes that you have made. Now that you are paying up Mary Towle, how would it do to pay the various other accounts that you owe?
Me · Katharine Hepburn
What the anger is doing for you, and what it spares you.
I’m becoming an angry person with no tolerance for anyone. I’m aware of this shift and yet have no desire to change it. If anything, I want it. It’s armor. It’s easier to be angry than to feel to pain underneath it.
I'm Glad My Mom Died · Jennette McCurdy
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