quality reading material

While not as tragic as Angela’s Ashes, nor as adventurous as ‘Tis, Teacher Man is equally as witty and engaging as McCourt’s earlier books. In Teacher Man, McCourt recounts tales of his days as a teacher in New York City along with a scattering of memories of his childhood. He somehow manages to come off as humble, yet commendable at the same time. I would strongly recommend it for teacher types, especially for English teacher types, and, well, for anyone else looking for a uniquely written and clever personal account.

Mr. McCourt, you’re lucky. You had a miserable childhood so you have something to write about. What are we going to write about? All we do is get born, go to school, go on vacation, go to college, fall in love or something, graduate and go into some kind of profession, get married, have the two point three kids you’re always talking about, send the kids to school, get divorced like fifty percent of the population, get fat, get the first heart attack, retire, die.

Jonathan, that is most miserable scenario of American life I’ve heard in a high school classroom. But you’ve supplied the ingredients for the great American novel. You’ve encapsulated the novels of Theodore Dreiser, Sinclair Lewis, F. Scott Fitzgerald.