Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Emily

Frank McCourt's fascinating account of his childhood as an Irish Catholic is both sad and heartwarming. He tells of his family, constantly growing due to a lack of birth control and a drunken father, whom he learns to support at a very early age. He tells of deceased siblings, his weak mother and her attempts to feed her children, his experiences with strict schoolteachers and his confusion with the church, learning about sin and confession, and living in numerous poor neighborhoods with a lack of plumbing and stricken with tuberculosis. Obviously, the story is very depressing at times, but it's worth reading for the sake of comparison to the stereotypically lucky American childhood.