( 39 reviews )
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Posted: Aug 15 2009
highly recommended for anyone interested in teaching and humanity in general. this is a stripped-down no pretensions look at one man's struggle to teach and stay sane and find meaning in his work. all of the warts are there. this book reminds me of someones life flashing before their eyes with all of the most memorable moments included. u won't be sorry. i am very interested in the dynamics of the teacher-pupil relationship and i loved this book. it is filled with great humor and insight. rip--frank.
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Posted: Jul 8 2009
I just read Teacher Man, four years after it was published because my mother e-mailed and said it was a "must read." She and I met Frank McCourt years back when he was signing books (Angela's Ashes) at a BJs in Waltham, Mass. He sat there, seemingly unflapped by a long queue of admirers, completely focused on the person with him at the moment, unbothered by requests for photos. When it was our turn, I thought he was simply gracious. I liked Teacher Man immensely, and found it to be entertaining, honest and at times both funny and quite meaningful. I also enjoyed getting suggestions for reading books and authors I've missed along the way (Santayana for one). McCourt doesn't explicitly state this, but it comes across: ultimately, the teacher decides what happens in h/her classroom. And McCourt's classrooms provided rich experiences for his students because of what I would call his "inspired creativeness." (He also had the ability to take the ball -- no matter what ball he was passed -- and run with it.) He managed to tie English structure and grammar, (which can be deadly) vocabulary and writing into what interested his students, creating student-centered lessons long before it was the pedagogical rage. I loved his account of student's enthusiasm for recipes and how they added music and turned them into songs and raps. I loved how the students all brought an ethnic dish and shared them with each other and anyone passing by on the streets of New York. McCourt was a conductor who brought out the best in his players by getting them to relate to each other and to him. But, all is not always well in Teacher Land (and here's where McCourt's honesty was especially appreciated): the low pay, fatigue, and sometimes impossible task of pleasing parents and administrators are not omitted. Another book well written, Mr. McCourt. Kudos!
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Posted: Jun 30 2009
Just when I thought it couldn't get any better than "Angela's Ashes", along came "'Tis". Just when I thought it couldn't get any better than "'Tis", along came "Teacher Man". In "Teacher Man", McCourt is no longer haunted by the images of his dismal childhood in Limerick. His vision is no longer obscured by all those "dark clouds" that were ever a part of his being in the other memoirs as he endeavored to find his niche. In "Teacher Man" he is totally immersed in the sometimes chaotic, sometimes enchanting, sometimes frustrating but always challenging world of a classroom filled with that most curious of creatures: the adolescent. In that world, he not only finds his voice, he finds his heart, he finds his soul,he finds his passion. And that, has made all the difference. "Teacher Man" is a book that will surely resonate with anyone,who,like "moi", has ever experienced life as a high school teacher. But what of those who have never embraced the profession? To that I would respond that "Teacher Man" will also resonate with anyone who has ever been a high school student. And weren't we all?
