First published 1999
At 19, Frank McCourt lands in New York with only a priest and a dream. He hustles for work, from the lavish Biltmore Hotel to the gritty docks. Drafted into the army, Frank trains dogs and types reports in Germany, then returns home to face pressure to "stick to his own kind." Determined to get an education, Frank talks his way into NYU, where he falls for a blonde beauty. But it's not until he starts teaching that Frank finally finds his true calling - and his voice.
Genres: american-fiction, 20th-century, autobiography, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: New York (N.Y.)
Period: 20th-century
367 pages · Hardcover · Scribner