While I do admire some of his methods, and enjoy his writing style, I found that the times when he let his true sentiments show (like telling a kid to stop being so ignorant and have some respect for the English language, or having days where you were just sick of whining teenagers.does that make me mean or already jaded?)or when he simply let the student anecdotes speak for themselves, were my favorite parts of the book. While I appreciated McCourt's attempt to recognize teachers (especially English teachers) and the work (often underappreciated) that we do, I felt that his theory of if we all 'think outside the box' and try to be friendly with our students, than we will have a successful teaching career, a bit unrealistic, overly idealistic, and in many ways, condescending. For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and in Teacher Man the journey to redemption - and literary fame - is an exhilarating adventure. Teacher Man shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week, five periods per day, he worked to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents. His methods anything but conventional, McCourt created a lasting impact on his students through imaginative assignments (he instructed one class to write An Excuse Note from Adam or Eve to God), singalongs (featuring recipe ingredients as lyrics) and field trips (imagine taking twenty-nine rowdy girls to a movie in Times Square!). In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises he faced in public high schools around New York City. It is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. Teacher Man is McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty- year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Then came 'Tis, the glorious account of his early years in New York. Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he burst onto the literary scene with Angela's Ashes, the Pulitzer Prize- winning memoir of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland.

Frank mccourt teacher man review