| Every day I write the list Of reasons why I still believe they do exist (a thousand beautiful things) And even though it's hard to see The glass is full and not half empty (a thousand beautiful things) So... light me up like the sun To cool down with your rain I never want to close my eyes again Never close my eyes Never close my eyes I thank you for the air to breathe The heart to beat The eyes to see again (a thousand beautiful things) And all the things that's been and done The battle's won The good and bad in everyone (this is mine to remember) So ... Here I go again Singin' by your window Pickin' up the pieces of what's left to find The world was meant for you and me To figure out our destiny (a thousand beautiful things) To live To die To breathe To sleep To try to make your life complete (yes yes) So ... Light me up like the sun To cool down with your rain I never want to close my eyes again Never close my eyes never close my eyes ... That is everything I have to say (that's all I have to say) |
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. Then came 'Tis, his glorious account of his early years in New York.
Now, here at last, is McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises he faces in public high schools around New York City. His methods anything but conventional, McCourt creates a lasting impact on his students through imaginative assignments (he instructs 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!).
McCourt struggles to find his way in the classroom and spends his evenings drinking with writers and dreaming of one day putting his own story to paper. Teacher Man shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week, five periods per day, he works to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents. McCourt's rocky marriage, his failed attempt to get a Ph.D. at Trinity College, Dublin, and his repeated firings due to his propensity to talk back to his superiors ironically lead him to New York's most prestigious school, Stuyvesant High School, where he finally finds a place and a voice. "Doggedness," he says, is "not as glamorous as ambition or talent or intellect or charm, but still the one thing that got me through the days and nights."
For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and in Teacher Man the journey to redemption -- and literary fame -- is an exhilarating adventure.