Teacher Man

In the Prologue, McCourt summarizes his life as a teacher for 30 years, followed by a second act as a famous writer. He explains that he had hoped his first book, a memoir called Angela’s Ashes (1996), would be picked up by an obscure university press and allow him to admire the few copies in bookstores that happened to stock it, as well as give talks to book clubs. Instead, he was taken by surprise when it became a bestseller, won a Pulitzer Prize, and was later made into a movie. At the time of his newfound fame, he was 66 years old. Three years later, he wrote a sequel, ’Tis (1999). He didn’t think that it put enough emphasis on his teaching, however, so he decided to write Teacher Man as the third part of his autobiography. He ends with a long passage of what so many teachers—including himself—envision for their career: respect and enthusiasm from students, scintillating intellectual discussions about literature, Teacher of the Year awards, public recognition. The reality, however, is something very different.