I've read so many reviews of 'tis and find the comparison between it and Angela's Ashes to be wrong. The main character is the same but the story being told is completely different. Angela's Ashes is a tough, hard narrative about growing up in the slums of Limerick told through the eyes (and pen) of a boy whose goal in life is to keep himself and his brothers alive. A truly disturbing history of a boyhood with seemingly no future, or, as McCourt himself said, it wouldn't have been worth writing about. 'Tis on the other hand is the progression from boy to man in a foreign land with all the hardships, downfalls and sad-happy moments that only an immigrant or a slave can experience. The prose in 'Tis starts with the naive style that was dominant in Angela's Ashes but as the author matures from an (almost) innocent 19 year old to a sharp witted, sometimes ironic middle aged teacher, the prose also follows the same emotional development. If a comparison can be drawn between the two books then only in as much that both books are bittersweet, brutally honest and above all thoroughly open-hearted. I'm looking forward, in the next 20 years, to McCourt's recollections of being a retired grandfather! Frank McCourt has touched my soul....