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.

弗兰克·迈考特爱尔兰裔美籍教师,作家。1930年生于纽约,4岁时举家迁往爱尔兰,在贫民窟度过悲惨的童年。13岁辍学,19岁重返美国,当过兵,做过码头工人。“家国不幸诗人幸”,迈考特为这句话作了最好的诠释。苦难童年没有消磨他的斗志,反而让他学会在挫折中成长,在灰烬中微笑。1996年,处女作、自传体小说《安琪拉的灰烬》出版,一举获得普利策文学奖、全美书评奖、洛杉矶时报图书奖、美国年度好书奖等,连续117周雄踞<纽约时报》畅销书榜。之后陆续推出《就是这里了》和《教书匠》,好评如潮,使一个“教书匠”誉满全球。

《教书匠》于2005年11月出版,一周内即登上《纽约时报》畅销书榜首,后迅速被译成20多种文字,受到全世界教师、学生和广大读者的普遍好评：“自传体故事中最真诚的作品”、“教师的《圣经》”、“每个学生需要至少熟读10遍的温馨文字”。

《教书匠》以一个个生动的故事,用辛辣诙谐的文字,回顾作者30载从教生涯的苦涩与甘甜,讲述令人过目难忘的精彩人生。作者从不吝惜对自己的嘲讽,从不否认与学生似敌似友的关系,对规则和权威从骨子里透出蔑视,幽默和善良也从未在生命中缺席。他从不向学生灌输什么,而是在春风化雨问教会了他们唱自己的歌、跳自己的舞、讲自己的故事……