One of my favourite books of modern times is Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, the hard-working Irish author who died this week. His book humbly and gently painted a picture of a hard life growing up in Limerick in Ireland, before taking off for USA as a young man. It took him many decades to come to the right stance toward his material, but when he let the story tell itself, without anger, self-pity or any self-aggrandisement - just the details - it spoke volumes. A warm sense of humanity lifted the book above the pack and made it a modern classic among other Irish classics.
An interview with and article about Frank McCourt can be read at Newsweek's website http://www.newsweek.com/id/207589/page/1
