one of the reasons I love this book is the way it summons a language unique to the place McCourt came from. By the time I encountered it, I was in journalism school, and had started learning how to code-switch. I was compartmentalizing in a way that also affected how I perceived which aspects of myself were worthy of being seen. I was deep in the process of hiding what I thought might be an accent, and of always being on guard for bad grammar or "incorrect" conjugations.
Today, I sometimes say I speak two languages, "country" and "fancy." "Angela's Ashes" is singular for me because, though the exposition of the book is largely written in "correct" English, the dialogue, which features the sounds of the people, is a lush vernacular that brings those voices to life. The ability to convey authenticity through language made a significant impact on my own writing.
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