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The Glass Castle: A Memoir | 
| Author: Jeannette Walls
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $3.47
You Save: $11.53 (77%)
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Rating:  1084 reviews
Sales Rank: 92
Media: Paperback
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 074324754X
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.82092
EAN: 9780743247542
ASIN: 074324754X
Publication Date: January 9, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
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Amazon.com
Jeannette Walls's father always called her "Mountain Goat" and there's perhaps no more apt nickname for a girl who navigated a sheer and towering cliff of childhood both daily and stoically. In The Glass Castle, Walls chronicles her upbringing at the hands of eccentric, nomadic parents--Rose Mary, her frustrated-artist mother, and Rex, her brilliant, alcoholic father. To call the elder Walls's childrearing style laissez faire would be putting it mildly. As Rose Mary and Rex, motivated by whims and paranoia, uprooted their kids time and again, the youngsters (Walls, her brother and two sisters) were left largely to their own devices. But while Rex and Rose Mary firmly believed children learned best from their own mistakes, they themselves never seemed to do so, repeating the same disastrous patterns that eventually landed them on the streets. Walls describes in fascinating detail what it was to be a child in this family, from the embarrassing (wearing shoes held together with safety pins; using markers to color her skin in an effort to camouflage holes in her pants) to the horrific (being told, after a creepy uncle pleasured himself in close proximity, that sexual assault is a crime of perception; and being pimped by her father at a bar). Though Walls has well earned the right to complain, at no point does she play the victim. In fact, Walls' removed, nonjudgmental stance is initially startling, since many of the circumstances she describes could be categorized as abusive (and unquestioningly neglectful). But on the contrary, Walls respects her parents' knack for making hardships feel like adventures, and her love for them--despite their overwhelming self-absorption--resonates from cover to cover. --Brangien Davis
Product Description
Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town -- and the family -- Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home. What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms. For two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots. Now she tells her own story. A regular contributor to MSNBC.com, she lives in New York and Long Island and is married to the writer John Taylor. TO INQUIRE ABOUT SCHEDULING JEANNETTE WALLS FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS PLEASE CONTACT: Keppler Speakers
Dustin L. Jones
Associate, College & University Division
703.516.4000 (P)
703.516.4819 (F)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1079 more reviews...
 a must read August 8, 2008
SarahG (Austin, TX)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Simply put: you MUST read this book! It's the best I have read in a very long time. You will not be dissapointed.
wow! August 5, 2008
Margaret L. Radtke (Hermann, Mo)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Walls' book is as revealing as it gets. This book evokes the gamut of emotions and should be read by anyone who considers their family dysfuncional. The story is well-told and clearly written.
An unforgettable book. August 3, 2008
Brenda Connor (CA. USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The author, her sisters Lori and Maureen and her brother Brian were raised by parents who were dreamers. And of course, dreams do not pay the rent or feed the family. The children were often hungry (imagine eating Wonder bread and lard sandwiches), dirty, and dressed in hand-me-down clothes. Each child learned to cope in their own way with their extreme poverty, their father's alcoholism and extended absences, and their mother's moody and abstract sense of reality.
Fabulous Insight into Another World August 3, 2008
Marja A. Hanks
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Jeannette Walls writes a captivating memoir about her and her siblings struggles growing up in the less than ideal world of poverty, hunger, and alcoholism. Her descriptions are raw and vulnerable. I could nearly feel the pain and frustration she must have felt. At the same time, her family's patience in dealing with their own family "demons" helped to inspire me to do the same in my own life. This book will catch you from the very first page. A definite must read!
Unforgettable memoir August 2, 2008
Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Jeannette Walls' memoir of her family is a frank, unvarnished look at two parents who were self-absorbed, deep in denial, and yet at times loving and supportive of their children. Walls was quite close to her father despite the fact that he was a sometimes-violent, often-inebriated man. When he was sober, he taught his children to enjoy classic literature and to be compassionate and brave. Both parents lived in a fantasy world, her father always promising to make a fortune and build a lovely "glass castle" for the family, and her mother preferring to be a painter and earn no money instead of using her education to work as a teacher(although she did get jobs sporadically when circumstances became particularly dire.) The children lived in unspeakable conditions and were usually expected to fend for themselves. The author went through many years of trying to hide her past and her family, but her husband convinced her to write this book which is a real gift to readers, and hopefully, a catharsis for the author as well.
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