The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls
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.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Buy from:
The comment from Lacks verisimilitude and is loaded with plagiarism. Too bad!
Posted by: lorin emery | August 6, 2008, 2:20 pm is disturbing, how can someone make a statement like that after reading the book and unable to relate in some way, "must have had the perfect life" Too bad!
Posted by: Guest | October 3, 2009, 8:52 pmI am 46 years old and since I was 21 I have wanted to tell the story of my childhood. Jeannette has inspired me to do so. I have read the book twice and listened to it on audio. I would love to email her.
Posted by: Guest | July 11, 2009, 8:00 pmwow this book is amazing and at the same time heartbreaking. i cant believe that something like this actually happened. im reading this book for my sociology class and im one of those students that will not read a book unless i want to, but this book wow i couldnt stop reading it actually made me cry. now i am more grateful for what i have and the parents that i have which i love to death. if you really want a good book to read you should definetely read this one, it's one of the few that i recommend reading.
Posted by: ac22 | April 12, 2009, 9:43 pmJeanette's story is very touching. Her life growing up is a mirror image of the lives of many of the students who attend my school. Her book will be used for our summer book study with our staff. After reading "The Glass Castle", I know the teachers at my school will better understand our students and become more considerate of their physical and emotional needs.
Posted by: Dana Zambito | April 2, 2009, 7:52 pmi just got done reading this book for a project for PSAT. it was very exciting it had a twist at every corner and it makes me grateful for everything i have its a great book
Posted by: Guest | November 30, 2008, 10:17 amAt my school we started reading this book for a book club. My teacher said it was something us kids would like. I didnt think it was going to be so amazing. I still havent finished it, but i cant put it down. I recommend this book to anyone who likes reading. Maybe not a 10 year old though.
Posted by: Emily | November 4, 2008, 4:52 pmshe is such an inspiration thats all i can say i hope that she reads this and i loive her book so much it taught me how to love life
Posted by: Guest | October 21, 2008, 7:30 amI grew up in a similar, yet different childhood as Jeannette. My parents both worked, but my dad was a raging alcoholic who beat the 3 of us children. My mom was inattentive at best, althought she could be both verbally and physically abusive herself at times. My brother and sister who were 13 and 10 years older than I moved away from home and I felt quite abandoned growing up pretty much without them. I was molested by a neighbor from the time I was 3 until I was about 18, raped repeatedly. I am now 36 and am just now starting to come to terms with my past. My father and my molester are both dead. I live with my mother, but am planning my "escape" just as Jeannette did in her book. Her book was a HUGE inspiration to me and I just want her to know that with her book and the help of an excellent therapist who recommended her book I am getting ready to return to college and work towards my Master's Degree in Counseling so I can, for one thing, stop being dependant on the system financially, and two, be a winner and overcome all the negative and vicious things that were done to me. I just hope that Jeannette gets a chance to read this. I didn't know how to thank her otherwise.
Posted by: Nancy | September 4, 2008, 3:51 pmIm 14 my aunt recommended this novel to me. I absolutely loved it.us It is unbelievable how much this girl had to go through and in the end she is able to escape and become a successful woman
Posted by: Guest | August 8, 2008, 2:32 amLacks verisimilitude and is loaded with plagiarism. Too bad!
Posted by: lorin emery | August 6, 2008, 2:20 pm