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The Glass Castle: A Memoir | 
 enlarge | Author: Jeannette Walls
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $3.99
You Save: $11.01 (73%)
New (93) Used (207) Collectible (5) from $3.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  1063 reviews
Sales Rank: 85
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7 x 5.2 x 0.8
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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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 1058 more reviews...
 A Look Into A Dysfunctional Family July 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I cannot say I enjoyed or liked this book, but I did find it fascinating in the same way that one cannot look away from a train wreck. So many in our society today like to state they are in dysfunctional family relationships - well, this was/is a truly dysfunctional family relationship!
The actions of the parents did make me angry, yes. But so did the inaction of those around this family - other family members, neighbors, school teachers, health workers. So many individuals could have intervened and chose to sit back and do....nothing. Yes, this is a story of survival, and whether the child are better for their experience is something a reader will have to determine for themselves. However, for me, the larger testament is to society for ultimately failing at all levels.
This is obviously not a book to be enjoyed - at least I hope not! But there can be lessons learned from this experience. What happened to this family continues today. Will people choose to ignore what is under their noses and allow children to be raised as these were in this book? Or will they take a stand for the children?
This book and the story of this family gives much for us all to think about.
 You will never forget this book July 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book and the author are unforgettable. As much as I hate to be the 1000th person to say they hate giving 5 star reviews, I do too but this one definitely deserved it. I actuallly read this book in two days, as a sub-read during my epic read of East of Eden, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
What's weird about this book as that at the end of everything, she has no contempt for her parents. It's remarkable actually the resilience of these kids and the stark intelligence of each one of them.
What's interesting to me is that they were never given basic needs (i.e. food, clothes, shelter) but they were given other gifts instead that which children who have basic needs will never get from their parents. One scene when they were in the desert I will never forget. They had no money, no food, and it was Christmastime. The father (who I don't really applaud) brought them out to the desert stars and told them to pick one out, and that was their gift. He said that when other kids' plastic toys fall apart and grow old you'll always have a star, it will always be there.
The insane mother ALWAYS was urging them to read, bringing them to the library, reading great literature. And then they moved to West Virginia, and their lives completely turned to the worst. I sincerely applaud Jeannette and her siblings, they literally raised themselves with NO help from their parents. And what's better is that it is not written with a hint of self-pity, she is simply straight forward telling you her story.
A great read and leaves you with something to think about.
Great Read July 3, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought this book per a friends recommendation for a good vacation read. It was an excellent memoir of a life that most of us never even imagine happens to many children out there. At the time time it is humorous and a very fast and enjoyable read.
A strange and offbeat childhood July 1, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is not the kind of book I would normally read, but my wife recommended it so I decided to give it a try. From the moment I started, I could barely put it down.
Author Jeannette Walls gets you hooked in the first half of the book with disturbing and funny tales of her peculiar childhood. Her parents, though clearly smart in an academic sense, avoided steady work and conventional lifestyles, keeping the family perpetually poor. They often "skeedaddled" out of town in the middle of the night to avoid bill collectors.
Walls and her three siblings had to learn to be self-reliant early on. She was cooking her own hot dogs at age 3 (resulting in getting seriously burned), she learned to shoot a gun at age 4. All the kids learned how to forage for food in dumpsters and garbage cans -- they had to, since the refrigerator was frequently empty. Once, Walls fell out of the car when the door flew open on a hard turn, and her parents almost didn't notice.
Her parents were selfish, unstable and irresponsible. But just when you're ready to hate them, they do something right.
Walls' father was an alcoholic whose parenting philosophy was illustrated when he throws Walls in deep water repeatedly and literally expects her to sink or swim. He's horrid with money, but later on, miraculously comes up with $1,000 to keep Walls in college.
Her mother was artist who seemed to have little idea of how to raise children, and really didn't care. But she did have a love for books which was passed on to her children.
The second half of the book takes a turn for the grim, when the family finally settles in a depressing and unfriendly small town in West Virginia. The kids get in fights, they help their mother shoplift, their roof leaks so bad that Walls' brother has to sleep under a rubber raft. They forage for food yet again.
If the book had started this way, I might have been turned off. But by this point, I was hooked and found the story tugging at my heart. I read eagerly all the way to the end to see how the Walls children would turn out.
This isn't one of those memoirs where the author whines. Walls tells her stories with graceful detachment, offering colorful details, but doesn't ask for pity.
On the whole, "The Glass Castle" shows the resilience of children. Despite their strange and difficult upbringing, it's remarkable how well Walls and her siblings turned out.
Great Read June 30, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
One of the better books I have picked up this summer! The author keeps you engaged through an awesome retelling of her childhood. This is an excellent book for a book club discussion!
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