The Glass Castle

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.

Customer Reviews
Fantastic heartfelt account By Vicki Madden (Oklahoma)
The gift if giving the details of bad parental decisions and finding the balance between desperation of yourself from bad choices and respecting the parent. Great book.

Brilliant and honest By Mandy Hedderwick
This book is now one of my all-time favorites. Walls has been criticized for her lack of expression regarding her feelings about her family members and circumstances, but I welcomed the fact that she didn't impose her feelings onto the reader. I was able to feel for her and her siblings and formulate my own opinions about the people in her life in a way one seldom has room to do when reading autobiographies and memoirs.

AWESOME By Johnnie
Jeannette Walls invited me into her soul and gave an astonishing summary of what it takes to persevere despite all obstacles. Through it all, she and her siblings gained an enormous amount of education, tenacity, intelligence, compassion and love for family. Once I begin to read her book, I was hooked, I could not put it down until I had read it to the end. A great memoir. Bravo to Jeannette!

Couldn't put it down By S
A capturing story, Jeanette grabs hold with a magnificent tone, you laugh and sit at the edge of your seat. A book that will get people back into reading again!

The Glass Castle By Linda
I loved this book, and I've recommended it to a lot of people. When a book immediately captures my attention and never loses it; it is a joy to read. The Glass Castle is that book.I bought this book from Amazon.It was sent to my Kindle within seconds of my ordering it.

Good Reading By Paula Pedrick
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls was a well-written personal memoirs story. It was just that...a story, which made it easy to read. Ms. Walls made her family come to life for me. It was a real story of survival in the USA, during some very lean times.