The Glass Castle

Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a riveting, first class memoir. If it was a novel you would almost feel it is too far out to be realistic. The story is not only true, but unlike any memoir you will ever come to read.

This is Jeannette's childhood memories of growing up with a dysfunctional family to the 9th degree.

Her parents, highly intelligent and creative, choose to live their lives as homeless vagabonds. Escaping a city by night with the bill collectors or police just one step behind, "time to skedaddle" is the signal to quickly pack all belongings and get a'moving.

Sleeping in cars, going hungry for days, living in an unheated house with no indoor plumbing, Jeanette and her siblings were not allowed to complain and were expected to enjoy their lives as a tremendous adventure.

Their father is a dreamer who always has an invention or scheme to make their millions, but cannot hold a regular job, blaming the ignorance of the employer or the lies spread about him as the cause for his being fired. He spends his nights in bars, where he claims he is doing research on mob activity so he can break their hold on local unions.

Jeannette's mother is an amateur artist who would rather paint and read books than work. Her one try at a teaching job turns out to be disastrous. As she does not believe in classroom discipline, feeling that rules stunt the child's creativity, the students are free to do whatever they like. Her mother also dislikes to grade papers and write lesson plans, so her eldest daughter (12 years old) is assigned the tasks of grading papers and writing lesson plans for her mother.

This is an incredible story that, besides its theme, is not the least bit depressing and with a happy ending to boot. Everyone I have spoken to about this book just raves about it.

I give this one five stars as does Dena Oppenheim, who says you should definitely read this book.

Review by Tony Kainauskas