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The Glass Castle: A Memoir |  | Author: Jeannette Walls
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $2.69
as of 7/30/2010 06:07 CDT details
You Save: $12.31 (82%)
New (96) Used (823) Collectible (3) from $2.69
Seller: owlsbooks
Rating:  1499 reviews
Sales Rank: 69
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.6
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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| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9780743247542 | | • | Condition: New | | • | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
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Product Description
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Amazon.com Review
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
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 1499
 Best Book Ever July 25, 2010
SaintSinner
This is my favorite book ever. I have read it twice already and actually bought a second copy to loan out to share with others. I love how she tells her story without searching for pity. I read it the first time on vacation and when my family got up to use the bathroom in a restaurant I pulled it out of my bag. My son gave me such a hard time about it. Great book!
 Just OK July 23, 2010
K. M. Carr (Hampton, VA, United States)
This book was recommended to me, but I have to say it failed to capture my interest. I did read it through, but it was not a favorite.
one of the best books I've ever read July 21, 2010
Caraculiambro (La Mancha and environs)
Here's how good this book is:
I have one of those soul-crushing jobs where I'm pretty much stuck behind a cubicle under neon lights all day working with Excel sheets. Well, not literally, but you get the idea. I don't get a chance to get out much.
Last summer, though, I scheduled some much-needed vacation time deep in the forest. Reserved my own cabin and everything! Trees! Sunlight! Purling brooks!
Also brought this book with me. Big mistake: for three or four days I didn't leave the cabin at all.
Next time I'll make it Schopenhauer.
 Not so much July 21, 2010
dancingteacher (CA)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
The author is incredibly talented and relates her traumatic experiences in a matter-of-fact manner that makes this book incredibly disturbing. In truth, I could not read more than the first three chapters or so because it was so painful to learn of her experiences. Perhaps I am simply to faint of heart, but wanted to submit this review in case there is someone out there who might have the same disposition.
Fantastic Book! July 20, 2010
Robert J. Baker (Indiana USA)
I accidentally discovered this author and read her second book, Half Broke Horses, first. I liked that book so much, I had to read Glass Castle. This book should be required reading in high school lit classes. As a retired educator, I saw so many "Jeanettes" pass through our school. The touching part of this book is her relationship with her parents. While their parenting style can be questioned, there was love in her home. I have known families that raised their children "right" but with far less love. I refuse to judge her mother and father. Sometimes I wasn't such a great father either. Read the book and her other book too, you'll love them both!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 1499
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