Review: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle
By Jeannette Walls
Reviewed by Sabrina Williams

Jeannette Walls tells an amazingly true story of beating the odds and persevering over hardship in her childhood memoir, The Glass Castle. Born to eccentric parents determined to rebel against establishment no matter what the effect on their family, Jeannette and her three siblings, Lori, Brian, and Maureen endured a nomadic lifestyle that relegated them to poverty and ridicule.

Their father, Rex, was a brilliant man skilled in mathematics, chasing dreams that were constantly thwarted by his alcoholism. Their mother, Rose Mary, was a talented artist and writer awaiting her big break, mired in indifference and what can only be classified as manic depression. Rex and Rose Mary were loving and inventive at times, neglectful and lazy at other times. No matter where the Walls family lived, be it California or West Virginia, they were always considered the outsiders due to Rex and Rose Mary's eccentricities. Their extreme poverty exposed them as either a charity case or a nuisance in each town, and the children were open targets for bullies.

It is difficult to describe where this book falls as it has the ability to make the reader laugh, cry, and get angry all within one chapter. With the hand that the four Walls children were dealt, it is astonishing that they pulled themselves out of their prison of poverty and went on to become successful, well-adjusted adults (perhaps with the exception of Maureen).

I purchased this book after seeing Jeannette Walls' appearance on The Colbert Report. She seemed like such a down-to-earth, real person that I immediately made a note to myself to seek out her book. It is one of the few books I have actually paid full-price to own, since most of my library is made up of thrift store finds and Amazon deals. I was not disappointed. During her appearance, Walls told Stephen Colbert that she wanted people to avoid lumping all homeless people into one category and to stop and consider the story that is behind each individual person. This book really drives home that point. The homeless population is just as diverse as the population at large, and there is no one single solution to the problem. Some people don't even consider it a problem.

I am recommending this book to all of my friends. I brought it with me to the 2007 Bookcrossing Convention in Charleston, South Carolina and used it in a live Yankee Book Swap to share. Azuki won it, and I hope she enjoys it as much as I did and passes the word on.