Jeannette Walls: The Glass Castle: A Memoir

This was our Book Club selection.
This was our Book Club selection recently. Fortunately, I had to work that night on a "crucial deadline" and was unable to attend the meeting. Most of the members liked the book - or so I was told. For my part, I found it very depressing. IF it is a TRUE story, Ms. Walls doesn't know what real trouble is. And, IMHO, this book is not particularly well written. But, then, my preferences are writers like Steinbeck, Pasternak, Dickens, Shakespeare, Irving Wallace, E. Annie Proulx, Darryl Brock, Sandor Marai, etc., etc.

For "courageous folks," read "Grandmere" about Eleanor Roosevelt. Interesting to the end. A page-turner! (Grandson David and/or the ghost writer are excellent wordsmiths, too!)[/color]

Charli--

Obviously we'll have to agree to disagree.

I've been exposed--not always happily--to Hands-Off Parents and to the kids that they are not parenting. The results are usually not attractive.



All memoirs are woven from crafted reality. I have heard both my brother's and my sister's versions of events that happened a 60 years ago and I can be flabbergasted at the sea changes that have taken place.

Real trouble? Not enough food? Inadequate clothing? Dirty old uncles? Daddy As Pimp? Daddy as thief? A Mother who resents her kids opportunities rather than cheering them on? Broken promises?

Do you think Ms. Walls fabricated all her troubles?

Don't know anything about the book or the author but when kids start bitching in print about their parents, it always brings to mind Bing Crosby's whiny-ass boys.
Just a thought...

Eoe--

I know what you mean. One of the remarkable parts of this memoir is that she presents her flawed parents without sniviling or bitching or whining--and gives them full credit when credit is due.

I think we can all tell that story, more or less. No one had perfect parents and some of us had fucked up parents who did the very best that they could to love us, provide for us and raise us properly. Sometimes succeeding and other times, failing miserably.

You can only work with what you've got to work with, know what I mean?

I've often thought of my father, drinker, gambler, womanizer and emotional abuser and what an interesting character he would make for a book. He was so far from perfect but even at his most ugliest, his love and devotion was never in question.

Eoe--

You and Jeannette Walls have a lot in common--starting with compassion and common sense.

Then there was his whiny ass wife.

Not that Bing was a prize, I gather.

Dreamed about my father last night. In all his drunken glory. It shook me. Hadn't seen or even visualized him in that state in 30-plus years. Geez. Some things you never forget.