Jeannette Walls - The Glass Castle: A Memoir

Pros: fast paced, choice anecdotes, will draw you in
Cons: causes me doubts about childhood recollections, I don't like the narrator

If I were to ever write the story of my childhood, it would go something like this, “I went to school, came home, watched “Gilligan’s Island” re-runs, ate dinner and went to bed.” It would say this until I had filled approximately ...

Pros: a straightforward memoir that refuses to become maudlin
Cons: none

Here's a sad observation: if prospective parents had to pass a qualifying test before having children, as they now must do before getting a driver's license, there'd be a lot more childless people among us. In one specific case I can think of, the book ...

Pros: Well-told, unemotional account of a horrific childhood
Cons: No way to verify anything

Remember Frank McCourt’s book, Angela’s Ashes? It came out about ten years ago and raised a shiver of horror among readers who obsessively turned the pages of this incredible story of a childhood that defines the term “neglect.” I was among those, and ...

Pros: riveting story
Cons: unemotional and hard to believe

Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle: A Memoir is a book rife with the experiences of a woman who grew up with two parents who were, from this layperson's view, certainly mentally ill. In the tradition of Frank McCourt, Walls shares her tale of ...

Pros: interesting storyline, easy to read
Cons: I sometimes wondered how much of this story was fiction.

I received this book several months ago as part of a present. For some reason the back cover information just didn't generate any interest to make me start reading. The Glass Castle sat in a basket collecting dust for a long time... and then I ...

Pros: Well written and, thankfully, only 288 pages long.
Cons: Despite being unendingly sad, it's written so well - I HAD to finish it!

Jeanette Walls - The Glass Castle: A Memoir is riveting and painfully depressing..but you can't put it down despite page after page of abject sadness. Reading it is sort of like the compulsion to bite down on an aching tooth - you know it will ...

Pros: Very well written and entertaining. Witty and occasionally funny.
Cons: Seems a little far fetched.

I love a good memoir, especially when it involves dysfunctional families. On a recent Amazon.com shopping spree, I came across Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle, her 2005 memoir about her dysfunctional family. I had not heard of this book ...

Pros: An engaging life story that is incredibly amazing.
Cons: Lack of emotion leaves the reader disconnected with the author.

Imagine opening up your lunch at school to find lard slapped between two pieces of bread. Imagine your brother sleeping under an inflatable raft in a house that constantly leaked when it rained. Imagine four children, the youngest just a few months ...

Pros: Well-told story of her childhood.
Cons: Might make you uncomfortable.

I read a popular book before Stephen Colbert had the author on his show! I was digging through the bestseller lists and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls sounded like one of the more interesting books. Since I have recently rediscovered the ...

Pros: It's a page-turner, and it's sensational, if you like that sort of thing.
Cons: Too much of the story is sacrificed in the interests of achieving the desired effect.

Several fine reviews of this very interesting memoir have already been posted. However, I may have a different take on it. One reviewer dares us to put the book down. Actually, the majority of the people in a group that read it with me recently did ...

Pros: Fantastic writing and an absolutely heart-wrenching, true coming-of-age story.
Cons: Nothing.

Jeannette Walls sees a homeless lady rooting through a dumpster in New York City and is horrified to realize that it's her mother. And so begins Walls' memoir, The Glass Castle --- a look back on a childhood and life that she used to be ashamed ...

Pros: inspiring story, full of hope
Cons: Needed more photos

Some of you may be familiar with the name Jeannette Walls. She is the gossip columnist for msnbc.com who delivers the scoop on celebrities Mondays through Thursdays. Ms. Walls has written a very inspiring personal memoir. She tells a story of ...

Pros: A captivating book that brings you into the mind of a young child.
Cons: Some of the details are a little confusing, but not too bad.

I felt really pulled in by this book. While reading it, I compared many of the details that she shared to things in my own life that I remembered from childhood. No matter what your situation, I think that Walls wrote this book in a way that captivates ...

Pros: Emotional. easy reading (not complex sentences or anything)
Cons: You might lose some sleep because you just can't put it down!

This memoir is deeply moving. It is the story of a Jeannette Walls, woman who overcame a life of poverty and lack of parental support to become a very successful adult. About the Author: She is now a reporter for MSNBC and looking at her you would ...

Pros: A compelling journey of emotion, love and inspiration within this dysfunctional family.
Cons: It's one thing to dream, but lust for riches blinded real values in life.

The author's transparent depiction of her empoverished life, led by head strong, vagabond parents, was engaging from beginning to end. A well-written and compassionate tale filled with emotion and dreams, that seemed to be the driving force that kept this family moving from one desperate situation to the next.