The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls
The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls
579 Rating(s)
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The Glass Castle
A Memoir

Bestseller

Author: Jeannette Walls

Narrator: Jeannette Walls

Unabridged: 10 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/15/2010


Synopsis

THE BELOVED #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER—FROM THE AUTHOR OF HANG THE MOON

The extraordinary, one-of-a-kind, “nothing short of spectacular” (Entertainment Weekly) memoir from one of the world’s most gifted storytellers.

The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette’s brilliant and charismatic father captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn’t want the responsibility of raising a family.

The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.

The Glass Castle is truly astonishing—a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family.

The memoir was also made into a major motion picture from Lionsgate in 2017 starring Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, and Naomi Watts.

About Jeannette Walls

Jeannette Walls graduated from Barnard College and was a journalist in New York. Her memoir, The Glass Castle, has been a New York Times bestseller for more than eight years. She is also the author of the instant New York Times bestsellers The Silver Star and Half Broke Horses, which was named one of the ten best books of 2009 by the editors of The New York Times Book Review. Walls lives in rural Virginia with her husband, the writer John Taylor.


Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by merri on 2007-06-16 20:43:51

it's hard to believe this is a memoir, because i cant imagine parents so irresponsible. especially given what we learn at the end. i admire jeanette and her siblings so much for getting through that and still making such great human beings out of themselves. if we all put that much effort into living, we'd be really super people.

AudiobooksNow review by Kimberly on 2007-07-12 14:04:59

this is an interesting memoir. the author writes well and clearly. The stories she tells are interesting.

AudiobooksNow review by Bonnie on 2007-10-21 14:41:33

great, read it in one day

AudiobooksNow review by Nicole on 2008-07-28 22:22:07

I couldn't put this one down. 300 pages went by so quickly. I read a lot and this one really made an impression on me. How a family can survive the way this one did is unbelieveable. The real shock is how this woman could actually have any sort of relationship with her parents once she is an adult.

AudiobooksNow review by Amanda on 2008-09-26 21:00:57

GREAT READ FROM BEING TO END!!! I WOULD EVEN GO SO FAR AS TO SAY OUT OF THE MAYBE FIVE MEMOIRS I'VE READ THIS WAS BY FAR THE BEST!!!

Goodreads review by Emily May on March 31, 2016

Now I get why people like this memoir so much. Though it is a memoir and a true story, both the writing style and the way Walls reminisces about her childhood make it seem like more of a fairy tale. My favourite non-fiction books are those that don't lose the compelling flow of a good fiction book -......more

Goodreads review by Cindy on August 07, 2020

It took me a while to get into this book, but there's a lot of interesting family dynamics and complicated familial love despite all the awful things that happened. I think this book would feel more complete if the author had written more personal insights rather than recounting things that happened......more

Goodreads review by Matthew on November 22, 2017

Who here has seen the show Shameless? (I am thinking of the American version, but I know there is a British one, too, that it is based on.) To me, that show could have been inspired by this memoir. Frank Gallagher and Rex Walls are the same guy! I enjoyed all the vignettes from Jeannette Walls' life.......more

Goodreads review by Fabian on September 09, 2020

The warning is this: If you are going to become parents you must simply forego being too bohemian. Otherwise your children might grow up to be super successful & you will end up eating trash off dark alleyways... Peculiar upbringings are what memoirs are made of! We saw this in the Frank McCourt gray......more

Goodreads review by Juliet on July 03, 2013

Okay, I originally gave this one star but then had to go back and re-rate it to a two b/c I surprised a couple of you guys and in my impulsive way, I realized perhaps one star was a bit too knee jerk. It's not that I hated The Glass Castle, it's just that it irritated me with its self-conscious narra......more