Aug 27th, 2010 by Lisa
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
The Glass Castle is a moving and often shocking memoir by former MSNBC.com writer, Jeannette Walls, who grew up in poverty (an understatement) in an unstable home (a major understatement). This book draws you in right from the beginning when, after she sees her mom digging in the dumpster, she asks the taxi driver to take her back to her Park Avenue apartment. She then tells the story of her upbringing.
From the Publisher (Scribner)
Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn’t stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an “excitement addict.” Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever. Continue reading ...
Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town — and the family — Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents’ betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.
Book Club Ideas
In The Glass Castle, Jeannette talks about their many car trips when her dad would sing Ol’ Man River while their mom would sing Don’t Fence Me In and This Land Is Your Land. One of the many times she fetched her dad from the bar, he sang “Swing low, comin’ for to carry me home.” Unless you want to thoroughly depress everyone at your book club party, I recommend more upbeat tunes.
I think a better song to play would be Kanye West’s Stronger-that don’t kill me, can only make me stronger.
Jeannette’s most prized possession as her family moves from place to place is a geode. A geode looks like a boring round rock, but when you break it open there are white quartz crystals or sparkling purple amethysts inside. This description reminded me of Jeannette herself…unbathed and tattered on the inside, beautiful on the inside. The geode below is what I imagine Jeannette’s geode looked like. I also found some beautiful geode jewelry including this geode pendant and geode bracelet.
|
|
|
|
You could also give them out as party favors with this box of 10 geodes that you can break open to discover the crystals inside.
Jeannette and Brian would collect cans, bottles and scrap metal and use the proceeds to buy candy. Brian loved Sweet Tarts and Jeannette, although she loved chocolate, would pick Sugar Daddies because they lasted longer. As part of the decorations, have a jar filled with these candies.
Book Club Menu
At your book club party for The Glass Castle, I recommend not serving alcohol!
Many of the meals they ate growing up would not be suitable for a book club party – cat food, leftover lunch bags in the trash, a stick of margarine, a vat of fish and rice or beans boiled with ham bone (for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week, with added spice if it started to go bad).
One recipe I just had to try was “Birds in a Blanket” made by the town whore. It is made with chicken, mayo, cheese whiz, and potato chips rolled up in bread. With food in her belly, Jeannette thought “One thing about whoring: It put a chicken on the table.”
To celebrate more joyous and abundant times, you could serve the Thanksgiving meal they had at Jeannette’s house:
- Roasted Turkey with Turkey Gravy
- Stuffing with Sausage, Walnuts and Apples
- Creamed Onions
- Wild Rice
- Squash Casserole
- Cranberry Sauce
- For dessert, they had 3 apple pies. We made Oat Crunch Apple Pie, Caramel Lemon-Spiced Apple Pie and The Basic (and best) Apple Pie.
At the dinner, Brian notes that its not that hard to put food on the table if that is what you decide to do.
Book Club Resources
Ratings at the time this post was published
| Goodreads: 4.13 stars (100,192 reviews) |
| Amazon: 4.5 stars (1661 reviews) |
| Barnes & Noble: 4.5 stars (623 reviews) |
| My Rating: 4.5 stars |
Reviews
- “Jeannette Walls has carved a story with precision and grace out of one of the most chaotic, heartbreaking childhoods ever to be set down on the page. This deeply affecting memoir is a triumph in every possible way, and it does what all good books should: it affirms our faith in the human spirit.”- Dani Shapiro, author of Family History
- “The Glass Castle is the saga of the restless, indomitable Walls family, led by a grand eccentric and his tempestuous artist wife. Jeannette Walls has survived poverty, fires, and near starvation to triumph. She has written this amazing tale with honesty and love.” – Patricia Bosworth, author of Anything Your Little Heart Desires and Diane Arbus: A Biography
- “If you read The Glass Castle for no other reason, read it for the beautiful writing. Walls is a true master of language and storytelling, and reading this book is a good education for writers and readers alike.” – Amy’s Blog
Purchase The Glass Castle
Purchase from an Independent Bookseller
About the Author
Other books by Jeannette Walls
Additional Resources
Jeannette’s favorite books were ones that dealt with hardship: Grapes of Wrath, Lord of the Flies, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Another of her favorite books was Black Beauty.
Here is a book about geodes:
Copyright © 2012 ButteryBooks.com All Rights Reserved.
Book Club Party Ideas This post is filed under : 2000-2009, biographies and memoirs, top pick
Buttery Books earns a small commission when you click and buy the products in this post.
Thank you for feeding our book addiction.
