The+Glass+Castle+-+A+Memoir+by+Jeannette+Walls

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=Book Summary= Jeannette Walls's father always called her "Mountain Goat" and there's perhaps no more apt nickname for a girl who navigated a sheer and towering cliff of childhood both daily and stoically. In //The Glass Castle//, Walls chronicles her upbringing at the hands of eccentric, nomadic parents--Rose Mary, her frustrated-artist mother, and Rex, her brilliant, alcoholic father. To call the elder Walls's childrearing style laissez faire would be putting it mildly. As Rose Mary and Rex, motivated by whims and paranoia, uprooted their kids time and again, the youngsters (Walls, her brother and two sisters) were left largely to their own devices. But while Rex and Rose Mary firmly believed children learned best from their own mistakes, they themselves never seemed to do so, repeating the same disastrous patterns that eventually landed them on the streets. Walls describes in fascinating detail what it was to be a child in this family, from the embarrassing (wearing shoes held together with safety pins; using markers to color her skin in an effort to camouflage holes in her pants) to the horrific (being told, after a creepy uncle pleasured himself in close proximity, that sexual assault is a crime of perception; and being pimped by her father at a bar). Though Walls has well earned the right to complain, at no point does she play the victim. In fact, Walls' removed, nonjudgmental stance is initially startling, since many of the circumstances she describes could be categorized as abusive (and unquestioningly neglectful). But on the contrary, Walls respects her parents' knack for making hardships feel like adventures, and her love for them--despite their overwhelming self-absorption--resonates from cover to cover. // --Brangien Davis // //--This text refers to the [|Hardcover] edition.//



=About the Author= Jeannette Walls lives in Virginia and is married to the writer John Taylor. She is a regular contributor to MSNBC and has worked at several publications, including Esquire, USA Today, and New York.

=Possible Discussion Questions= = = 1. Though //The Glass Castle// is brimming with unforgettable stories, which scenes were the most memorable for you? Which were the most shocking, the most inspiring, the f unniest? 2. Discuss the metaphor of a glass castle and what it signifies to Jeannette and her father. Why is it important that, just before leaving for New York, Jeannette tells her father that she doesn't believe he'll ever build it? (p. 238). 3. The first story Walls tells of her childhood is that of her burning herself severely at age three, and her father dramatically takes her from the hospital: "You're safe now" (p. 14). Why do you think she opens with that story, and how does it set the stage for the rest of the memoir? 4. Rex Walls often asked his children, "Have I ever let you down?" Why was this question (and the required "No, Dad" response) so important for him -- and for his kids? On what occasions did he actually come through for them? 5. Jeannette's mother insists that, no matter what, "life with your father was never boring" (p. 288). What kind of man was Rex Walls? What were his strengths and weaknesses, his flaws and contradictions? 6. Discuss Rose Mary Walls. What did you think about her description of herself as an "excitement addict"? (p. 93). 7. Though it portrays an incredibly hardscrabble life, //The Glass Castle// is never sad or depressing. Discuss the tone of the book, and how do you think that Walls achieved that effect? 8 Describe Jeannette's relationship to her siblings and discuss the role they played in one another's lives. 9. In college, Jeannette is singled out by a professor for not understanding the plight of homeless people; instead of defending herself, she keeps quiet. Why do you think she does this? 10. The two major pieces of the memoir -- one half set in the desert and one half in West Virginia -- feel distinct. What effect did such a big move have on the family -- and on your reading of the story? How would you describe the shift in the book's tone? 11. Were you surprised to learn that, as adults, Jeannette and her siblings remained close to their parents? Why do you think this is? 12. What character traits -- both good and bad -- do you think that Jeannette inherited from her parents? And how do you think those traits shaped Jeannette's life? 13. For many reviewers and readers, the most extraordinary thing about //The Glass Castle// is that, despite everything, Jeannette Walls refuses to condemn her parents. Were you able to be equally nonjudgmental? 14. Like Mary Karr's //Liars' Club// and Rick Bragg's //All Over But the Shoutin'//, Jeannette Walls' //The Glass Castle// tells the story of a wildly original (and wildly dysfunctional) family with humor and compassion. Were their other comparable memoirs that came to mind? What distinguishes this book? (//Questions issued by publisher//.)