January 17, 2005
ISBN: 074324754X
Scribner, New York
“It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes”:
Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle: A Memoir
by Rebecca Victoria Ramirez
“What I did know was that I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire. It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes,” writes Walls in the first few pages of her memoir. Some of Walls’ earliest memories are of a fire that engulfed her, running up the tutu-like skirt of her pretty pink dress, as she stood on a stool, hovering over her family’s stove, boiling hot dogs. She was only three years old. Her mother, Rose Mary, a self-proclaimed artist, sat just a room away, painting. “Why spend the afternoon making a meal that will be gone in an hour,” she’d often ask her children “when in the same amount of time, I can do a painting that will last forever?” Walls’ childhood was one ruled by an emotionally-absent mother and an alcoholic father, who instead of parenting their four children, more often than not ignored and neglected them.
If ever they did provide for their children it was by virtue of some sort of thievery. And often their crimes included the children’s participation. “Mom’s plan was for her and Maureen to go into the dressing room . . . with an armful of new clothes for Maureen to try on,” Walls writes. “When they came out . . . Lori, Brian, and I would create a ruckus to distract the clerk while Mom hid a dress under a raincoat she would be carrying on her arm.”
Consistently creditors caught up with the Walls family, and the children, acclimated to this lifestyle, were always on point when their father announced it was “time to skeedaddle.” They gathered the few belongings they could carry escaping into the dark of night. After years of dead-end jobs and countless “skeedaddles” from one town after another, Rex Walls, wife and kids in tow, returned to his hometown of Welch, Virginia. Rather than the contentment one might expect to find in their father’s hometown, what followed were more years of discontent. Rex and Rose Mary purchased a dilapidated house lacking electricity and running water. The children, consequently, were reared in a home abundant in filth, deprived of food, warmth, and sanity.
Despite the volatile childhood that unfolds within the pages of her memoir, Walls’ does not portray her parents as monsters. Rather, she describes them as she saw them, through the eyes of a child. The portraits Walls paints of each member of her family are vivid: each with their own voice, demeanor, and personality. Readers will come away from this memoir feeling as if they’ve come to know Rex, Rose Mary, Lori, Brian, Maureen, and Jeanette herself. There is nothing refined about the words that fall from the lips of innocence onto the page of Walls’ memoir. And so as readers we find that what remains is a story of unadulterated love within a family.
Rebecca Victoria Ramirez resides in Northern California with her partner, children, and an assortment of pets. She earned her BA in English May 2013 and will earn her MFA in Creative Writing January 2016.
I constantly emailed this website post page to all my friends, since if like to read it
afterward my friends will too.
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long as I
provide credit and sources back to your website?
My blog site is in the very same niche as yours and my visitors would genuinely benefit from a lot of the information you present here.
Please let me know if this ok with you. Thanks!
Wow, wonderful weblog layout! How lengthy have you been blogging for?
you made blogging look easy. The whole look of your web site is great, as neatly as the content material!
Have you ever thought about writing an e-book or guest authoring on other websites?
I have a blog based on the same information you discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information. I know
my audience would appreciate your work. If you’re even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an e mail.
I’m really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your weblog.
Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself?
Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see
a nice blog like this one these days.
Undeniably believe that which you stated. Your favorite
justification seemed to be on the internet the simplest
thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while people consider worries that they plainly do not
know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out the whole thing without having
side-effects , people could take a signal. Will likely be
back to get more. Thanks
There is definately a great deal to find out about this issue.
I really like all of the points you’ve made.
At this time it sounds like BlogEngine is the best blogging platform
available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re
using on your blog?
Ahaa, its nice conversation about this article at this place at this
blog, I have read all that, so now me also commenting at
this place.
This is my first time pay a quick visit at here and i am
actually impressed to read all at one place.
Hi, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and
i was just curious if you get a lot of spam comments? If so how do you prevent it,
any plugin or anything you can recommend? I get so much lately it’s driving me mad so any support
is very much appreciated.
I know this web page presents quality dependent articles and other stuff, is there any other website which presents these data in quality?
Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon every day.
It’s always helpful to read articles from other writers and use something from other
sites.
Undeniably imagine that that you stated. Your favorite justification seemed
to be at the web the simplest factor to have in mind of. I say to you, I definitely get irked even as other folks
think about worries that they plainly do not recognize about.
You controlled to hit the nail upon the top as well as outlined out the whole thing
with no need side effect , folks could take a signal.
Will likely be again to get more. Thank you
I am in fact pleased to glance at this weblog posts which
consists of lots of valuable information, thanks for providing these
kinds of information.
Thank you, I’ve just been looking for information about this topic for a long time and yours
is the best I’ve discovered till now. But, what concerning
the bottom line? Are you positive concerning the source?
My spouse and I stumbled over here different web address and thought
I should check things out. I like what I see so now i am following you.
Look forward to looking over your web page for a second time.
We’re a bunch of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community.
Your web site offered us with helpful information to
work on. You’ve done an impressive job and our entire neighborhood will likely be grateful to you.
You are so cool! I don’t suppose I’ve truly read anything like this before.
So nice to discover another person with a few genuine thoughts on this subject matter.
Seriously.. thank you for starting this up. This site is one thing that’s needed on the
internet, someone with some originality!
Incredible points. Sound arguments. Keep up the amazing work.
Awesome post.
Saved as a favorite, I love your blog!
Visit my web-site – free adult web cams
Its like you learn my thoughts! You appear to understand so much approximately this, like
you wrote the guide in it or something. I think that you simply can do with a few p.c.
to drive the message home a bit, however instead of that, that
is excellent blog. A fantastic read. I’ll definitely be back.
I have been surfing online more than three hours these days, but I by no means discovered any attention-grabbing article like yours.
It is lovely worth sufficient for me. In my opinion, if all website
owners and bloggers made excellent content as you probably did, the internet might be much more helpful than ever before.
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you penning this article plus
the rest of the site is really good.
My brother recommended I may like this web site.
He used to be totally right. This post truly made my day.
You can not imagine simply how a lot time I had spent for this information! Thank you!