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

The Bottom Line: The bottom line is that I really don't like this book, despite it being very well written.

Review: 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 200 pages. I do not...

Pros: a straightforward memoir that refuses to become maudlin

Cons: none

The Bottom Line: Don't miss Jeannette Walls's compelling memoir of growing up on the edge of homelessness.

Review: 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...

Pros: I highly recommend this book.

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: The Glass Castle: A Memoir is an amazing book and I will never, ever forget Jeanette Walls' story.

Review: I just finished reading The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls and I have to say, I am overwrought with emotion and absolutely floored by the book. The Glass Castle is Walls' memoir, and she shares her life story, which is...

Pros: An engaging life story that is incredibly amazing.

Cons: Lack of emotion leaves the reader disconnected with the author.

The Bottom Line: This is a definite recommend-- you will hug your kids tighter after reading it.

Review:
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...

Pros: Well-told, unemotional account of a horrific childhood

Cons: No way to verify anything

The Bottom Line: Frank McCourt, and now Jeannette Walls... how many other stories of childhood horror are there?

Review: 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

The Bottom Line: The Bottom Line got more emotional over fictitious abuse in other novels than over real suffering.

Review: 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.

The Bottom Line: The Glass Castle is definitely worth reading. I wonder how much of the story is embellished but, at the end of the day, it's a fascinating book.

Review: 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...

Pros: Well-told story of her childhood.

Cons: Might make you uncomfortable.

The Bottom Line: If you're ready to read an honest memoir of a less than ideal childhood, you probably can't do better than this one.

Review: 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: Very well written and entertaining. Witty and occasionally funny.

Cons: Seems a little far fetched.

The Bottom Line: Jeannette Walls has apparently graduated with honors from the school of hard knocks.

Review: 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...

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.

The Bottom Line: It's an interesting story, but at the end I feel manipulated rather than enlightened.

Review: 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...