The Glass Castle

I really loved this book! The funniest thing about this book to me is that I couldn't figure out why I liked it so much while I was reading it. It is the story of a very strange family. The story is told by one of four children, a daughter. The parents have a very different idea of what their responsibilities are in the raising their children. Feeding them, clothing them and providing for them is not necessarily on the list. It does seem very important to them that they be smart, even if it is just so they can outsmart different authorities. This could have been a fairly common sort of story about a dysfunctional family and how the daughter, Jeanette overcomes her difficult beginnings to become an outstanding person. We have heard that story before and probably will again. It is a good story, we all like to hear how people overcome obstacles. What is different about this one though is that Jeannette Walls tells her story with great humor and love. I never found myself laughing out loud while reading Angela's Ashes or An Ordinary Man, both of which were good books, but I did while I was reading this book. The parents do some bizarre things that I have to say make for an interesting and entertaining story, such as the time the family is driving a long and the author falls out of the car and it takes awhile for the parents to figure out she is gone, but again it is the ability that the author has to tell us these stories without bitterness and with great humor that made this book a new favorite for me.

The parents undoubtedly had some serious psychological issues but they somehow did produce amazing children. As much as the parents bothered me I felt like they did love their children, especially the father. They just somehow how had a bizarre idea of what their job description as parents were. I would definitely recommend this one, especially if you have kids. I promise it will make you feel like you are the parent of the year!

If you want to read some more review on this book from our blogging book club you can go here.