The Glass Castle: A Memoir (book)

THE BELOVED #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER--FROM THE AUTHOR OF HANG THE MOON

The extraordinary, one-of-a-kind, "nothing short of spectacular" (Entertainment Weekly) memoir from one of the world's most gifted storytellers.

The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.

The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.

The Glass Castle is truly astonishing--a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family.

The memoir was also made into a major motion picture from Lionsgate in 2017 starring Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, and Naomi Watts.

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288 pages

Average rating: 8.18

686 RATINGS

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35 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

Anonymous
Nov 29, 2024
8/10 stars
I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I picked up this book, you never are when it comes to memoirs. Most are on the hokey side and you can't be sure of the validity of the tale. But this one? This book, even if every word were an all-out lie, I would still find it impossible to dislike it.
BaB
Jul 18, 2024
9/10 stars
The movie was good. Nothing like the book however. Must be viewed as two separate things.
jen.reads
May 29, 2024
9/10 stars
Story of growing up poor in a non traditional, eccentric family. Loved this one
/300kN3r6
Apr 24, 2024
10/10 stars
Screaming crying and throwing up but it’s a book...
Anonymous
Mar 13, 2024
6/10 stars
Less a coming-of-age story and more a diary about growing up in poverty. These kind of stories are not my jam and I should probably stop reading them.

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