AUTHOR: Jeannette Walls
PUBLISHER: Scribner
DATE: January 9, 2006
FORMAT: Paperback
PAGES: 288
SOURCE: Bought
(Goodreads Synopsis)Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn’t stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an “excitement addict.” Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.
Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town—and the family—Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents’ betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.
Oh. My. God. Jeannette Walls has written one astonishing book. I am so surprised I have never heard of this and it seems very weird it isn't as hyped as it should be. This could just be the fact that it came out 8 years ago and I was only six when that happened but I mean IT IS AMAZING. The story is so compelling i could not get enough, I ate it like a fat kid on cake. The way Jeannette wrote her story was even better. she really got down into the nitty gritty pieces in some parts, but left out the more less important parts which made the story sooo much better. Although a great memoir, it was kind of depressing. I really couldn't find the hope in the story so that made me a little gloomy I must say. Despite the sadness, there was eventually a light at the end of the tunnel. A very, kind of, dim light only seen through a microscope?? This book opened my eyes to what some people have to face, and made me fell so blessed and fortunate to have what I have. You really never know what lays behind a single persons set of eyes, or the clothes they wear, and this book will help you learn to respect the less fortunate. Crazy good book. Read it.
