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 fami...

#Deeply Disappointing (2008-11-21) After reading so many positive reviews for this book, I was deeply disappointed by the content and writing style. The four-word sentences and atrocious punctuation were torture for me. The author may have wanted the memoir to be from a child s perspective but the childish writing style was simply too much to bear. And this from a professional writer? Easily eighty percent of the commas could have been deleted from this book with only beneficial results. Also I found the book to be completely incredible. Walls describes in detail lighting he...

#One of the best books I ve read in 2008 (2008-11-20) Walls writes with a keen eye and a warm heart, I could not put this book down. Easily on my top 10 list, I plan to give this book to those readers on my Christmas list. Highly recommended!!

#an amazing story of courage and perserverance. (2008-11-18) This tear jerking tale was one that brought tears to my eyes. The fact that the tale is true is just as amazing as Janette Walls herself. Many people go through times in their lives where they need courage, and if they are lucky they find it. Janette Walls had a childhood and adult life that have both called for an abundance of courage. Infact it seams that was the one constant in her life, she is a person of amazing strength in both living her life and telling this humbeling story. I will keep this book forever and read it...

#Cant put it down!!!! (2008-11-18) Cant stop reading it and I am totally carried away by the value of Wall s family. The story is so touching and full of energy. Thumbs up!!!

#Best Book all year (2008-11-15) The Glass Castle is the best book by far I have read all year. I couldn t put it down one of those I can t believe she survived books! It is a wonderful story, tear-jerker, a must read and a great book club book, you will definitely come away with your own sense of thankfulness for your own well-being.

I tell of a time, a place, and a way of life long gone. For many years I have had the urge to describe that treasure trove, lest it vanish forever. So, partly in response to the basic human instinct to share feelings and experiences, and partly for the sheer joy and excitement of it all, I report on my early life. It was quite a romp.So begins Mildred Kalish’s story of growing up on her grandparents’ Iowa farm during the depths of the Great Depression. With her father banished from the household for mysterious transgressions, five-year-old Mildred and her family could easily have been overwhelmed by the challenge of simply trying to survive. This, however, is not a tale of suffering.Kalish counts herself among the lucky of that era. She had caring grandparents who possessed—and valiantly tried to impose—all the pioneer virtues of their forebears, teachers who inspired and befriended her, and a barnyard full of animals ready to be tamed and loved. She and her siblings and their ...

#Wonderful Book (2008-11-21) Bought this for my mother-in-law, and she absolutely loved it. The stories brought back memories of her own childhood. Wish I could give this ten stars for her!

#enjoyable (2008-10-19) a great read, sort of like an updated Little House for the adult reader. Details about farm life including recipes & the like, but full of antics and stories of family life as well. overall, the author seems too disgruntled with her upbringing and almost makes that the overtone of the book. a fun book though.

#Excellent memoir (2008-10-13) Little Heathens by Millie Kalish is a wonderful book about the author s life on an Iowa farm in the 1930 s. She makes the setting and times come alive and I especially enjoyed getting a glimpse of my parent s generation and what their childhood might have been like. The values she was taught as a child enabled her to become a member of the armed forces, go to college and become a college professor. Her family offered love and support to its members in times that were very challenging. This proves that it doesn t take a lot of money to become a succes...

#Outstanding, and a reminder of what builds character ! (2008-10-12) My wife borrowed a copy of Little Heathens from our daughter, read it, and said I might like to read it. I did, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It s very well-written, humorous, heart-warming, and. . . a reminder of how life can be lived, and enjoyed, even in very difficult times. I m sure it will be especially interesting to those who, like me, grew up in the Depression.

#A clear-eyed and unsentimental look at the past (2008-10-10) It would be a mistake to read this book through the lens of nostalgia. Certainly the childhood Kalish describes is very appealing, particularly her commentaries on how her family fostered thrift and independence. It s always tempting to think that the past is somehow a better place. However few of us, I suspect, would wish to return to a time when a failed marriage could mark a woman for life (and Kalish is clear about the effect of this on her mother) or when one measure of a woman s worth was the degree of shine on her ...

Imagine a young boy who has never had a loving home. His only possesions are the old, torn clothes he carries in a paper bag. The only world he knows is one of isolation and fear. Although others had rescued this boy from his abusive alcoholic mother, his real hurt is just begining -- he has no place to call home. This is Dave Pelzer s long-awaited sequel to A Child Called It. In The Lost Boy, he answers questions and reveals new adventures through the compelling story of his life as an adolescent. Now considered an F-Child (Foster Child), Dave is moved in and out of five different homes. He suffers shame and experiences resentment from those who feel that all foster kids are trouble and unworthy of being loved just because they are not part of a real family. Tears, laughter, devastation and hope create the journey of this little lost boy who searches desperately for just one thing -- the love of a family.

#The Lost Boy (2008-11-11) Oh how I felt for this child. My heart was torn in two. Child abuse just astounds me. How does it happen. And then the ignorance of the legal system! The school dragging their feet along, knowing something was wrong. I cried through this book.

#From A Boy Called It To Foster Child And Grown Man - An Inspiring And Motivational True Story (2008-09-14) Some of the writing is uneven, the plot a little bit disjointed, but in fairness to the author, he is writing from the perspective of a twelve-year-old boy. This book is vitally important, because there still isn t much in the way of non-fiction written by grown men who were abused as children. Their needs are completely different from those of girls. Pelzer s reaction to being placed into his first foster home - literally bouncing off the walls, jumping on all the beds, is...

#This is a great follow up! (2008-08-29) I also enjoyed this book as much as A Child Called IT. This also made me cry as much as as the first one. I could not put it down as well.

#The Lost Boy: A Foster Child s search for the love of a family (2008-08-24) This book among others written by Dave have left me riveted. I can t put them down. All I see is a man who has overcome the circumstances placed before him. He is such an inspiration, I only wish more people would read his books and make something out of their lives, instead of playing the victim (which is much easier to do)

#Inspiring. (2008-08-14) The Lost Boy: A Foster Child s Search for the Love of a Family by Dave Pelzer is a sequel to the heartbreaking memoir, A Child Called It. Pelzer explains what happened after he was taken away by his abusive mother and neglectful father. This book is really uplifting and moving. I highly recommend this fascinating story and his quest to find a foster family who will love him unconditionally. Enjoy!

From one of the most beloved and bestselling authors in the English language, a vivid, nostalgic, and utterly hilarious memoir of growing up in the 1950sBill Bryson was born in the middle of the American century—1951—in the middle of the United States—Des Moines, Iowa—in the middle of the largest generation in American history—the baby boomers. As one of the best and funniest writers alive, he is perfectly positioned to mine his memories of a totally all-American childhood for 24-carat memoir gold. Like millions of his generational peers, Bill Bryson grew up with a rich fantasy life as a superhero. In his case, he ran around his house and neighborhood with an old football jersey with a thunderbolt on it and a towel about his neck that served as his cape, leaping tall buildings in a single bound and vanquishing awful evildoers (and morons)—in his head—as The Thunderbolt Kid. Using this persona as a springboard, Bill Bryson re-creates the life of his family and his native ...

#Maybe its not quite my era (2008-11-17) I do enjoy Bryson s writing, and have thoroughly enjoyed his other work. And I do enjoy the writing in this book. However. . . why am I not laughing so hard at this book? My boyhood in the 60s was just under ten years removed from the world Bryson describes. Yet so much of what he describes was real about my world, too. I, like him, feel keenly the passing of a world and a way of life that was decent and enjoyable. Perhaps it is that bittersweet aspect of it all that makes this book less of a laugher for me. I have to say that the bo...

#a book to savor, but... (2008-11-10) this book chokes me up. I seem to recall some rich times in my childhood, only I find it hard to think about my childhood because of the many violent episodes visited upon me by my hard-drinking parents. I guess I ve spent the last 40 years forgetting the first ten. It literally hurts me to read of someone s normal and happy childhood. I finished the book today, came home and got drunk. . thanks mom and dad. In a way I wish I never read the book,. . I have this irrational fantasy that everyone else got beat up all time by their drunk parents, ...

#The always funny Bill Bryson (2008-11-08) I have to say that I love Bill Bryson s work. He never fails to make me laugh out loud. His work is funny, witty, smart, and he always seems to find the irony in life. I actually tend to get his audio books, because his stories seem best told orally. However, I did buy the paperback of his Thunderbolt Kid. This book did not fail me.

#Excellent Book (2008-10-31) Growing up in Des Moines, Iowa during this time period I could relate to most of the places mentioned and the book had me lauging harder than I have in years. It is the first book I ve actually enjoyed enough to finish in years.

#Very...well, Bryson (2008-10-14) Bill Bryson s first book The Lost Continent starts with the line I came from Des Moines, Iowa. Somebody had to. We now get the slightly exaggerated childhood and adolescence of Bill Bryson, aka The Thunderbolt Kid (in his own mind anyway) in Des Moines in the 1950s, when life in the USA for the average person was at its very best and unequalled anywhere else. Mr. Bryson presents an affectionate picture of the now-disappeared small(ish)-town America in the pre-McDonald s era, before Everywhere became like Everywhere Else. I confess that I am a suck...

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. So at the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor’s bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed. The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year-round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull, an electroshock therapy machine could provide entertainment. The funny, harrowing, and bestselling account of an ordinary boy’s survival under the most extraordinary circumstances… Running with Scissors AcknowledgmentsGratitude doesn’t begin to describe it: Jennifer Enderlin, Christopher Schelling, John Murphy, Gregg Sullivan, Kim Cardascia, Michael Storrings, and everyone at St. Martin’s Press. Thank you: Lawrence David, Suzann...

#Wonderful read for good laughs (2008-11-10) A little awkward during some sections, but funny/ witty throughout its entirety. If you like reading about things that seem crazy, this is a MUST read for you.

#? (2008-11-07) talk about WEIRD childhood. . . . reading this book left me blank. . . . i don t know if i hate it or love it. . . . . this is weird because i usually feel strongly one way or another. . . . i guess that what makes this book controversial. . . . i am going to watch the movie and see how the director sees the book. . . . . i am sure it will be interesting to watch.

#A Childhood Undesired: A Review of Running with Scissors (2008-10-28) A boy sits and watches his mother get ready for a night out. The smells remind him of abandonment. Her actions fill him with jealousy. The boy needs some control over his life and the only things he can grasp are his physical appearance. Panicking if a hair is out of place and disgusted if he notices a stain on his clothes. He feels comfort in knowing he determines is outer presence, for the inner part of him is slowly being broken. Life as he knows it is soon going to be changed forever. This boy is A...

#A humorous romp through an unusual childhood (2008-10-18) Running With Scissors is an outstanding book. It s laugh-out-loud hilarious, often shocking and, at times, sad. There are enough unusual surprises in the book that I don t want to ruin them for you by giving away plot lines. Suffice to say, there s twists and turns along the way that are stranger than fiction. A similar book I enjoyed was When You Are Engulfed in Flames

#Liked the Movie Better (2008-09-30) By Valley Gay Press Book Reviewer Liz Bradbury (Author of Angel Food and Devil Dogs - A Maggie Gale Mystery)The movie got dozens of poor reviews at Amazon, where readers of the book insisted the book was so much better. I happened to like the movie so I figured the book would be great. It was good, but I liked the movie better. The book, an autobiographical work that describes Augusten Burroughs bizarre adolescence, features a mother that is so dysfunctional, Joan Crawford seems like June Cleaver. Mom dumps Augusten at the home of her warped th...