THE GLASS CASTLE is a memoir about Jeannette Walls experiences growing up in an incredibly dysfunctional family. Her father was a chronic alcoholic, and her mother was a bit of a free spirit who never really seems to want the responsibility comes with having a family and being a mother. Jeannette tells her story of growing up with her three brothers and sisters in this crazy house.
To give an example how dysfunctional this family is, when Jeannette was only about three years old her mother let her boil hotdogs on the stove by herself, which ended up in horrible situation, Jeannette got severe burns, and she has scars of that for the rest of her life. Her parents always believed that it is good for kids to learn from their own mistakes and just to grow as individuals, which is a good idea in itself but her parents took this to a completely different level.
On one side there is a terrible dysfunctional family, however at the same time her parents did have some interesting insight and at times they acted like a compassionate and interesting being, but they ended up taking some horrible decisions.
This memoir lacks self-reflection, but at places it helps the reader to draw his own conclusion. It is very well put together, incredibly engrossing and beautifully written.