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 author of "A Girl with a Bad Reputation" specializes in character- driven stories that explore the complexities of life and relationships. While his novels feature characters of all ages, he finds young characters to be particularly fertile ground creatively, as they navigate the challenges of young adulthood. These stories allow readers to witness the characters' quest for understanding, as they question the unexpected events that shape their lives and the lives of others. Having grown up an Army brat, moving every two or three years with his family as his father's assignments changed, the author developed a knack for quickly making new friends. This upbringing instilled in him a deep curiosity about human nature and a genuine interest in people from various societies and cultures. Through his extensive travels, he has met countless individuals whose stories, along with his own life experiences, inspire the narratives in his novels. The author hopes that readers ...