Jeannette Walls Message Board
april keating posts on 4/24/2009 3:30:47 PM
Jeanette, I want to tell you how much I enjoyed your book. I have three children. I was raised under similar circumstances, and I feel that it is actually better to have kids raised with less rather than more. Your parents were dysfunctional, but artistic and intelligent. They loved you and taught you to think outside the box. There is no better education than that. My mother was an artist and also dysfunctional and it was feast or famine. I grew up really seeing the world and not being tricked by appearances and hemmed in by convention, which is the blessing of having a non-traditional upbringing. In later life, I homeschooled my kids and tried to raise them to be open-minded and artistic and see through the BS, but life is hard on people who really see. I feel sorry that life was so hard for you and your siblings. I could cry for you as children, but I am happy for the blessings it brought you. I know, for I experienced much of what you went through.
I would love to see Lori's art. I was so proud of Brian when he became a policeman. I hope Maureen is doing well.
Email me sometime if you have time. I, too, look forward to your next book.
Mary posts on 4/21/2009 9:47:16 PM
I went to Welch Elementary w/Maureen. I remember her as an intelligent person and an outstanding artist. I also went to St. Peter's Catholic Church w/Maureen and made First Communion w/her. I still have the picture. She wore a yelow dress and had a circle of daisies around her head. I often wondered what happened to her. Even though I was very young I knew Maureen had a difficult life. I hope she is doing better.
Rita H. posts on 3/21/2009 12:55:45 PM
Ms. Walls, I love your book. It makes me think about life and the choices we make. I love how you wrote about your parents in a compassionate light. I come from a third world country and I agree with you when you said that homeless people have a choice and for some of them, that is how they choose to live. You can put food on the table if you choose to. I hope Maureen is ok. You are a very strong woman. I admire you very much.
Teresa posts on 3/17/2009 9:13:32 PM
I experienced a gamut of emotions while reading this book. I am saddened that this happened to children who have not made bad choices but do have to live with them and somehow move past their experiences. Some children for one reason or another are not so resilient, and suffer much longer, it always is a source of grief. I would like to know what happened to Maureen, she seemed so fragile. Bless you and your family.
Jerry posts on 1/18/2009 8:40:05 PM
I read the book in two days, and I'm a guy. :)
But I loved it. I worked not to far from Welch, West Virginia. I worked near Battle Mountain, Nevada, and I found it fascinating that your Dad was working on heap leaching which is the way that gold is extracted from the ore today!
So, I loved the book!
martina burin posts on 12/30/2008 7:17:09 PM
Dear Jeannette,
I loved your book, it is one of my favorites and I have read many! I have been reliving your story in my mind these past few days; it is so vivid! So many questions come up. After reading other peoples questions, this one has not come up that I've seen.
Did you ever know your mothers brother who inherited the other house in Pheonix? Did he have a good character, or exhibit similar traits as your Mom? Did he have kids?
Thanks, and if you wrote a sequel about your family, especially more about Maureen, I'd buy it in a heartbeat!
Marilyn Skadra posts on 12/9/2008 6:28:17 PM
I just read your book Glass Castle and could not put it down - I read it in one day. What an amazing story. You are an amazing person for having overcome your early years. I kept thinking this has to be true as no one could make up such a life. I'm so glad your experience profoundly affected you in a positive way. You are amazing.
Danny Jurmann posts on 11/4/2008 4:01:12 PM
Dear Mrs Taylor,
Like many I enjoyed your book. I do not choose to judge your parents. I have known a few homeless people, the ones I knew were nice though all of them were drug addicts. To be homeless is not the same as worthless and to be an addict or homeless does not make one ignorant. Neither of course does it make one noble.
I do not know what I think as yet...it is still filtering through a drop at a time, but for that thoughtfulness I thank you. May it provoke the same in others.
Danny
J.M. Thomas posts on 7/6/2008 2:53:10 PM
I would like you to know that there is a small town in Wisconsin where there is someone who will never know that just adores, praises, and sincerely embraces you, your family and all that you have generously written about. I sure that when you were making your own home remedy braces that you didn't know how many lives you were going to touch and each day was a day closer to doing just that.
Hayoung Jang posts on 6/17/2008 1:06:33 AM
Ms. Walls, you look alike your mother when your mother married your father, and the painting of your father that your mother drew looks like your father really. I have two children: one just turned nine, the other four years old. As others, I also cannot wait to read the Glass Castle, the only time I can be from my work, housechores, my children and husband. I am nowadays thniking about my ways of raising my children. Am I being too nice to them and so my children are being deprived of any chances to become a free, independent,and strong person? You must be a great writer, because you are affecting me and my life. Also, I highly respect your courage to confess your past and your mother, too, who said, "Tell them truth." Thank you. You fascinated even a foreigner whose first language is not English. Thank you.
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