| 
 enlarge | Author: Jeannette Walls
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $3.00
You Save: $12.00 (80%)
New (97) Collectible (7) from $5.39
Avg. Customer Rating:  1091 reviews
Sales Rank: 85
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 074324754X
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.82092
EAN: 9780743247542
ASIN: 074324754X
Publication Date: January 9, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: PB Jeannette Walls. Cover is bent, worn on edges, some water stains on back pages and subsequent curling, pages are clean, tight binding. (RG-8/08)
|
| Customer Reviews:
 An Inside View of One Crazy Family August 10, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This was a very interesting but also disturbing memoir about a very strange mother and an alcoholic father raising a family of four and barely scraping by needlessly. Jeannette tells about her childhood from a child's point of view and does an excellent job of communicating the feelings she had towards her parents and their situation. Her dad was a very smart man, but drunk a lot which caused him to have difficulty holding a job and neglected his children. He'd talk about big plans, but did little in handling everyday problems.
The mother was selfish, thinking mostly of just herself, choosing to live in poverty instead of selling land she inherited. She'd rather see her children go without food that get a job. Her priorities were all mixed up.
This was a sad book from the standpoint of the parents being so pathetic. It seemed as though the kids had more sense than they did. Reading her story made me even more grateful for the parents I had and I couldn't help but think that could have very well have been the life my foster sisters and brother may have had if my parents hadn't taken them in. It is disturbing to me that kids actually live in conditions such as in this book.
The author shares many unusual experiences which made for a very interesting book.
On my "favorites" shelf! August 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm not going to REtell the story here, or even sum it up as others have done, but I will throw my thoughts of it out there. This is one of my absolute favorite books! I read this book one night in Iraq. I could relate to her life story in so many ways that I just absolutely HAD to finish that book! Now, while stationed in southern Baghdad you don't really have a whole lot of extra time on your hands- especially not LARGE chunks of time and especially not me. You know a book is dang good when you find time to read it in Iraq!!
This is one book that I keep repurchasing and am, in fact, buying another copy today. When I enjoy a book, I'll pass it around to everyone else who I think would like it. Eventually, everyone I know has read the book and that's just one more connection we all have to each other. My friends are all so different, that it's very rare when we all agree on something- but we ALL agree that this book is outstanding! That goes to show you how this book can affect all types of people. Practically anyone can relate to this book in at least one way or another.
All in all- this book gets the highest of ratings on my scale! I always try to keep an extra copy handy just in case I need to lend it out again :) I also keep a copy on my shelf of "must read favorites".
Loved this book!
~*luci*~
a must read August 8, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Simply put: you MUST read this book! It's the best I have read in a very long time. You will not be dissapointed.
wow! August 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Walls' book is as revealing as it gets. This book evokes the gamut of emotions and should be read by anyone who considers their family dysfuncional. The story is well-told and clearly written.
An unforgettable book. August 3, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The author, her sisters Lori and Maureen and her brother Brian were raised by parents who were dreamers. And of course, dreams do not pay the rent or feed the family. The children were often hungry (imagine eating Wonder bread and lard sandwiches), dirty, and dressed in hand-me-down clothes. Each child learned to cope in their own way with their extreme poverty, their father's alcoholism and extended absences, and their mother's moody and abstract sense of reality.
|
|
|
