In Defense of Puffy Eyes

I have puffy eyes today and I’d like to address them.  There is no need to assume the worst (the demise of  Big Red) or that I’m sick.  You do not need to ask if I am tired or if I forgot to wear make-up.  I am and I happen to be wearing it – thank you very much.

After dinner club@ Cari’s last night, which was predictably delicious, I stayed up really, really late to finish my book club’s book of the month, The Glass Castle.

I just couldn’t put it down; I absolutely had to finish it – regardless of how astonishingly late I had to stay up to do it…

Here’s the Q+DD on The Glass Castle:

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 family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents’ betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.

What is so amazing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity.  Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

For two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots.  Now she tells her own story.  A regular contributor to MSNBC.com, she lives in New York and Long Island and is married to the writer John Taylor.  (www.barnesandnoble.com)

The Glass Castle stayed on the New York Times Best Seller list for 100 weeks and is now under development as a film by Paramount.   By late 2007, The Glass Castle had sold over 1.5 million copies, had been translated into 16 languages, and received the Christopher Award, the American Library Association’s Alex Award (2006) and the Books for Better Living Award.  (www.wikipedia.com)

Water for Elephants still holds down my 2010 #1 spot, but TGC is a very close runner-up.  (WfE really had me pondering what the zebra running around downtown Atlanta last week must have been thinking…)

The Glass Castle is under 300 pages,a selling point for some, and it’s a story that is definitely worth reading.  In fact, it’s really hard to believe that it’s someone’s memoir.  I encourage you all to put it on your book list ASAP!

Good luck finishing it soon, LK!  Book club will be here before you know it… 

xx, L