Walls’ father, Rex, a major character in this book, is charismatic, loving, intelligent and seemingly the perfect father - until he starts in on the bottle. The transparency of the glass acts as another embracing metaphor: Walls was able to see through her father’s lies and loose promises of a better life and a false implication that her parents were suited to raise children. A castle of fantasy, magic and luxury - everything their lives were not. (Apr.The title is symbolic of Walls and her siblings’ relationship with their father. 'Being homeless is an adventure.' Agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh.

Still, it wasn't long before their parents appeared on their doorsteps. One by one, each child escaped to New York City. Buck-toothed Jeannette even tried making her own braces when she heard what orthodontia cost. The Walls children learned to support themselves, eating out of trashcans at school or painting their skin so the holes in their pants didn't show. Apartment walls so thin they heard all their neighbors? What a bonus-they'd 'pick up a little Spanish without even studying.' Why feed their pets? They'd be helping them 'by not allowing them to become dependent.' While Walls's father's version of Christmas presents-walking each child into the Arizona desert at night and letting each one claim a star-was delightful, he wasn't so dear when he stole the kids' hard-earned savings to go on a bender. With a fantastic storytelling knack, Walls describes her artist mom's great gift for rationalizing. Her father was a self-taught man, a would-be inventor who could stay longer at a poker table than at most jobs and had 'a little bit of a drinking situation,' as her mother put it.

She opens her memoir by describing looking out the window of her taxi, wondering if she's 'overdressed for the evening' and spotting her mother on the sidewalk, 'rooting through a Dumpster.' Walls's parents-just two of the unforgettable characters in this excellent, unusual book-were a matched pair of eccentrics, and raising four children didn't conventionalize either of them. Freelance writer Walls doesn't pull her punches.

The castle of glass book