Jeannette Walls

I was worried, going in, that moonshining was going to be glamorized in this book. It wouldn't be the first time; our distance from it, historically, has let a lot of people become ignorant of the bloody history of it all, and when movies and TV portray bootleggers, they often strip away most of the violence. (I have firsthand stories from my own grandfather that pulled no such punches, and hearing them gave me chills.) Happily, while the moonshiners in this book were not demonized, the show more violent lengths to which they were willing to go were also clearly depicted. I very much appreciated that, along with the skill the writer used to tread that line.

There was much left up in the air at the end, and many questions were left unanswered, but I still felt the ending was satisfying without being unrealistically neat. Did Sally eventually marry? Did the fighting between factions settle? I don't know, but the book concluded at a good place in the timeline, allowing for the future to be spun out in the reader's head. I left the book feeling happy to have read it (not synonymous with being made happy by the story itself, but in this case both were true), and I hope it receives wide readership. show less

Book. Hangover.

I loved it. What I especially liked was as we came to the end, not only had "us kids" flown the coop, landing in NYC (New Yawk City!), they'd made it. And by made it, I mean they'd worked, gone to school, and had found their way in a city where those from WV, or anywhere else quite honestly, might feel like iguanas transported to Antartica. As in, what do we do now? How do we survive?

After their upbringing by two of the most bizarre, strange parents I've ever read about - show more although I have somewhat changed my opinion of them being total losers - I thought for sure they'd all hightail it out of there. But. No. They succeeded, and quite spectacularly. Well, all of them except Maureen.

My eyes welled up when JW told her father she didn't want him doing the "skedaddle." It was one of those perfect reader moments where you're laughing and crying at the same time. My reason for changing my mind about the whack ball parents? I felt they did love "us kids," albeit in a bizarre way.

And the very last sentence of the story cinches it all together. "A wind picked up, rattling the windows, and the candle flames suddenly shifted, dancing along the border between turbulence and order."

Oh my heart. Perfection. show less

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 show more responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict". Cooking a meal that would be consumed in 15 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 astonishing 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. show less

Der innere Konflikt der Autorin, der sie jahrelang schweigen ließ, wird bereits in der Einleitung deutlich. An einem stürmischen Märzabend befindet sich die bekannte Kolumnistin Jeanette Walls auf dem Weg zu einer Party. Ihre Vorfreude weicht schlagartig, als sie vom Taxi aus die zerlumpte alte Frau mit dem verfilzten Haar erblickt, die gerade einen Müllcontainer durchwühlt. Sie erkennt die vertrauten Bewegungen, die Art, wie sie den Kopf schieflegt, um ihren Fund zu begutachten. show more Schockiert und beschämt kehrt Jeanette Walls in ihr nobles Appartment auf der Park Avenue zurück. The Party is over! -- Die Vergangenheit war zurückgekehrt. Die Pennerin auf der Straße war Jeanette Walls eigene Mutter. Eine Kindheit der etwas anderen Art zieht noch einmal vorüber. „Wir türmten ständig, meistens mitten in der Nacht!“ -- Ob solche Eltern für Jeanette und ihre beiden Geschwister (ein viertes kam später hinzu), eher Segen oder Fluch darstellten, mag der Leser entscheiden. Mit einer Art Hippie-Philosophie und einem nonkonformistischen Besserwissertum, das zuweilen nervt, ausgestattet, hatten Rex und Rose Mary Walls beschlossen, allem Konsum den Kampf anzusagen. Ein naturhaftes Leben „on the road“ sollte den Kinder „echte Werte“ vermitteln. Ein zwiespältiges Unterfangen bei einem Vater, der in lichten Momenten seinen Kindern die Welt erklärte, Sterne vom Himmel holte und ihnen ein „Schloß aus Glas“ versprach, dann wieder klaute wie ein Rabe, und sich in den finstersten Phasen seiner Trunksucht gar in einen regelrechten Berserker verwandeln konnte. Auch die Mutter, eine vor jeder Arbeit zurückscheuende verhinderte Künstlerin, bot kein rechtes Gegenmodell. Jeanette Walls indes beschloss rückblickend, die positiven Aspekte ihrer „Erziehung“ herauszustellen. Die ständige Flucht vor „den Handlangern, Blutsaugern, der Gestapo“, wie der Vater seine Verfolger verwünschte, die Nahrungsaufnahme aus Müllcontainern, die zerschlissene Kleidung -- das gewählte Außenseitertum gerät bei ihr nicht zum Mangel sondern zum Lebensgewinn. Wie das elterliche Fantasiegebäude erste Risse bekam und die allmähliche Abspaltung erfolgte, wird mit leisem Humor, großer erzählerischer Kraft und (nicht immer nachvollziehbarer) Liebe abgehandelt. Nach Nick Flynns literarisch schrofferen Bullshit Nights das zweite große Buch dieses Frühlings zum Thema Kindheitsbewältigung. --Ravi Unger show less