by Jeannette Walls
What a fabulous memoir! I loved how raw, honest, loving, sad, and complex it was. You really felt like you got to know this family, with all of their ups and downs. They were dirt poor, seemed very unstable much of the time, but you could not help seeing that there was love there. Love and admiration, despite the shortcomings of the author’s parents. I happen to love memoirs in general, and coming of age stories in particular, so this one resonated with me very much. It reminded me that so many of us come from dysfunctional families and backgrounds that were less than perfect. But we rose above it, and were able to take the good parts — the love, the laughter, and the memories — with us, and allow them to shape the person we have become in adulthood. This is a perfect comp for the book I’m presently writing!