This book was actually released three years ago, in 2005, but I just recently got around to reading it.  And I'm glad I did.  I normally don't read that many memoirs, and I don't know why that is, because I always seem to enjoy them.

While this one was well written and certainly didn't create overt sadness in the reader, it was still very disturbing.  It told the story of Jeannette Walls, her brother and two sisters and the dysfunctional childhood they experienced.  It had me shaking my head and convinced even more that some people simply should NOT have children.

The parents were not "abusive" per se...........they were both just totally oblivious when it came to any kind of parenting role.  They moved from place to place, slept in cars, falling-down shacks, etc.  AND yet, both the mother and father were extremely bright, intelligent and creative people.  In my opinion, they just had no common sense.  

The father was an alcoholic but when he was sober he was charismatic and captured his children's imagination teaching them physics, geology and how to embrace life fearlessly.  Had he worked and provided them with food, clothes and basic shelter, it would have been perfect.

Mom was a total free spirit.  More involved with herself as an artist, she made it clear she wanted nothing to do with the responsibility of raising children or providing a home life for them.

During parts of the book, I literally wanted to shake both parents and say, "Wake UP, people!  Give your poor children a life!"  And yet, during other parts, it was easy to understand they simply were not capable of doing so.  It made me strongly recall Maya Angelou's wonderful saying, "When you know better, you DO better."  That's the feeling I got about those parents.

However, somehow (and I never understand when this happens, but I'm so happy it does) the children protected each other, they grew and they developed into productive, worthwhile citizens.  The author is a regular contributor on MSNBC.  The father has since passed away.  Alcoholism finally killed him.  And the mom............she's a street person in NYC.  The author has attempted numerous times to help her, get her housing, etc.  The mother is perfectly happy and content with the lifestyle she carved out for herself.  I say, go figure.  But then...........who am I to judge. 

And I think that was the biggest lesson I got from reading this book.  We are WHO we are, for good or bad.  We all start out in different places in life...........but it's truly where we end up that makes life meaningful.  But more important, where one person ends up doesn't make it better or worse than another.  It's just our own individual destiny.

If you're looking for a great memoir, told with truthfulness and even a bit of humor, I'd strongly recommend this one.  And if you happened to have already read it...........I'd be very interested to hear what you thought by leaving a comment.

See you here next time..............