The Glass Castle is a 2005 memoir by American author Jeannette Walls. Walls recounts her dysfunctional and nomadic yet vibrant upbringing, emphasizing her resilience and her father's attempts toward redemption. Despite her family's flaws, their love for each other and her unique perspective on life allowed her to create a successful life of her own, culminating in a career in journalism in New York City. The book's title refers to her father's ultimate unfulfilled promise, to build his dream home for the family: a glass castle.
The Glass Castle has received broad readership and positive critical feedback for Walls' balanced perspective on the positives and negatives of her childhood.[1][2][3] It has been used in North American grade school curriculum, leading to some controversy, as The Glass Castle was listed No. 9 on the Office for Intellectual Freedom's list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books in 2012.[4] Noted reasons for challenging the book include its "offensive language" and being "sexually explicit".[4]
The memoir spent over 260 weeks in hardcover on The New York Times Best Seller list, and it remained on the paperback nonfiction bestseller list until October 10, 2018, having remained for 440 weeks.[5][6][7] By late 2007, The Glass Castle had received many awards, including the Christopher Award, the American Library Association's Alex Award (2006), and the Books for Better Living Award.[8]
The Glass Castle was adapted as a feature film, released in the summer of 2017, starring Brie Larson as Jeannette Walls.[9]
