I heard Jeanette Walls speak at a literary event recently and it changed my perspective on life. I’m not trying to be grand but it really did. Not only because she spoke so honestly and earnestly about her past without a trace of bitterness but also because she spoke about the future and about what we can do with our lives. She firmly believes that everyone has a story worth telling. She advised us to use the bad things, our demons, and to turn them into something good. She inspired me to put my past into writing and take ownership over what I’ve gone through. I’ve honestly never met anyone like her; she is unbelievably genuine. During the event she told the audience that we could change our lives if we “stopped treating people like potential enemies and started treating everyone a potential friend”. Normally I’d cringe that sort of overly optimistic thinking and call it naïve. But she meant it.
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Since the event I’ve been reading her latest book and
googling her somewhat obsessively. I’m insanely jealous of Alex Witchel who was able to spend an
afternoon interviewing Jeanette Walls at her home and who met Rose Mary, her
infamous mother. But, then again, she works for the New York Times and I write
for a blog that we don’t even pay for so I suppose fair is fair. Jeanette Walls
has the exact life I want. She lives on a 205 acre horse farm in West Virginia
with her husband in their, as Witchel puts it, “tastefully restored farmhouse
[with] salvaged pine floors, soapstone counters [and] wood-burning fireplaces”.
But, of course, Jeanette Walls didn’t always have a life I envy.
Anyone who has read The
Glass Castle knows that Jeanette Walls grew up in the Southern states with
her loving, alcoholic father Rex and her unstable, “adventure addict”, artist mother Rose
Mary, moving, or doing the ”skedaddle”, on a more than regular basis. Jeanette’s closeness with her siblings is
evident in her book; Jeanette, Brian, Lori and Maureen took care of each other
more than their parents took care of them. Jeanette was asked about her
siblings in the Q & A portion of the event and she responded that “Brian
and Lori are doing very well and Maureen is in a safe, clean place and that’s
all I can say.” She admitted that she’s been trying to convince Maureen to move
in with her, her husband, her horses and her mom in Virginia. She has a wonderfully witty sense of humour and when she described trying to
convince her mother to move in with her she said first asked her to let
her take care of her. She said "of course Mom said no, and that she lived in the
most exciting city in the world [New York] so why would she ever leave?" (Readers of The Glass Castle know that Rex and Rose Mary were homeless and squatters in NYC). A few months
later Jeanette called her mother and said "Mom, I could really use some help with the horses". Her mother was on the next flight.
The Glass Castle begins
with Jeanette being hospitalized as a three year old after her dress caught on
fire when she was cooking herself hot dogs. Yes, at three years old she was
already cooking for herself. This episode sets the precedent for a childhood
where Jeanette and her siblings are given the tools by their parents but are
responsible themselves. Jeanette writes about how she loved the hospital for
its clean sheets and warm meals but her father couldn’t stand seeing her cooped
up in an institution and so the first “skedaddle” of the novel occurs when he
scoops her up and carries her out of there.
This essentially sets the stage for the novel; her father forces her to
leave a warm, safe place and her mother, upon her arrival home, commends her
for getting right back in the saddle and making herself some more hot dogs.
Interestingly, in the comments section of the New York
Times article there are many negative comments and people questioning the truth behind the
memoir. (Thanks for that, James Frey.) Funnily enough, Jeanette jokingly
admitted to obsessively reading Amazon reviews of her books online. To be honest I had my own questions about the
validity of the book when I first read it, too. I never thought she was lying,
per se, but I just didn’t understand how it
could possibly be true. The book is so raw and so real but at the same time so comical
and light hearted. I didn’t know a story could possibly be both and be true. I found myself laughing out loud at the pure
ridiculousness of three kids and an infant baby zooming down the highway in the back of an open UHaul
with a horrified stranger trying desperately to get their parent’s attention. I giggled when Jeanette went flying out of their car and gets dumped on the side of
the highway and no one notices her missing for miles. These aren't things I would normally laugh at but Jeanette's writing style tells the reader its okay to laugh.
It wasn’t until I read Witchel’s article that I understood how true the story really is. It was Witchel’s discussion with Rose Mary that cements The Glass Castle in truth and validates that this family really existed and still exists to this day. Jeanette brought Witchel to Rose Mary’s cottage on her Virginia property. Upon their arrival Rose Mary made excuses for her messy cottage and admits “I’m in the process of getting straightened out” she said. “I’m a natural-born collector, a lot of artists are. Picasso died in a 23-room castle. He went regularly to the dump, a man after my own soul.” Those words, that sentence, could have been a line straight out of The Glass Castle. The way Rose Mary at once shows her intelligence and her egocentricity, her awareness of her living space but her refusal to take ownership for it or feel any embarrassment reveals how perfectly Jeanette captures her mother’s voice in The Glass Castle.
It wasn’t until I read Witchel’s article that I understood how true the story really is. It was Witchel’s discussion with Rose Mary that cements The Glass Castle in truth and validates that this family really existed and still exists to this day. Jeanette brought Witchel to Rose Mary’s cottage on her Virginia property. Upon their arrival Rose Mary made excuses for her messy cottage and admits “I’m in the process of getting straightened out” she said. “I’m a natural-born collector, a lot of artists are. Picasso died in a 23-room castle. He went regularly to the dump, a man after my own soul.” Those words, that sentence, could have been a line straight out of The Glass Castle. The way Rose Mary at once shows her intelligence and her egocentricity, her awareness of her living space but her refusal to take ownership for it or feel any embarrassment reveals how perfectly Jeanette captures her mother’s voice in The Glass Castle.
After the event, I stood in line waiting to get my book
signed for two hours. And I was near
the front of the line. I felt like a twelve and a half year old waiting in line for Justin Bieber. Who waits for two hours? Well, I did. After the talk, I had to meet her. However, Jeanette wanted to meet, talk and take photos with everyone so it took quite a while. When she signed my well-read copy of The Glass Castle and my brand new copy of Half Broke Horses she said to me with a smile “I’m going to write
“push and pray” in here, it was grandma’s favourite saying”. She was
just as sweet and funny as she was on stage and I have to say; she really did
treat me, and everyone in that line,
like a potential friend.
PS: The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses and The Silver Star are all on sale at Chapters right now!
PPS: I highly recommened checking out the NY Times article in full: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/magazine/how-jeannette-walls-spins-good-stories-out-of-bad-memories.html?_r=0
PS: The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses and The Silver Star are all on sale at Chapters right now!
PPS: I highly recommened checking out the NY Times article in full: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/magazine/how-jeannette-walls-spins-good-stories-out-of-bad-memories.html?_r=0
Gotta book it!
xox
-Jem 
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