Biography & Memoir· United States
The Glass Castle
by Jeannette WallsAggregate Editorial Score45/100
Goodreads Choice Award
Published 2005347 pagesEnglish
Buy on Amazon → About This Book
Published in 2005, The Glass Castle established Jeannette Walls as one of the defining voices in biography & memoir. Walls recounts her wildly unconventional childhood—moving constantly across the American West and South with her brilliant, alcoholic father and eccentric mother—with remarkable clarity and without self-pity. One of the most remarkable memoirs of the twenty-first century. Themes of childhood, poverty, family run through the work. The book has received recognition from Goodreads Choice Award 2005.
Book Details
About the Category
✍️ Biography & Memoir
True accounts of real lives, told by the subject or a biographer.
Explore all Biography & Memoir books →Country of Origin
🇺🇸 United States
This book is part of United States's rich literary tradition.
Explore books from United States →Editorial Assessment
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls sits within the tradition of biography & memoir that treats language as seriously as plot. Published in 2005 in United States, it engages with childhood, poverty, family, freedom in ways that have earned it lasting critical attention.
Critics and institutions have consistently placed The Glass Castle among the notable works of its period. Among its recognitions: Goodreads Choice Award 2005. Our aggregate score of 45/100 is compiled from 1 editorial sources that range from Nobel and Booker committees to leading literary journals.
What distinguishes The Glass Castle is how it handles its central concerns — childhood, poverty, family, freedom — without reducing them to neat conclusions. The book invites close reading and holds up well to it.
Jeannette Walls's role in the literature of United States is well established. The Glass Castle can be read as both a standalone achievement and as part of a broader national literary conversation about identity, history, and the possibilities of narrative form.
About this assessment: Editorial scores are aggregated from 1 independent sources including major literary prizes, critical surveys, and leading publications. Our editorial team reviews and contextualises this data. Rankings reflect critical consensus, not personal opinion or popularity metrics. Learn about our methodology.
Awards & Recognition
Goodreads Choice Award
notable · global
200517
Jeannette Walls is a celebrated author from United States known for influential works of biography memoir.
What to Read Next
literary-fiction
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Ocean Vuong· 2019
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score93/100
biography-memoir
The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between
Hisham Matar· 2016
★Pulitzer Prize
Editorial Score91/100
biography-memoir
Orange Is the New Black
Piper Kerman· 2010
★Women's Prize for Fiction
Editorial Score90/100
biography-memoir
Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster
Svetlana Alexievich· 1997
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score89/100
biography-memoir
Unbowed: A Memoir
Wangari Maathai· 2006
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score78/100
biography-memoir
Schindler's Ark
Thomas Keneally· 1982
★Booker Prize
Editorial Score76/100
Frequently Asked Questions
Popular on 50 Best Books
Best Science Fiction Books of All TimeScience FictionBooker Prize Winners — Complete List & GuideLiterary PrizesNobel Prize in Literature — Every Winner Since 1901Literary PrizesClassic Literature Reading List — 50 Essential BooksReading GuidesBest Books for Beginners — 20 Easy Reads for New BookloversReading Guides