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Venus Belongs to Walls "My parents, Rose Mary and Rex Walls, and their wedding day - 1956". There it is. A photo of a young couple, in love, flush with promise. The bride looking shy at the camera. The groom, square jawed and filled with good humor. It's stunning to think that this handsome, newly married couple, would live their lives in squalor, alcholism and dreams. This picture is very much part of the story of Jeannette Walls and her family, as it sets the tone on the very first page of this wonderful, heartbreaking memoir. Jeannette's sisters Lori, Maureen and brother Brian, endured a childhood that could have been torn out of the history pages citing the Great Depression. It's hard to believe that these were the 1960's and 1970's in America. Starvation, bad hygiene, and lack of personal safety was an everyday habit in the Walls home - or homes - since they moved from town to town. The kid's upbringing was almost literally, either sink or swim. Much like the wind blown Joshua Tree they saw by the side of the road during one of their family "skadaddles", the kids grew against the force, became tough, and learned survivial despite the adversities. Both parents were incredibly bright and talented beings. Sadly, they had big schemes on which they could never follow through. Rex Walls was a mathematician who came from a squalor home in West Virginia, and Rose Mary was a prolific artist who was raised in an upper middle class family out west. What seemed to bond them was an adamant need to spurn the norms of society. This resulted in an inability to stay at the same job for long, so they'd lose their homes, and shack up in their car or any broken down house they could find. This meant the children suffered. They'd be taken out of school. They'd have no money for clothes or food. School children or other family members would abuse them, physically or sexually. Father, a raging drunk, drank up all the money they made. All the long range plans they devined would either die out or be scratched, such as the building of a glass castle that Rex had drawn meticulous plans for. When they finally managed to move into a ramshackled home with a backyard, Rex and his kids began to dig a hole for the foundation of this little palace, only for the job to be abandoned. The ditch was ultimately turned into their own landfill when they didn't have tax money for municiple garbage removal. It's quite a metaphor for their lives - dreams left abandoned for garbage. Yet, despite all the trouble and strife, one theme remains consistant: their love for each other was strong. The family, kids especially, stood by each other through all the bad times. The stories unfold with a pure voice, no judgement or bitterness clouds Walls' telling of her family. Each horrible, enraging moment is given a morsel of wonder, such as her father giving her the planet Venus as a Christmas present when he was broke, or making it clear that her folks were free souls who shared their love in strange ways. With all this wreckless poverty, they took no charity, rather they remained stubborn in their status deeming it poetic and noble. For instance, when they followed the kids to New York City, they ultimately found themselves on the street. Despite the incessant pleas of their children to stay with them (as they did during their first months in the city), they declined, opting to go it alone, ultimately setting up house in an abandoned building, embracing what we would call utter despair, as a great big wonderful adventure. This book will give you chills, and it will also make you think about homelessness and the unique stories these souls carry. Much praise should be given to Walls and her siblings, for having walked through fire, and coming out alive.