My best read this summer has been The Glass Castle by Jeanette Wall. I heard about this book yeas ago from my voracious reading friend Pat Hackett. She told me of the opening pages where a woman is riding in a cab down Park Avenue and sees her mother digging through a trash can foraging for food. Having lived in NY for many years, I could easily visualize the scene and feared that this book would be incredibly depressing. In fact, I found it to be very funny at times and a true tribute to the tenacity of the human spirit. It's also a story about the choices that people make, although it's hard to believe that Jeanette's mother chose to live the way she did without suffering from some type of mental illness--and to choose to subject her children to unsafe, unsanitary and downright bizarre living conditions is unfathomable. At points I found the description of the way that Jeanette was raised to go on too long--it reminded me a bit of my reaction to Augusten Burroughs' Running with Scissors--interesting but a bit wearing over time given its lack of relation (happily!) to my own upbringing.
My enjoyment of this book was enhanced a bit by the fact that I borrowed it from the South Shore Bookmobile and had an opportunity to talk with people there about it. The librarian shared that people's reactions to the book really vary--some find it totally depressing and others find it uplifting. I look forward to sharing this book in the Fall at a reading group in Punta Gorda.
Every day is a new adventure -- whether or not it involves a change in physical latitude. Taking advantage of the latitude I have to experience new things, meet new people and go new places has enriched my life. And sharing the discoveries I've made along the way makes these experiences all the more meaningful. Thanks for reading my musings.
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