Journalist Jeannette Walls, whose first memory is of her dress catching fire (and subsequent hospitalization) as she cooks hot dogs at three years old, unsupervised, provides an interesting, believable account of her unconventional nomadic upbringing at the hands of extremely intelligent, alcoholic father, Rex, and excitement addict, art-loving mother, Rose. The "glass castle" never materializes. They eventually live in an un-wired/unplumbed West Virginia shack. Although the parents make illogical, family-unfriendly choices throughout, keeping the family in perpetual poverty, with "what does not kill you makes you stronger" a recurrent theme, Jeannette and her siblings trudge on, and, become very, very strong.