Jeannette Walls
Born: April 21, 1960 – Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Jeannette Walls is an American author and journalist whose work centers on family, resilience, poverty, and class. She is best known for the memoir The Glass Castle and the true-life novel Half Broke Horses. The Glass Castle sold millions of copies, spent years on The New York Times bestseller list, and was adapted into a film.
Biography & Author's Journey
Jeannette Walls emerged from a childhood marked by motion, scarcity, and unusually rich storytelling. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, she grew up in a family that moved through the Southwest before settling for a time in Welch, West Virginia, where the family lived in a small house without plumbing or heat and endured periods of homelessness. Those conditions became central to her later work, but so did the less obvious gifts she has described from that upbringing: books, curiosity, and a belief that a larger life was possible. At seventeen she moved to New York City to join her sister, pieced together grants, loans, scholarships, and paid work, and graduated from Barnard College with honors in 1984. That passage from instability to self-made education was the first decisive turn in her life as a writer. ((https://www.pbs.org/video/the-works-of-jeanette-walls-za2a1k/))
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Community Voices
"How fitting, then, that the title of Jeannette Walls's chilling memoir should evoke the architecture of fantasy and magic"
— The New York Times Book Review
"Just read the first pages of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and I defy you not to go on"
— Dominick Dunne
"Jeannette Walls’ latest novel, Hang the Moon, definitely succeeds in seamlessness"
— Los Angeles Times
"Jeannette Walls has carved a story with precision and grace out of one of the most chaotic, heartbreaking childhoods ever set down"
— Dani Shapiro
"Jeannette Walls once again proves that the combination of gifted storyteller with great stories is both rare and intoxicating"
— The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Jeannette Walls draws on family lore in a novel that brims with drama"
— The Washington Post
"Jeannette Walls has survived poverty, fires, and near starvation to triumph"
— Patricia Bosworth
"Jeannette Walls transports us with her powerful storytelling"
— O, The Oprah Magazine
From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco
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From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
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"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
