Gossip columnist Jeannette Walls of MSNBC gave a talk to a crowd of inspired readers at Syosset Borders last Thursday, about her moving memoir The Glass Castle, available from Scribners in bookstores. This marks the third week the book is on The New York Times paperback bestseller's list, and has been optioned by Brad Pitt for a possible future movie.

In her memoir, exemplifying survival and resilience of the human spirit, Walls, 45, tells her story of growing up one of four siblings to intelligent parents who were far from winning parent-of-the-year awards. Her father Rex, an alcoholic struggling to find and keep work, her mother Rose Mary, a free spirit devoid of maternal instincts, who would rather paint or write than parent, lends the background of Walls' childhood.

Walls, having used a magnifying glass to probe into many celebrities' lives, now turned the glass on herself and grappled with exposing her own story. "How would it look for the gossip columnist to be the gossip?" Walls said. However, she is amazed at the response to the book, adding, "I underestimated people's capacity for compassion."

In light of the recent James Frey truth in memoir-writing controversy about A Million Little Pieces, when asked, Walls confirmed that indeed the events in her memoir are true. Walls said that she worked very hard, as do all true memoir writers and good journalists, to write the truth. Walls is disappointed in Frey and suggested that he should donate money to rehabilitation centers to further help people in kicking addictions.

"In sitting down to write my true story, breaking the isolation of my own shame, I had to act like no one was going to read it in order to complete it," said Walls. She added, "I approached it from a journalistic perspective. Here are the details of my life as it happened."

"We read this in our book club," said Borders attendee Dorothy Strynkowski who belongs to a 17-member book club from Albany Avenue School in Farmingdale. "I found it unsettling and troublesome, but a good book." Strynkowski who is retired from Albany Avenue, discussed how it was difficult for Walls to help her mother Rose Mary, who is still living as a squatter down in the East Village of Manhattan. "I do volunteer work and I agree with Jeannette that it's hard to tell other people how to live their lives."

The Walls children, older sister Lori, Jeannette, younger brother Brian and little sister Maureen, learned to fend for themselves at an early age, creating a resiliency beyond their young years and leading the reader to often stop and question how old they were during many intervals. There were scenes like the time Jeannette was cooking hot dogs herself at 3 and was burned, or digging through garbage at school to find something, anything, to eat for lunch, knowing that might be their only meal of the day.

There were many birthdays and Christmases without presents where her father creatively asked the children pick their choice of a star in the sky as their "present." To which Jeannette chose a planet, Venus - the planet of love. They lived a nomadic existence, from the deserts of Las Vegas to the coalmine town of Welch, WV. The Walls' children often had to pack up in the middle of the night, escaping yet another overdue bill or mortgage payment and told they were on an "adventure." They also battled bullies in the neighborhood and there was often no heat or electricity all the while sleeping on cardboard, makeshift beds.

Walls said it taught them the difference between wanting and needing. As an underlying theme that roils through the book, she portrayed her hardships with a non-judgmental quality and a consistent guiding light of love. Love for her parents, even through it all, and a love in her spirit that wouldn't quit - the love of knowledge and writing. In a mystical scene, her father plays a game of shadow boxing demons (bad guys) outside under the stars - in a metaphor for life to overcome all obstacles.

As one reads the book, it is hard not to feel pity and compassion for Walls. But she herself throughout the pages and in giving her talk, does not whine, or seek pity. On the contrary, she goes through great lengths to rise above her circumstances - never wanting or receiving handouts and becoming a strong warrior of sorts learning all she could and working hard to accomplish all she wanted and needed to aspire to her dreams.

The Walls children survived and each managed to get the highest grades in school and one-by-one escaped to New York where they each followed their own successful careers. Lori became an illustrator and Brian became a police officer. Maureen has moved to California and Walls has been in touch with her recently.

Jeannette Walls lives in Culpeper, VA, with her husband writer John Taylor, whom she credits for helping draw out her story. Walls is a regular contributor to MSNBC and has worked at many publications including Esquire, USA Today, New York.