Author Jeannette Walls relates the story of growing up in a dysfunctional family that moved from place to place throughout the Southwest until her alcoholic father, Rex, led them back to the West Virginia coal town he had done everything he could to escape. Destitute, Jeannette and her siblings were forced to scavenge for food and clothing while their father spent the family grocery money on alcohol and poker, until they found the courage and resources to leave home.