The Girl's Guide to Homelessness

Aug 29, 2011 Honey-Squirrel rated it 2 of 5 stars

The first half of this "memoir" is strong and searing, recounting a seemingly smart girl's coming of age in a dysfunctional family and her determination to survive and break free. The author's work ethic, compassion, and commitment are admirable.

However, the second half of the book, detailing her life in a trailer and her relationship with a homeless Scot, reads like an anti-feminist roadmap of bad decisions. Though the author had access to both a therapist and advice columnist, readers are left...more

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May 08, 2011 Nancy rated it 2 of 5 stars

I tried so hard to give the author the benefit of the doubt. I really did. Bottom line is that I think Brianna is on the road to being gifted writer who will write very well when she has more experience. This is not a criticism by any means. She is articulate and precise in her ideas.

My overall feeling of the book, though, is that the book itself is based on Brianna's reality and not on truth. I also felt like she spent an inordinate amount of time trying to convince the reader that she was righ...more

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Jun 10, 2011 McGuffy Morris rated it 5 of 5 stars

Brianna Karp is on a mission. She has a purpose. She did not choose it, but she chose to take what life dealt her and to use it for good.

Brianna has had a difficult life. From the early age of ten she was forced to work to support her mother and sister. Violence and abuse was a way of life for her. Through perseverance and determination, she fought her way out of it.

Finally, barely into her twenties, Brianna thought she had paid her dues. She had a good job and a place of her own. When the Reces...more

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Jul 13, 2011 Miranda Beverly-Gill rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I call BS. This book is not about homelessness. This is partially a short memoir of a messed up childhood and the rest is all about a guy. There's no tips for living "on the streets", or anything like that. Parking at Wal-Mart, peeing at a gas station, showering at the gym, these are all things that I'm pretty sure anyone with common sense would figure out on their own. And while I get that there is a new kind of homeless person, laid-off, foreclosed on, etc, this young woman is living inside a...more I call BS. This book is not about homelessness. This is partially a short memoir of a messed up childhood and the rest is all about a guy. There's no tips for living "on the streets", or anything like that. Parking at Wal-Mart, peeing at a gas station, showering at the gym, these are all things that I'm pretty sure anyone with common sense would figure out on their own. And while I get that there is a new kind of homeless person, laid-off, foreclosed on, etc, this young woman is living inside a trailer, not in an alley somewhere. She's shopping, driving around in one of her two vehicles, meeting a man and spending money on him instead of trying to get into a cheap apartment throughout the entire book. She could have also easily stayed with friends, and eventually did, so this woman is not the new face of anything except maybe poor decisions and regular old poverty.
I do feel guilty that I did not like her more, but I feel that the entire story is told through her own one-sided, self righteous memories, and may not be exactly true-to-life. There are a lot of gaps, there are things never mentioned, and the conversations she has with people that have wronged her paint her as completely right all of the time. She spends an inordinate amount of time defending choices she has made, and many I agree with, for instance the fact that homeless people need cell phones and internet to try to pull themselves back up in the world is completely true, but her attempted justification of wasting enormous amounts of money on plane tickets and hotel rooms for a guy are ridiculous. Admit that you've abandoned your plan and goals in exchange for a relationship, don't try to make it seem understandable.
I was also extremely irritated that she kept referring to herself as educated, (hammering that home so we all understand that she is smart), and then proceeding to make some of the dumbest choices and defending them! And the second half of the book seemed as if every other line of the story was some ridiculous justification for some idiot thing her idiot boyfriend had said or done. Love is blind, sure, but is it also brain-damaged? Oh, and she keeps calling him being on the computer all day his "social media work." Give me a break. Additionally, I was also put off by the vulgar language. Not the bad words, I don't mind those, and use them myself, but mostly the disgusting descriptions of things. Probably a writing tool for shock value, perhaps she was advised to do that, but I don't think it was necessary.
I am giving the book two stars instead of one because I don't believe it's completely without value. I do think that all of the reviews touting its helping of the homeless are utter crap (that means you too, Augusten Burroughs, did you even read it?) The relationship with the douche bag is the real, and really the only story. I finished the book quickly because of it and was angry when I was done. Angry that I was misled about the subject matter, yes, but also very angry at the douche bag and at the author's naivete. I'm not sure if I'm completely convinced about the whole secret pregnancy/secret miscarriage thing, or if it was an attempt at making her ex feel worse about himself. Yes, I know I'm a horrible person for questioning that, but that is what crossed my mind, and if it did really occur, than I am truly sorry that it happened to her. The part near the end when she received the brush-off e-mail truly resonated with me, I felt, as she must have, that I had been punched in the stomach, even though I knew it was coming. That is why I think that although the author is young and somewhat naive about the world, that her writing will improve with time.(less)

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Sep 06, 2012 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 14, 2013 Teo rated it 2 of 5 stars

I struggled a bit with the rating for this one - eventually settled on a 2 (the other choice was 3).

The title looked pretty promising when I picked it up at the library - sounds like another spunky girl story, no? Once the story began I sensed a big disappointment coming up. Certainly the book addresses many social issues that are too big to be ignored (poverty, child abuse, sexual abuse etc.) but the main problem I had with the book was the writer's voice. It's not personal, but from the way t...more I struggled a bit with the rating for this one - eventually settled on a 2 (the other choice was 3).

The title looked pretty promising when I picked it up at the library - sounds like another spunky girl story, no? Once the story began I sensed a big disappointment coming up. Certainly the book addresses many social issues that are too big to be ignored (poverty, child abuse, sexual abuse etc.) but the main problem I had with the book was the writer's voice. It's not personal, but from the way the memoir was narrated I had the feeling that the writer had not yet come to grips with her troubled life at the point of writing - the result was a slightly rushed (the reader isn't given sufficient time to build a relationship with the characters) and accusing-sounding narrative of the writer's life events.

Granted, the writer has gone through many difficulties in her life, and I found myself becoming a lot more sympathetic when she went into the details of her relationship with Matt that eventually failed, but for the most part of the memoir it felt like the writer was venting her frustrations about the people around her. Something I completely empathise with, but the tone of the memoir only made me feel distanced from this angry, defensive and vengeful narrator. And towards the end, just when I was starting to feel more for the narrator, the book ends abruptly with no satisfactory conclusion. That spoiled it for me.

That being said I don't feel she is a bad writer, because some events were narrated rather charmingly (when she wasn't dissing someone else for having ruined her life). It was a promising idea for a memoir, but possibly because it was undertaken by an inexperienced writer it didn't manage to succeed as a poignant reflection on her life. (I love memoirs though. Angela's Ashes was great. I find the best kind of memoirs that work for me are the kind where the writers are mature and collected enough to look back on their difficulties, already having come to terms with them.)(less)

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Jun 07, 2013 Steven Belanger rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very odd but very readable memoir that starts off as the story of Karp's extremely messed-up family (she has a few memoirs still left in the tank on this alone). But it then becomes the story of the unfortunate decisions she makes as she looks for love in all the wrong places. The publisher is Harlequin, so I suppose this makes sense, but the story arc still comes across as schizophrenic. The best (as in, well-written) parts are the details of her father's sexual abuse and her mother's mental, e...more Very odd but very readable memoir that starts off as the story of Karp's extremely messed-up family (she has a few memoirs still left in the tank on this alone). But it then becomes the story of the unfortunate decisions she makes as she looks for love in all the wrong places. The publisher is Harlequin, so I suppose this makes sense, but the story arc still comes across as schizophrenic. The best (as in, well-written) parts are the details of her father's sexual abuse and her mother's mental, emotional and physical abuse, as well as the tenets of their religion--Jehovah's Witness--that makes all that possible. A very well-written memoir still needs to be written about that alone--about how a religion imprisons the children of its followers. One does not doubt that what she says here about the religion is true: apparently, a severely abused woman is told to be better to her husband, and the abuse should go away. This would make a Pulitzer-winning memoir in of itself. I'll never look at Jehovah's Witnesses again. No longer will they be, for me, the quaint men in black who bravely go door-to-door, knowing said doors will be slammed in their faces, but doing it anyway.

One would think that this would create some controversy, but it hasn't. What has created controversy, strangely, is the second schizophrenic half of this memoir, where she chronicles her rise from depressed homeless person living in Wal-Mart's parking lot in SoCal (Did you know that some Wal-Marts let homeless people live in their parking lots in their cars and campers? I didn't. I'm interested to see if my local Wal-Mart allows this. If so, kudos to them. This book brings up something I've wondered about: How are homeless people to sleep in safety if they're not allowed to park their cars in parking lots for fear of being towed? Where are they to go?) to winning writer/blogger of the homeless and working for Elle Magazine and going on the Today show to write about it. The controversy starts when she mentions that some guy came to her trailer to interview her, treated her shabbily and did the same to other interviewees he tried to "help." She wrote that she asked him to not mention her real name, or her real location. He does, anyway, and says that it's too late when she complains.

I saw online yesterday that he says all this isn't true, but that he took the video of the interview down anyway, per advice of his lawyer after Karp's book came out. Surrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre...There was also some silly stuff about her not really being homeless, since she (usually) had a car, and a cellphone, and something that resembled shelter. These people are simply not seeing the true face of homelessness for God knows how many: the homeless of the 2000s won't just be unshaven and bench-sleeping alcoholics and addicts. They'll be recently-successful people who through downsizing have lost their jobs, and who through the housing crunch/crisis have lost their homes. In other words, but for the Grace of God, one of most of us...

Even more controversial was her description of how utterly catastrophic her last relationship ends, with the same guy who'd helped her rise from homelessness to super-blogger and Today Show guest. Lots of stuff online says all or most of this latter stuff was fake, especially the stuff about what happened when she hopped a flight to surprise him at his home across the pond. Uh-oh...Those never turn out well. But what happens to her here is truly horrible. But is it true? Sounds like it to me, though it does seem incredible that one person has gone through everything she chronicles here. But being someone who's been to Hell and back several dozens of times, I can assure you with some bitter truth that several lives of horror and travesty can all happen to one person.

Very disturbing to me, though, is how Karp seems to have fallen off the map after October/November of last year. I went to www.girlsguidetohomelessness.com to see what was new with her (it's her own blog, as well as a site to assist the homeless), to see if she's still homeless. But the site seems to have been abandoned after Oct./Nov. 2012, as does her other online ventures, including her blog at Goodreads. What gives? This is odd for someone with a book released just last year, and for someone who was so ardent a helper with the homeless. Her public appearances and book-signings also seem to have stopped very abruptly. There is no Wikipedia page for her, for the book, or for the oft-mentioned website--all very odd for a new-ish author and book. In short, I have a more thorough web presence than she now does, and that's not good for a new author of a bestseller. There is not a lot of internet backlash about her book, a la James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, so I wouldn't just assume that she has had to take it all down.

I simply don't know. One hates to assume the worst, so...I'll prefer to think that she's just taking a well-deserved break from it all. The last thing I heard about all this is that, in Oct./Nov. 2012, she had to leave the apartment she was in because her landlord was selling, but that she was able to move into a much better place. If anyone has an update on her, or her website of the homeless, please let me know. I wish her well, and after reading this book, which you should, you would wish her the best, too. (less)

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Jun 03, 2013 Darla Wegener rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great memoir with a compelling story. At times I wished her editors worked with her more. I am looking forward to meeting her in person in Long Beach on June 15.

A recent survey showed 1/3 of households are a few paychecks away from not being able to make their rent or mortgage. So 1 out of every 3 of us could be potentially homeless if we lost our job. This happened to Brianna Karp.

Growing up in Orange County in an abusive family situation did not deter Brianna. She began working at a young age...more

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Apr 10, 2013 Bailey rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked up this book thinking this was a literal guide to being homeless for women, but oh was I wrong! In Brianna Karp's memoir "The Girl's Guide to Homelessness" she reveals a side to life that most of us would not look at. Homelessness is not just something that the stereotypical "bum" goes through, you could know or see a homeless person and not even know it. Bad circumstances happen to everyone and can force many people into homelessness. Brianna had a hard life, although I think slightly...more
I picked up this book thinking this was a literal guide to being homeless for women, but oh was I wrong! In Brianna Karp's memoir "The Girl's Guide to Homelessness" she reveals a side to life that most of us would not look at. Homelessness is not just something that the stereotypical "bum" goes through, you could know or see a homeless person and not even know it. Bad circumstances happen to everyone and can force many people into homelessness. Brianna had a hard life, although I think slightly over dramatisized, and was faced with many disturbing and unimaginable things like molestation, abuse, and abandonment, then add in the recession of 2008-2009 and you have a recipe for disaster. The first half of her novel recounts her early life, her childhood, the time spent with her mother, the religious background she was forced to endure, and other typical and non-typical teenage problems. Brianna claims that her relationship with her mother waste stressed and that her mother was a tyrant and expresses this in extreme, and often grueling detail. This extremity makes it difficult for one to be sure if all details are factual due to a teenager and young adult's tendencies to over-exaggerate and despise their parents when they don't get what they want. This also is stressed in the second half of her book. You are thrown a little when her book slowly turns more to her relationship with Matt, rather than focusing on her activism for homelessness and homeless people. She begins with the typical dramatics of a reality T.V. show and would probably appeal more to a younger, drama enticed audience. Although this may be the case, I still enjoyed her book. She had a very clear and personable style of writing. It seemed, very much that she probably wrote how she spoke, another pull for a younger audience, being more relatable and humorous. Her writing was constantly dabbled with side comments and gossip like information. Her thoughts were often all over the place, in a frantic, girlish way but it was entertaining overall in a over-dramatic revengeful kind of way. Brianna ends up writing more of a memoir about her love life and how Matt leaves her, and her feelings about such events, rather than about her experience as a homeless person such as the title suggests. I did get something out of her experience though, that you don't have to be dirty, mental, and carrying around a cart full of things to be homeless. Things like this can happen to anyone. Just because Brianna had a little more than some she still had to deal with the stress and the process of trying to get back on her feet all on her own. I think she was a good stepping stone for the homeless community and homeless activism, but might have lost sight of that along the way. She put a face to the homeless front but then gave up and didn't set into the stereotypical homeless person persona, but the stereotypical whiney girl persona. I think someone could have written something that might have done the homeless community more of a favor, but at least this puts the important ideas out there.
(less)

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Mar 27, 2013 Startledoctopus rated it 2 of 5 stars

I am writing this to MAJORLY MAJORLY TRIGGER WARNING this book (not as a criticism, just for those who appreciate trigger warnings). I picked it up at the library because it looked interesting, didn't look it up before reading, and was unprepared.

TRIGGER WARNING for graphic child abuse, graphic child molestation and incest, racism, homophobia, may be triggering for (non-physically) abusive intimate partner relationship, minor description of abuse of an animal, and several instances of fat-hating...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Steen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-books, autobiography, ebook, memoir

I was browsing my library's online download center for ebooks to read. I felt like reading a memoir so I checked out that section and this book caught my eye. I have always had a roof over my head and never really came close to living on the streets so this book had me curious. I can not even imagine what people living on the streets have to deal with day to day and especially not here in a Canadian winter! The title said it was a guide to homelessness so I thought it would give me some insight...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Anita Dalton rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir, mental-illness, utter-pants, non-fiction

This? This is not a guide to homelessness. It's a revenge novel. And there's nothing wrong with revenge novels. Djuna Barnes, D.H. Lawrence and Leopold Woolf all penned revenge novels and no one holds that against them. Sometimes you just gotta unleash on those who may deserve it. It's just best to be honest about one's motives. For example, if one is getting revenge on a bad boyfriend, abusive parents, a weak stepfather and a shitheel who tricked you into paying for many expensive gifts even th...more

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May 18, 2012 Jade rated it 3 of 5 stars

The reason I read this memoir, I've realised, is that finding myself homeless one day is one of my strongest, deepest fears. After all, I have vrtually no close friends and my family are poor, so what if I cannot fend for myself?
I had heard about this book over at Womanist Musings and was intrigued by the story, so I put it in my to-read list and finally got around to reading it yesterday. I was alone and did not have much else to do, so I read it all (about 300 pages) in one standing.
Now I know...more The reason I read this memoir, I've realised, is that finding myself homeless one day is one of my strongest, deepest fears. After all, I have vrtually no close friends and my family are poor, so what if I cannot fend for myself?
I had heard about this book over at Womanist Musings and was intrigued by the story, so I put it in my to-read list and finally got around to reading it yesterday. I was alone and did not have much else to do, so I read it all (about 300 pages) in one standing.
Now I know that a lot has been said about how Brianna Karp was not really homeless, as she was living in a trailer. I also know that many people have questioned the veracity of her story. I am not going to discuss either of these issues, as I am more concerned with the book itself.

I think the title of the book misled many of people. As a matter of fact, though centred on Karp's experience with losing her home during the recession of 2008, it is about Karp's life as a whole, starting with her childhood and history of abuse. The story is so sad and horrifying that it reminded me of Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina. The first third of the book is dedicated to her family history and deals with growing up with a mentally ill, abusive mother and being molested by her biological father as a small child.
Karp also writes extensively about Jehovah's Witnesses, and her judgement on the subject is far from nuanced. It is interesting to notice at this point that the status of the movement is widely different in the US from what it is in other countries, and that in France for instance (where I live) most people consider it a cult, and that's that.
After that, the book moves on to the homelessness issue, and recounts how on being laid off, and after going back to live with her parents, which she quickly finds unbearable, Brianna Karp has no choice but to go live on a trailer which she inherited from her biological father.
I am not going to discuss Brianna Karp's representativity of homeless people, not in small part because it may well be that those homeless we see the most (begging for change in the streets for instance) are not that representative of the homeless population as a whole. Karp writes that about fifty percent of the legally homeless are employed full-time in the US, and I'm pretty sure I've heard similar statistics about western Europe as well.
But what is certain is that Karp came to be homeless still retaining many privileges, material or otherwise. On the material side, you've got her car, trailer, laptop and phone. On the more intangible side, you've got her good résumé, her youth and -- yes, I am going to talk about that -- her whiteness. Though Karp is quick to acknowledge her many privileges, she almost never talks about this one, while it is all over the place. Let's look at this paragraph, page 113:

I would roll the window down, placing my hands on the windowsill and putting on the most innocent, bland face I could muster, peering up through my lashes with wide, doelike eyes. A baby couldn't have had a more angelic face.
"Good evening, officer! Can I help you?"

Now can you imagine for a single minute what would have happened had Karp been a woman of colour? I'm not criticizing Karp for what she is, of course not, but as I read the book it struck me over and over again how for some people being homeless is clearly temporary while for others it is so much harder once you've reached this point to ever have a permanent address again. And the difference depends on family history, physical and mental health, education, age, and race among other things.
Only about the middle third of the book is really mainly about being homeless. It is not, though, as the title led me to believe, full of tips on how to survive homelessness; it merely recounts the author's daily life and how she managed to stay clean, save money and send résumés to find a job.
Then the last third is about her love story with a British homeless activist. I am not going to go in depth with this but I think that the book would have benefited from a longer period of reflection from the author before she launched into writing about it, as I think she lacked a certain detachment when writing about this.

A word about style: it is a memoir, not a novel, and I was not expecting anything amazing, but I was still sometimes a tiny bit disappointed by the triteness of it all. It is a shame, especially since the story itself is so interesting.

All in all, The Girl's Guide to Homelessness is a good book, though I lament the fact that it was written so soon after the events that are related in it; it would have gained from more hindsight.
Still, from what it says as well as from what it leaves unsaid, this memoir is very enlightening about homelessness, and the fact that there are many strata in the homeless population. I believe it succeeds in its mission to get people to think about homelessness. It also, maybe strangely, made me less scared of being homeless myself one day.(less)

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Mar 24, 2012 Teresa rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. i'm very torn about this book. it was incredibly compelling, in fact i finished in in practically two days because i could not put it down. but there were some parts about it that drove me absolutely nuts.

first item of madness...the boyfriend. oh my gosh girlfriend, wake up and realize when you're being used! and even when it was so blatantly obvious that this guy wasn't going to follow through, she still defends him, blames his crazy baby-mama, and cries about the fact that he just doesn't trus...more i'm very torn about this book. it was incredibly compelling, in fact i finished in in practically two days because i could not put it down. but there were some parts about it that drove me absolutely nuts.

first item of madness...the boyfriend. oh my gosh girlfriend, wake up and realize when you're being used! and even when it was so blatantly obvious that this guy wasn't going to follow through, she still defends him, blames his crazy baby-mama, and cries about the fact that he just doesn't trust her. looking back, it seems to me that she was just a free meal ticket to him. i mean, of course he's going to spend months with her in the states when HE doesn't have a job to attend to and when SHE'S paying the plane ticket. not just the plane ticket, EVERYTHING, including her ring. what a deal for him. and the minute things aren't convenient for him, it's over, done, no explanations. no wonder he's practically a homeless thirty seven year old. sounds like this was a pattern that he's managed well.

secondly, i got really weary of the never ending victim mentality. don't get me wrong, i'm very sympathetic to her situation, i have no doubt that she endured years of horrific treatment that i will never understand. but sometimes i got the feeling that she was just LOOKING for a fight. and her use of sarcasm was just a bit overdone, we get it, life's been unfair.

also, while i appreciate her debunking myths, such as the need for laptops and cellphones for the homeless so that they can find employment and have help in the need of crisis, i did have to question some of her financial decisions. the first being all the flights back and forth from scotland. that had to have been a couple thousand dollars easily. i get that you're in love, but first things first, let get you off the streets (matt! if you really loved that girl, you would have encouraged her to do that before letting her buy you a million plane tickets, you BUM!) also, what in the H are you doing buying a huge first edition set of books for your loser boyfriend when you don't even have a SHELF TO PUT THEM ON!!

okay, before i come off looking a bit too insensitive, i understand, this poor girl was young, with no mother or parent-like figure to spell things like this out to her. she did everything on her own, including survive the streets, start an incredibly successful blog, and succeed in several jobs. she even managed to land herself on national talk shows and survive the wintery streets of scotland after being abandoned. this girl's got pluck, and and undying spirit, which is why this book was so compelling. so, i do recommend it, but it didn't come without it's frustrations.(less)

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Mar 18, 2012 Kelly rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, women-and-girls, 2012

I don't know what to make of this memoir. I ultimately left it feeling frustrated. The writing style is pretty unrefined - not quite at the level of the blog on which it was based but not much higher. It's quite honest but she doesn't seem to have had a strong editor. The reader's guide in the back points out that she wrote it in the midst of experiencing the events, not after years of reflection, which may account for the strong emotions and lack of perspective. In the end, it is really not tha...more

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Mar 02, 2012 Jes rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jes by: The bookshelf at a local bookstore

This book is a tough read. Brianna is so strong and so brave and she did it all herself. She challenges the definition of homeless and reminds people there is no one circumstance or reason for being homeless. Everyone has a very different story and just because they aren't begging and without shelter doesn't make them any less homeless. Her particular story starts in violence, assault, abuse and religious fanaticism that keeps her prisoner until she's an adult.

I've read a few reviews from peopl...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Sheridan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir-biography

Wow!

Where to begin...

First, the girl can write. I thought she was clear and concise and when she defends her position on various arguments she does it well.

That said, I expected (and wished there were) more information about homelessness and her daily experiences. There is SOME really interesting stuff, but most of the book details her relationship. At times I became a little tired of it, but the ending reads like a really bad train wreck - one you just can't look away from. I truly couldn't put...more

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Feb 08, 2012 Beth Gordon rated it 3 of 5 stars

It's apparent that the author is well on her way as a writer. She's entertaining to read. I feel for her plight.

BUT...I don't buy a lot of it. Sure, I know she lived in a trailer in a Wal-Mart parking lot for a few months/maybe a year (timeline wasn't specific in the book). My personal definition of being homeless before reading the book is not having a safe, warm, dry place to sleep. It's debatable whether a trailer in a Wal-Mart parking lot is safe, but Brianna self-defines herself as homeles...more It's apparent that the author is well on her way as a writer. She's entertaining to read. I feel for her plight.

BUT...I don't buy a lot of it. Sure, I know she lived in a trailer in a Wal-Mart parking lot for a few months/maybe a year (timeline wasn't specific in the book). My personal definition of being homeless before reading the book is not having a safe, warm, dry place to sleep. It's debatable whether a trailer in a Wal-Mart parking lot is safe, but Brianna self-defines herself as homeless & that's not the point I'm choosing to debate.

A lot of things seemed "off" in her story. I remember a whole lot about my childhood, but I don't think I have specific memories from being 2 years old. And 2 year olds aren't even good with knowing their colors yet. So she's telling me that she remembers being sexually abused by her father at the age of 2 with a red and yellow straw??? It could have happened, but then you start adding in her other warped perceptions of reality.

For someone who's 24 years old approximately, she's had a LOT of jobs. 15 or so? When someone has THAT many jobs, something's up. Then she keeps getting laid off. The Kelley Blue Book story made me go hmmmm too. She's supposedly given 6 weeks of severance when she's laid off, and they are then offering her another 2 weeks of pay to leave immediately. She declines, citing her awesome work ethic. Then they reiterate that they want her out and to take the check. She finally reluctantly decides to push away her work ethic to take the check. I read this differently. I think what's really going on is that the KBB people want her OUT of that office asap. Maybe she has several personality problems and is freaking everyone out, maybe she's a horrible employee. My suspicion reading that incident is that there's a whole other side to the story that I wish I knew.

Then the whole Matt part...I'm sighing extensively at the last half of the book. In my experience, people don't disclaim you completely unless you have some big problems. Sure, he might be a mooch and disingenuous. But why would he completely alienate her and refuse to talk with her ever again unless he thought she was royally effed up?

The whole pregnancy subplot in the last quarter of the book I didn't buy either. Was she really pregnant? I do believe she thought she was, especially since Lori was; whether she was in reality, who knows?

Every interaction Brianna has that is relayed in the book makes it seem like Brianna is the embodiment of rationality, serenity, and wisdom. Let's say the sexual abuse by the father at the age of 2 happened. Let's say the extensive physical and emotional abuse from her mother happened for the first 18 years of her life, as she states. Wouldn't a young adult who bore all of this trauma be royally effed up? Wouldn't she be harboring all sorts of psychological problems? I definitely think so. But she portrays herself as so level-headed and practical without any issues stemming from all her trauma.

So it boils down to my belief that if all her trauma is real, then she likely has some problems interpreting reality and relating to others, and this all comes through in the subtext of this book.

It was an engaging and thought-provoking book, so I had to give it 3 stars. It wasn't engaging and thought-provoking for me in the way the author likely intended it (homelessness). It rather made me question how much the author was trying to manipulate the reader and made me question how firm of a grasp on reality does the author really have. (less)

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Jan 20, 2012 Wendy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a really fascinating story of someone who has led an interesting and in some ways horrifying life. The author does not get bogged down in the awfulness (child abuse, incest, rape) of her childhood but rather tells her story in a matter of fact way and with such a great sense of humor and perspective. She also makes a great case that the homeless are not just lazy, drunken vagrants. Through her we see that many of them are hard working citizens who strive to do better. We see that there i...more

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Oct 31, 2011 Lizzie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I once heard a quote from a homeless man who said that for every homeless person on the streets, there is a different story. This is one of those stories. Brianna's story is poignant and well-written. She came from a difficult background with a history of mental illness and abuse in her family and ended up homeless during the recession in 2008. She didn't always make good decisions and there are many points in the story that are difficult to read. Some parts are a little difficult to even believ...more I once heard a quote from a homeless man who said that for every homeless person on the streets, there is a different story. This is one of those stories. Brianna's story is poignant and well-written. She came from a difficult background with a history of mental illness and abuse in her family and ended up homeless during the recession in 2008. She didn't always make good decisions and there are many points in the story that are difficult to read. Some parts are a little difficult to even believe, and the truth is a little relative for her.

The journey she takes in being homeless is a powerful one to share to help dismantle the stereotypes and prejudice of being homeless. It is not a story from a different generation, but one from just a few years ago. It shows how someone can go from having a job to being homeless and how difficult is to climb out of homelessness. From a female's perspective she explores the difficulties of being homeless.

The first half of the book is a great primer on the root causes of homelessness. So many people who have suffered abuse or come from dysfunctional families have no support system when they are unemployed for long periods of time. Brianna was lucky to have inherited a trailer (after her father committed suicide) so she had somewhere to stay, even though it was difficult to find somewhere to park it.

The second half details her relationship with another homeless advocate and shows the perils of trying to form relationships when one is homeless and trying to rebuild a life when you have mostly known abuse (emotional, physical, sexual, verbal) and not seen true love modeled for you. Again, some parts are hard to believe in the story.

Overall, this is a great book to discuss with friends and family. The choices Brianna makes, good and bad, demonstrate true life. If you like this book, I also recommend "Breakfast at Sally's" which details a man's journey into homelessness in the 1990s. An older version of a male perspective on homelessness.

For anyone who wants to read a story that isn't about the stereotypical homeless person, this is a fantastic book about a real life look at one person's perspective. There is no one homeless person who represents homelessness - everyone has a story. Like Brianna says, she never thought she would be homeless. It can happen to anyone. (less)

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Oct 18, 2011 Chivon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have to admit by the end of the book I started scanning. However, curiosity got the best of me and I googled Brianna Karp and Matt Barnes to see pictures of them and looked on Brianna's blog. The book was decent, as a lot of the reviews said, the first part was a quick read and very interesting. I somewhat have ties to the Jehovah's Witnesses so the things she was saying about her religion and her upbrining was rather intriguing to me. I felt so sorry for her and the abuse that she had to endu...more I have to admit by the end of the book I started scanning. However, curiosity got the best of me and I googled Brianna Karp and Matt Barnes to see pictures of them and looked on Brianna's blog. The book was decent, as a lot of the reviews said, the first part was a quick read and very interesting. I somewhat have ties to the Jehovah's Witnesses so the things she was saying about her religion and her upbrining was rather intriguing to me. I felt so sorry for her and the abuse that she had to endure from her mother. Out of all the problems Brianna had to face, to me, dealing with a mother like that was the worst. I also ended up hating Matt Barnes. As someone else pointed out in their review, it was quite obvious that he was up to no good.

My feelings ar mixed about this book and homelessness. I totally understand Brianna's thoughts on homeless people being able to have fun or spend money on luxury items such a phones and laptops. I think Brianna definately represents a new generation of homeless person. It is hard to find a young person without luxory items such as cell phones, flat screens, ipod, no matter what their financial background is. So in short, that wasn't what bothered me. What did bother me was the fact that she so readily allowed Matt Barnes to use up her resources in the name of love. Why didn't he stay in Scotland where he was able to live off of the system? How in Hades could she afford plane tickets back and forth to and from Europe? I seriously fail to realize how that is o.k. Do you really want to find a home as you keep stating in your book, or are you content to live in your trailer? If you are that's cool, but I don't think most homeless people are flying back and forth to Europe these days.

All in all I did like the book. It is a very interesting story. More to do with Brianna's memories than homelessness in general. If there are young people out there who are homeless and are looking for tips, guides, and information, this book is not for you. It is strictly for entertainment purposes only.

Also, if you have no intention of reading the book, don't you can find most of the same information on her blog. Just go there and read.(less)

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Oct 17, 2011 Sharina rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Anyone with a brain who reads this book and thinks for a moment this author is playing with a full deck needs to have their own head examined. This book is not about homelessness. Forget the argument about whether or not she can be considered homeless with a roof over her head, a cell phone, laptop, or trips to Europe. I think she brilliantly parlayed a homeless stint into a book deal. Part way through she did a switch from a subject which is a very real concern, into a self-absorbed fantasy abo...more Anyone with a brain who reads this book and thinks for a moment this author is playing with a full deck needs to have their own head examined. This book is not about homelessness. Forget the argument about whether or not she can be considered homeless with a roof over her head, a cell phone, laptop, or trips to Europe. I think she brilliantly parlayed a homeless stint into a book deal. Part way through she did a switch from a subject which is a very real concern, into a self-absorbed fantasy about her life in order to publicly chastise those in her past who hurt her.

If you cannot see from the first few chapters how an abusive upbringing colored this girl's imagination, or perception of her own reality, then you have no idea how an adult who is a product of mental illness can be fragmented and broken. The apple does not fall far from the tree, despite the fact that this author repeatedly claims that she somehow miraculously escaped the pathology that entrenches her. Among the cast of characters are her mother (Bi-Polar abusive) her grandmother (crazy abusive hoarder) her father (abusive sex offender who committed suicide) etc. I am concerned that she has herself so convinced that she is sane that she may never get the help she so desperately needs. Such is the challenge with BPD. At times, they can be so lucid and "on" that no one would ever think they wrestled with mental illness. The chink in the armor occurs because they can never perform consistently for any period of time.

The author states early on in the book that she is not mentally ill. Does that make it so? Remember Ted, the homeless man with the golden voice? He claimed to be 2 years sober. The public loved it. He was offered a broadcast job, was reunited with his family, then promptly fell apart on a family reunion on network TV. He was not sober. He lied. People with mental illness lie because it is their coping mechanism. The public wants to believe them, because it makes for a good humanitarian story.

For me, the more I read, the clearer the picture I received. She is a victim of child abuse and her defense is to create her reality by presenting herself as sane, calm, rational and intellectual. Lying is a coping mechanism. She has probably been doing it for so long she doesn't really know what is truth anymore. Between the lines, she emerges as a classic example of Borderline Personality Disorder. She is just sane enough to be able to fool some of the people some of the time. I actually went on her blog to see if there is any current information. There is not. My hope is that she does seek professional help.(less)

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Aug 27, 2011 Catherine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Karp details her highly dysfunctional family background and the events that led to her living in a trailer in a Walmart parking lot in 2008 in Orange County California. The writing is anecdotal and I couldn’t put the book down, wanting to know what would happen next, and polished it off over two days. She points out that anyone can become homeless and attempts to quash a lot of the stereotypes associated with homeless individuals.

As her story progresses and she makes a few bad decisions, I coul...more

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Aug 26, 2011 Delani rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir

It's a bit of a Horatio Alger story: girl becomes homeless, starts blogging about it, the blog gets noticed, then she gets fame and a book deal from it, a la “Julie & Julia.”

That said, she’s a great writer. She writes in such a funny, conversational way, I felt like I was sitting right next to her at a coffeeshop, listening to her fascinating story.

Full disclosure: I was also drawn to this book because Karp and I have several things in common. Like her, I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness; I al...more

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Aug 20, 2011 Tempe Lohmeyer rated it 2 of 5 stars

The title to this book is misleading or perhaps I read more into what I had hoped the book would be about. I really wanted this (as did the author, I believe) to be about putting a face and an inside look at the working "homeless." To some extent, Brianna Karp does this as she walks us through how she learned to live in the Walmart parking lots for free, shower with a $10/month gym membership, and job hunt at Starbucks that offer free internet. But mostly the book is a memoir of an abused child...more

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Aug 19, 2011 Mai added it

I hated this book, the author was very foul in her language. I posted a review for her in twitter and her response was not very professional what's so ever. She wrote back saying that she will "F" cuss as many times as she wanted to in her "F" book. Of course I think she over exaggerated in some of the things in her book. For starters the book is not about guiding homeless people. It does not give guidance yet talks about her mismanaging money. For someone that was supposely homeless she could a...more

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Jul 20, 2011 Fred Sandford rated it 1 of 5 stars

Can't remember where I first heard about this story - probably read about it online. It kind of sounded intriguing, so I figured "what the hell, I'll buy the book and support this gal."

What started off as a fairly well-crafted, believable narrative quickly devolved into the kind of drivel that teenage girl novels are probably made of. Seriously. Pieces stopped fitting together. Stuff stopped making sense. The whole tone became really melodramatic... and THEN we're introduced to the boyfriend - t...more

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Jul 19, 2011 Ashley Mackler-Paternostro rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: true-story

I read about The Girls Guide To Homelessness in PEOPLE magazine and was looking forward to picking it up. The idea, I thought, was interesting enough and the book was made to sound like it would be quick read. I finished the book in a single night, mostly because I couldn't wait to write this review, but felt in order to do so, I owed Brianna a fair shake at things.

This book should have been have been written in three parts: Belief, Suspicion of Disbelief and Total Disbelief.

I harbored a feeli...more I read about The Girls Guide To Homelessness in PEOPLE magazine and was looking forward to picking it up. The idea, I thought, was interesting enough and the book was made to sound like it would be quick read. I finished the book in a single night, mostly because I couldn't wait to write this review, but felt in order to do so, I owed Brianna a fair shake at things.

This book should have been have been written in three parts: Belief, Suspicion of Disbelief and Total Disbelief.

I harbored a feeling, a strong feeling at that, that most of this book is written from Brianna supposed reality, and I highly doubt most of it is actual reality. A lot has been made about fictions claims and stories in the books--and I'm guessing that is probably the only nonfiction thing about this story.

Brianna claims to be homeless, and yes, by definition she is without a stable home ergo "homeless". But she's far, far, far and away from the image of a woman sitting curbside asking for change. She's not that by a mile and a half. She works really hard to sell you on why her version of homelessness is still legit, despite having money enough to fly her online boyfriend around the world 4 times, own a Blackberry cell phone, a neo mastiff and 2 cars, oops...lets not forget her trailer. Brianna tries, and fails, to justify these actions by pull the old "poor little me" excuse to explain away various expenses she occurs in the pursuit of wooing her man--like the antique ring or the the trips across the globe last minute.

There are moments where you'll feel for this girl, of course. If this story even harbors 1/100th of truth, that's a real shame. But, at the end of the day--and all else aside-- she's an active and willing participant in making poor decisions, al a, taking her unemployment, when she's too broke to buy food mind you, and flying her boyfriend to the US for an extended "sex and getting to know you" vacation. Those tickets aren't cheap and that same money could go far spent in practical ways.

I have no doubt Brianna struggles, be it from her circumstances or free will, but the reader will have a hard time reconciling the two. If it wasn't for bad luck, Brianna would have none and so I wish her the best and hope she can realign her priorities so she can get back to on an even keel. (less)

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Jul 18, 2011 Vicki rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, memoir, nonfiction

I feel bad giving this one only two stars, because I think it's an important book. If the purpose of this book is to make people think differently about who is affected by homelessness, and why, then this book is five stars. I think the author is really brave for talking about these things and thereby making the subject less taboo. I think she's probably brave anyway. But there's something that's hard about this book, too. It's that Karp is always the victim in any misunderstanding. I am not her...more

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Jul 08, 2011 Fred rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: alcoholism, american, autobiography, hippies, memoir, non-fiction, political, urban, 2011-read

Is Brianna Karp really homeless? That is the overwhelming question I had when I finished this book. She had a trailer which she lived out of, albeit in a Wal-Mart parking lot, but she could have sold it and rented a room. Apparently this was beneath her or she never thought of it. She would have had a lot more stability had she had a fixed address. She was in fact collecting EI benefits so she had a steady income. My answer is that she is not homeless but that doesn't make this book any less int...more Is Brianna Karp really homeless? That is the overwhelming question I had when I finished this book. She had a trailer which she lived out of, albeit in a Wal-Mart parking lot, but she could have sold it and rented a room. Apparently this was beneath her or she never thought of it. She would have had a lot more stability had she had a fixed address. She was in fact collecting EI benefits so she had a steady income. My answer is that she is not homeless but that doesn't make this book any less interesting.

I do volunteer work with homeless people and I'd have to say Karp is not the first person I'd think of when I hear the word 'homeless'. She isn't homeless, but rather what is called 'street-affected'. She has a street life like most homeless people with the difference being she has a roof over her head.

The writing isn't bad, so I'd still give this book 3 stars. In some ways it's quite interesting and Karp does have an awful past of living with an abusive mother and a father who sexually assaulted her. She meets a homeless activist who is a bit of a twit. There is a lot of chapters dedicated to their romance so I wasn't too surprised when I noticed Harlequin was the publisher of this book. It's not exactly cheesy romance although there are cheesy moments.

I'd recommend the book on the basis of the writing. It isn't bad. Her story again, is tragic but if you're looking for a memoir about the plight of the homeless, don't look here. Karp frequents Starbucks while most homeless people I know wouldn't even be allowed in Starbucks if they tried. She also can afford multiple trips to Europe to visit her boyfriend.

This book is not what I expected. Perhaps if the title had been "The Girl's Guide to Living in a Trailer" I might have been a little more enthralled (if I'd chosen to pick the book up at all). The author got a lot of attention in the media but mainly because of her boyfriend's knowledge of sites like Reddit.com which pushed her story into the forefront. She also has the advantage of being a white middle class woman. (less)

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