Book Review: The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness

Girl's Guide to HomelessnessBrianna Karp has written a brutally honest memoir, The Girl’s Guide to Homlessness.

Sexually abused by her father as a very young child, then physically and psychologically abused by her bi-polar mother, Karp still manages to excel in school while working numerous jobs to help the family eke by. She stays focused on her desire for independence and finally realizes her dream when, in her early twenties, she has a good job as an executive assistant. She’s able to rent a small cabin and acquire a big, goofy dog. Brianna is happy and finally in a position to live a positive, useful life.

But then comes the recession of the 1980’s and, like millions of others, Brianna is laid off. She scrambles for work, even temporary work. Brianna inherits a 30-foot travel trailer from her biological father in which she lives on a Walmart parking lot. The trailer offers only minimal conveniences and she must go elsewhere to bathe and use the bathroom.

Brianna continues her job search, in person and on-line. Later, she begins to blog about her search for work and about living a homeless life. She joins a cyber community focused on the homeless and acquires a following. Through the Internet, she meets a Scotsman, Matt Barnes, a columnist who advocates for the homeless and they begin a cyber romantic relationship which eventually blossoms into a personal relationship when Matt visits Brianna in California.

Brianna’s life takes unfortunate turns when she is confronted with a multitude of overwhelming problems.

Brianna Karp’s memoir is well articulated and informative about homelessness. She addresses common misconceptions, judgements and fears about homeless people. For those of us fortunate enough not to have faced this problem, it’s easy to fall into a trap of stereotyping, judging and assuming that “those people” could help themselves if only they would make sound decisions. Karp gives her readers something to think about, another view of one of America’s greatest problems.