The Bag Lady Papers, Alexandra Penney
The Bag Lady Papers, Alexandra Penney
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The Bag Lady Papers
The Priceless Experience of Losing It All

Author: Alexandra Penney

Narrator: Marguerite Gavin

Unabridged: 5 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 02/16/2010

Synopsis

Throughout her life, Alexandra Penney's worst fear was becoming a bag lady. Even as she worked several jobs while raising a son as a single mother, wrote a multimillion-dollar bestselling advice book, and became editor in chief of Self magazine, she was haunted by the image of herself alone, bankrupt, and living on the street. She even went to therapy in an attempt to alleviate the nagging in her mind that told her that all she had worked for could crumble.

And then, one day, that's exactly what happened. Alexandra Penney had taken a friend's advice and invested nearly everything she had ever earned with Bernie Madoff. So one day she was successful and wealthy; the next she had almost nothing. Suddenly, at an age when many Americans retire, Penney saw her worst nightmares coming true.

Entertaining and inspiring, The Bag Lady Papers chronicles Penney's struggle to cope with the devastating financial and emotional fallout of being cheated out of her life savings, and traces her journey back to sanity and security. Her outraged blogs about the Madoff scandal in The Daily Beast and her commentary on CNN have generated millions of hits and earned her a loyal following.

How do you pick yourself up after your worst nightmare comes true? Penney shows us how.

About Alexandra Penney

Alexandra Penney is an artist, bestselling author, former editor in chief of Self magazine, and originator, with Evelyn Lauder, of the Pink Ribbon for breast cancer awareness. Her books include How to Make Love to a Man, Great Sex, and How to Keep Your Man Monogamous. She had a one-person show at Galerie in Berlin in April, and her work was shown at Miami's Art Basel. She lives in New York.

Reviews

Goodreads review by ModCloth

Alexandra Penney is pretty much the woman you wanted to be when you grew up. She’s held editor positions at Vogue, Glamour, and Self. She owns an Hermès Kelly bag. She spends afternoons painting in her SoHo loft, a place where neighborhood friends throw pebbles at her window. After being dropped dow......more

Goodreads review by Sallee

I've read the reviews of this book prior to buying it, and still I decided to pick it up. And then I couldn't put it down. (B&N has this on a very reduced price right now, if you're interested) Now I'll admit that she was wealthy, didn't use great judgement putting all her eggs in one basket, and tha......more

Goodreads review by Heidi

This book definitely sounded better than it really was. Alexandra lost everything (from her limited perspective) when Bernard Madoff ended up being a crook and stole all the money she had invested with him. Initially I felt for her: it has to be terrifying to lose everything, especially when you're......more

Goodreads review by Karin

This book was an ok read. However it was not what it sounded like it should be. I thought it would be about a woman who ended up living out of her car or something after losing her money and her journey back to financial solvency. While Penney DID lose her savings- or rather, as she says had it STOL......more

Goodreads review by Cassandra

I should have read the other reviews before borrowing this from the library. I thought it was about a woman losing "it all" but it wasn't. The book was about a woman who lost all of her retirement in a scam but still has three homes and never has to give up all of her luxuries. The author may have b......more

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