I work in Manhatten Beach, Cali and I figured I'd jet over to the collosal Barnes and Nobles right by my office during lunch and pick up the book. NO BOOK in sight and none had arrived at the store unboxed or appeared to be on the way. I complained to the info desk and they called Waldenbooks in a nearby mall. Luckily Walden had it and I scooted over to the mall and picked up the book. I figured that I could read the beginning of the book over my Teriyaki Bowl (11 bucks for the book and 4 dollars for lunch...two days ago, that would have seemed reasonable or downright frugal, but Ang's story had me feeling like I was BALLIN'. Hell I didn't even eat all the rice cause I got it like that!)

Well three and half hours I got up from the table in the food court and headed back to the office having been thoroughly entertained. Don't get me wrong the book had its points where it was hard to follow (especially when it came to following her narration and dialogue), but the book was funny. I chuckled out loud several times especially when I thought about Ang weilding that broomstick handle Bo-style like the discount store ninja she is....FOOTSWEEP!

But a few laughs isn't want really kept me glued to my seat. The more I read the book, the more I got an underlying sense of the dignity and riches that Ang possesses. Never did she let any of her misadventures define her. Her identity stayed intact through numerous episodes of embarassment like not getting into the club (in the same tight club pants) because the five dollar cover was too much. This book says more about personal finance then most of the busienss section at the book store. It demonstrates what true wealth is all about. Instead of trying to hide her lack of liquid assets from herself and others she liberated herself from it by writing about it and sharing it with the world via her website. Our desire to define ourselves through opulence is one of the most damageing values and habits that american cultures share, and black people seem to be the most severly infected. Between our cars, clothes, eating habits, credit cards, rent payments (rather then mortgage payments), we are piling up so much consumer debt that we become slaves to the the jobs we have. We exploit ourselves and try to buy the love back with a new SUV or pair of iceberg jeans. Broke Diaries was downright inspirational in the sense that its not a story of "rags to riches" but a story of how relatively rich we all are. Its a story of how we ultimately sustain ourselves with our will to survive and thrive and not with dollars and cents. I think those days in the self-help section reading Neale Donald Walsch had a profound affect on the writers attitude and perspective. Perhaps this book is less of a memoir but more of a self help book in itself.

Anyway, clit-clutching be damned...I really felt the book.

serenity

h20