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Book Review:
The Broke Diaries, Angela Nissel
THE BROKE DIARIES
Format: Paperback
Pages: 212
Publisher: Villard Books
Publishing Date: April 10, 2001
Everyone has a Broke Diary. Maybe you never wrote yours down, perhaps your broke diary is just a collection of memories from college, or all those low-paying jobs you had. Maybe your broke diary is no memory, 'cause you're broke as hell right now.
Written with style and wicked wit, The Broke Diaries:The Completely True and Hilarious Misadventures of a Good Girl Gone Broke caused quite a stir when Angela Nissel first posted on the Web a few entries detailing her days as a broke college student. People sympathized, shared their own stories, and even offered to send her money (she refused). When she stopped posting her entries (to take a paying job!), her site visitors begged for more. Here now are her complete (misadventures), in all their broke glory.
I heard about this book a while ago and even visited the website a couple of times. And then I saw Nissel on the game show "To Tell the Truth" (you know, where a panel of "celebrity" judges have to guess who the real fish squeezer or pigeon trainer is out of a possible three contestants). Okay, I know I watch too much daytime television, but anyway, I went out and purchased the book. I wasn't broke at the time, but I knew the day would come, and I had to be prepared.
It's a fairly light and short read. It begins on October 7 and ends July 27, with a couple of entries for each month. Nissel is a poor anthropology major studying at Pennsylvania University, living in a little loft off-campus, eating Ramen noodles and dating chicken farmers to get free food. Each entry is a new adventure for Nissel, who is not a writer but can write like one. Her stories are both amusing and very honest. I'm not sure I'd post a story on the Internet about running out of change for laundry and going commando for the day, but Nissel bared all (literally) for her readers. This is one of the funniest and most refreshing books I've read in a long time.
The book is also a quick guide for broke people out there. Nissel shares some of her broke scams, and when I read them I couldn't help but be intrigued. For instance, when sending a letter, she suggests addressing it to yourself and putting the intended destination on the return address. That way, because there's no postage, the letter will be returned to the rightful party. If you're a student and looking for a cheap way to buy books, Nissel offers this little-known fact: professors and teacher's assistants get free books from publishers all the time, even if they do not use the books for the class. So off she goes, posing as a teacher's assistant and getting her textbooks mailed to her apartment. Nissel is insightful, smart and down-to-earth, and it shows through her diary entries. The fact that this is based on true accounts of her life will make you feel bad, and at the same time make you laugh out loud.
An entry involving Nissel going to a church-basement cabaret with her friends had me smiling throughout the whole account. There is a singer with a propensity towards Stevie Wonder songs making rounds throughout the room. Two of her friends left, one to get food (since they found out all too late the cabaret didn't serve food), and the other to talk to a family friend. Nissel was seated at a table with the third friend, Peanut, who had put his head down on the table as if sleeping. She writes: "Aw, man, Singer is still looking over here. Where's Victoria? Is she upstairs getting married to that old lady's son-in-law or something? I mean, damn! Singer is walking this way. Eff this!! I plonk my head down on the table just like Peanut. I know we look crazy. Two people sleeping at an empty table in the middle of a cabaret filled with revelry. I don't care. It's worth the embarrassment to avoid the ridicule of having Singer come to the table crooning 'Part-Time Lover' to me."
The best thing about this book is that Nissel, a broke college student (and when I say broke, I mean living-on-$9.26-for-a-week broke), always has a positive outlook towards life. Even when she's angry, she tries to have a humourous view towards the situation (probably knowing full well that when she finished her degree she'd be working and no longer broke). I know that Nissel is not an author, and this novel was basically lifted off her on-line diary, but a lesser writer would not have been able to pull off a loyal on-line fan following and capture the sympathy of readers. And hey, some publisher thought she was talented enough to have a book published. Pick up The Broke Diaries - that is, if you're not broke at the moment (Nissel has a surefire way to combat this - just go and read it at Chapters). You won't be disappointed. C.Ho.
THE BROKE DIARIES:
(out of 5)