The bag lady papers : the priceless experience of losing it all
(Book)

Throughout her life, Alexandra Penney's worst fear was of becoming a bag lady. Even as she worked several jobs as a single mother, wrote a 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 to alleviate the worry. And then, one day, that's exactly what happened. She had taken a friend's advice and invested nearly all of her savings with Bernie Madoff. This memoir chronicles Penney's struggle to cope with the devastating financial and emotional fallout of being cheated out of her life savings and illuminates her journey back to sanity, solvency, and security.--From publisher description.