Full name: Broke Is Beautiful: Living and Loving the Cash-Strapped Life

Author: Laura Lee Year: 2009 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Non Fiction Purchase/reserch links: Amazon Goodreads Barns&Noble Google Books ISBNs: 9780762438952 0762438959

The economic downturn has forced nearly everyone into a life of limited means, but author Laura Lee was broke before it was cool. She won't tell anyone to clip coupons or forego their morning latte-in fact, she won't give any guidance on how to be saved from a dark financial destiny. Instead she provides readers with a psychological how-to full of fun tidbits. Broke is Beautiful is an insightful compendium of history, inspiration, facts, and humor that all celebrate the lack of money as a gateway to more serenity, self-awareness, and yes, even security. In the tradition of Alain de Botton's How Proust Can Change Your Life and Eric Wilson's Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy, here is an unconventional take on a subject that is relevant to us all. It is quirky comfort for the (literally) poor soul: offering historical and geographic perspective, ponderings on consumerism and credit scores, and even recipes for ramen noodles.