My Life on the Street [Paperback]

Joe Homeless (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1994

The savage memoir of one of the world's homeless, faceless men.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What is one to make of this bleary odyssey that careens around the streets of New York City? What is true and what is not? The author, whoever he is, speaks of packs of feral block associations wielding bats and pipes hunting him down like a mad dog. Feverish fantasy? This horrible story--gritty, sometimes bloody and probably true to life in many respects--shows Joe Homeless shuttling between relatives, friends, churches, hospitals and shelters. But where does reality begin and end? At the end we see the author camped in a subway station, having been interviewed by the press and awaiting word from his agent on his manuscript. Did his advance get him off the streets? He needs help, and so does this memoir, which provides no introduction or epilogue for context.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

What's it really like to be homeless? According to this acrid report by a 12-year resident of New York City's mean streets, it's sheer hell. Unlike most homeless, the anonymous author, now middle-aged, grew up in a middle-class Italian family. Moreover, he assures us, ``I am not a drug addict, alcoholic, or convict.'' Even so, when, in 1979, his equipment-repair business took a downturn and he couldn't pay his rent, he found himself evicted into the harsh frost of a New York winter. What followed was an odyssey of the damned: The author turned to relatives who slammed door after door in his face; he hiked up to the Italian Bronx and was chased away by a neighborhood posse; he sought refuge in a church only to have a priest pour a cauldron of boiling water on his head. All this suffering is described in gritty prose (``My dirty clothes were rotting off my body, and were so stiff they were like cardboard. Pieces would fall off my underwear as I walked. My brain was turning to jelly'') that hammers home the horrors--fear, filth, loneliness, exhaustion, hunger--of life on the streets (and, briefly, in a shelter and a flophouse and on the subways). Yet, for all this detail and the rambling flashbacks of the author's childhood, a hint of obfuscation taints these pages. It's partly composed of the pure melodrama of some of the events (a priest pouring boiling water?) but mostly of the author's refusal or inability to explain his enduring homelessness--though his relatives' responses and a later stint in a mental ward give strong clues. The text concludes on a relatively upbeat note as the author tape-records his memoirs, gets a portion published in Street News and then Newsday, and is contacted by a literary agent, who sells his book. A photorealist portrait--harrowingly vivid but with little psychological insight--that leaves society's lowest depths still frustratingly unplumbed. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: New Horizon Press (April 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882820915
• ISBN-13: 978-0882820910
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,399,559 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real eye-opener, July 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: My Life on the Street (Paperback)

This book gave me a real insight into the world of the homeless and dramatically altered my perspective on exactly who these people are and how they have arrived at their situation. Before reading this book, I assumed that 99% of all homeless people were either drug addicts, alcoholics, or people with mental problems. Several ideas here really touched home. Living in DC for most of my life, I have been constantly surrounded by homeless people, and have noticed that each individual seems to come and go at an extraordinarily rapid rate. Joe Homeless explained that this is because most are dead within one to two years.

A few questions remain unanswered by the author, however, that continue to burn in my mind. Why do homeless people not on drugs and who are mentally stable remain in the cities. It seems that it would be easy to find work in a McDonalds or related place if given one new pair of clothes and a brief opportunity to clean themselves. Also, the author continually stated that he only needed a place to get himself together for a few days before he could get back on his feet again. Yet, when he finally does recieve a welfare check and this opportunity, he does not find a job. Why not? It seems that there are plenty of temporary or full time positions for untrained workers. Perhaps this did not apply in the 1970s. I hope that the author has the opportunity to read this response and has the opportunity to reply. I really don't expect that many other people have read this socially important work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Brilliantly Written., June 4, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Barrie, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Life on the Street (Paperback)

I found this book fascinating to read. I am a former homeless person, myself having spent two years on the streets.

3.0 out of 5 stars Why so long ?, December 24, 2010

By 

Midknight - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Life on the Street (Hardcover)

After reading the book,which I found quite interesting,I was left wondering how "Mr. Homeless" stayed homeless for so long. He seemed determined to stay in NYC for some reason. I myself have been homeless for short periods. I follow the old adage that for the most part says "IF you are moose hunting go where the moose are". If you are unemployed and homeless go where the jobs are. In other words maybe its time to get the hell out of Dodge! He had it bad no doubt, I just cannot understand WHY he stayed.