Can't Look Away from The Bag Lady Papers

Alexandra Penney's The Bag Lady Papers tells how Penney has coped since losing her fortune to Bernie Madoff. Penney is a New York photographer and painter, and a Conde Nast alumnus (editor in chief of Self magazine, beauty editor at Glamour). Since her savings were stolen, she's had to curb her fondness for expensive things, sell her Florida and Long Island homes, and faces a financially insecure future. She still has her Upper East Side apartment, her brains and talents, and a host of accomplished friends, so she may sound like a person who has no right to complain. But regardless of circumstance, she is no less a victim of thievery than any other Madoff client. The writing is lively, and the book is full of dishy details. Penney's history of hard work is inspirational -- the girl never gives up! -- and glimpses of her childhood raised by cold withdrawn parents add other dimensions to the story. Penney's chin-up Rx —the daily donning of a crisp white no-iron shirt from Lands' End or Brooks Brothers—is so appealing I am heading out to buy one of my own.