Land of the Lost Souls: My Life on the Streets

I saw the book signing lecture tour on C-Span Book TV...before the show had finished, I had ordered this copy of the book. Even though I knew what to expect, I was totally floored by the impact of this autobiography. It inspired so many feelings in me that I had to ration my reading of it. Just when I thought I could take it, Cadillac Man would lead me deeper into his life. Ultimately, I couldn't take it. I just couldn't. I never realized such misery existed within the hearts of our country's homeless, and I also never realized how brave and how strong someone had to be to endure it. I learned a lot of things from this book...a lot about what it truly means to be human. Nobody can read this book without loving Tom, the Cadillac Man. His empathy for others, his courage in the face of his feelings of loss and sadness, and his strength to keep going, all the while praying to The Boss (Cadillac Man's name for God) to end his misery, is something I will surely never forget. There is a disclaimer at the beginning of the book regarding his lack of writing skills. Yet the prose itself, while not as polished as some, flowed smoothly, exhibiting no glaring flaws of syntax or grammar, and effectively portrayed the content of this man's life, in a way that I found very satisfying and highly inspiring. The writing is just fine. The story, however, is staggering in its intensity...and is destined to stand the test of time as a remarkable testimony to the strength and glory of one human spirit. I hope to meet Cadillac Man someday, on the Other Side. And I am sure he will be the soul who shines more brightly than all the others. It is then I will thank him properly for all the things he has taught me through this book. They are important lessons for us all, and well worth remembering. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to others, as long as you know beforehand the journey you are about to take. It is unadorned, it is honest, and it is powerful---so powerful that my biggest problem in reading it was in trying to imagine how anyone could manage to offer such a fearless account of their life, from a point so deep within themselves, merely to grant me the benefit of sharing it. This book was not written for the market. It was not written for ancillary movie rights, or to add another Big Name title for the publisher to hawk. This book was written for you. More than once, I had to put it down because I was crying so hard. I couldn't read one more page. I couldn't stand it anymore. But I always came back. I had to come back. Because this account is important. It's almost necessary, if one seeks a full understanding of what it is like to live in this world without a home, without hope, and without any of the environmental armaments with which we defend and protect our cushioned, comfortable lives. Not often does a book transcend its own form to become something more than the sum total of its words. This is such a book. You will never forget Cadillac Man.

I loved this book. It is so fascinating and Cadillac Man has such an interesting and uncommon voice. This is the most heart-breaking, laugh-out-loud, shake your head in disbelief memoir you'll ever read.

A well told, expertly edited first person account of street homelessness, Cadillac tells it like it is and as it happened according to daily journals he has kept for over a decade. A must-read certainly to the end.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY gave LAND OF THE LOST SOULS a STARRED REVIEW "Writer, veteran and native Manhattanite Cadillac Man exposes the hidden world of the homeless in this riveting collection of stories from his sixteen years on the streets of New York City. Following the heartbreaking deterioration of his marriage, Cadillac finds himself wandering New York with no destination, comforted by the memories of his young daughter and haunted by his failures. With an uncanny sense of humor and invention, Cadillac uses everyday objects most take for granted (soda cans, discarded beach chairs, toy wagons) to build a life for himself, literally, from the ground up. Cadillac guides readers through streets most people don't (or choose not to) see, introducing the outcasts he comes to value most: singers, teen runaways, pimps, prostitutes and a few unlikely angels. Excruciating details of fist-fights and romantic escapades leave little to the imagination, rendering Cadillac's world intimate, scary and touching; it becomes clear that his survival and sanity depend not only on crafty methods of making money, but also on journaling (excerpts from which have appeared in Esquire magazine). A surprising find, Cadillac lets readers in on a rarely seen community, revealing the compassionate hearts that beat even in the most despairing circumstances."

A friend recommended this book and once I started it, I couldn't put it down. I guess for me, like for most people, homeless people were always just part of the landscape. Cadillac Man shows us what day to day life is like on the streets. He's not coming at you with a message; he's just telling stories, the way he would if you sat down with him for coffee for a few hours. He's funny and warm and a natural storyteller. Life on the streets is hard, of course, but it's also full of adventure and even has its hilarious moments. The episodes with the character Chocolate Milk, for example, are hysterical. And the story of "Penny," the girlfriend he finds on the streets, is heartbreaking. Cadillac Man also makes you understand how a person can end up on the streets. He might not have made the same choices another person would make, but you can really understand how the streets make sense for him. He has an enormous heart and a tremendously compassionate soul, and he quickly comes to love and protect "his people" on the streets. This book makes you realize the depths of experience and suffering and endurance that every homeless person must possess.