Hot Cripple

Book excerpt: From Prada to poverty-one woman's harrowing and hilarious journey Ex-model Hogan Gorman was living the typical New York working actor's life-auditions and classes by day, waitressing and fending off handsy customers by night-when a wise (or just crazy) friend convinced her to ask the universe for a change. And she got one-coming at her at forty miles per hour. Hit by a car and suffering debilitating injuries, and with no health insurance, the fashionista attempts to bounce back into her (thrift store-purchased) Jimmy Choos even as she deals with short-term memory loss, stalker ambulance drivers, trying to stay vegan on food stamps, crazy judges, hot doctors, and unsympathetic government workers. Inspired by her acclaimed one-woman show, this is a bitingly funny and keenly observed account of the cracks in our medical and social welfare system and how one woman's resilience combined with a generous dollop of humor helped her fight her way to recovery.