Home Girl: Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block

By Judith Matloff

After twenty years as a foreign correspondent in tumultuous locales including Rwanda, Chechnya, and Sudan, Judith Matloff is ready to put down roots and start a family. She leaves Moscow and returns to her native New York City to house-hunt for the perfect spot while her Dutch husband, John, stays behind in Russia with their dog to pack up their belongings. Intoxicated by West Harlem’s cultural diversity and, more important, its affordability, Judith impulsively buys a stately fixer-upper brownstone in the neighborhood.

Little does she know what’s in store. Judith and John discover that their dream house was once a crack den and that “fixer upper” is an understatement. The building is a total wreck: The beams have been chewed to dust by termites, the staircase is separating from the wall, and the windows are smashed thanks to a recent break-in. Plus, the house–crowded with throngs of brazen drug dealers–forms the bustling epicenter of the cocaine trade in the Northeast, and heavily armed police regularly appear outside their door in pursuit of the thugs and crackheads who loiter there.

Thus begins Judith and John’s odyssey to win over the neighbors, including Salami, the menacing addict who threatens to take over their house; MacKenzie, the literary homeless man who quotes Latin over morning coffee; Mrs. LaDuke, the salty octogenarian and neighborhood watchdog; and Miguel, the smooth lieutenant of the local drug crew, with whom the couple must negotiate safe passage. It’s a far cry from utopia, but it’s a start, and they do all they can to carve out a comfortable life. And by the time they experience the birth of a son, Judith and John have even come to appreciate the neighborhood’s rough charms.

Blending her finely honed reporter’s instincts with superb storytelling, Judith Matloff has crafted a wry, reflective, and hugely entertaining memoir about community, home, and real estate. Home Girl is for anyone who has ever longed to go home, however complicated the journey.

Advance Praise for Home Girl

“Although I always suspected that renovating a house in New York City would be a slightly more harrowing undertaking than dodging bullets as a foreign correspondent, it took this charming story to convince me it could also be more entertaining. Except for the plumbing. That’s one adventure I couldn't survive.”
–Michelle Slatalla, author of The Town on Beaver Creek

“After years of covering wars overseas, Judith Matloff takes her boundless courage and inimitable style to the front lines of America’s biggest city. From her vantage point in a former crack house in West Harlem, she brings life to a proud community held hostage by drug dealers and forgotten by policy makers. Matloff’s sense of humor, clear reportage, and zest for adventure never fail. Home Girl is part gritty confessional, part love story, and totally delightful.”
–Bob Drogin, author of Curveball

“Here the American dream of home ownership takes on the epic dimensions of the modern pioneer in a drug-riddled land. Matloff’s story, which had me crying and laughing, is a portrait of a household and a community, extending far beyond the specifics of West Harlem to the universal–as all well-told stories do.”
–Martha McPhee, author of L’America

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 24, 2008
• ISBN: 9781588366993

Judith Matloff

Judith Matloff teaches conflict reporting at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. She has pioneered safety training seminars for journalists, specifically women, helping hundreds of people feel confident to face an increasingly dangerous world. Her stories about war and violence have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times Magazine, the Economist, the Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Matloff’s work has been supported by the MacArthur Foundation, the Fulbright Scholar Program, the Logan Nonfiction Fellowship, and the Hoover Institution. She lives in New York City with her family.

Reviews for Home Girl

[stephbayless · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book. Home Girl is the story of an impulse purchase to the extreme—a couple buys a fixer-upper in Harlem to be their new dream home, but discovers the neighborhood to be a hot spot in the drug business, the house a former crack house, and the neighbors to see the new white couple as a key to getting increased police activity. But the story doesn’t progress they way your might expect; instead of shutting up inside their new home, the couple begins to learn about the good and bad in their neighborhood and try to work with the unwanted inhabitants. Even living in this unusual situation, it is very easy to relate to the couple who just want to make this work out. Using humor and honesty, Matloff tells her story of walking the line between homeowner protecting an investment and neighborhood wanting to live happily in her neighborhood.

[amandaking_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A poignant, honest portrayal of a woman searching for home, Home Girl is an intriguing if sometimes wandering, snapshot of a ex-pat putting down roots. She doesn't candy-coat, and I think that is what keeps the majority of the memoir from becoming trite. A good read.

[emcelroy_8 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The one thing that bothered me the most about this book was that I really had no sense of her husband. She worried about his reaction to the house, but it was glossed over. Almost anything having to do with her husband was glossed over. It was interesting to read her take on the neighborhood activities and the inevitable gentrification.

[hope3957 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed following the author while she found a home and renovated it. It was an interesting read in watch what and where you are buying when looking for a house to buy. It was interesting to read after watching so many house buying stories on TV. Her obstacles were incredible as she works on trying to make this house into a real home. I sometimes had trouble believing all the problems. Overall it was an interesting read.

[memasmb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Story begins with a foreign correspondent, Judith Matloff, who has travelled the world from one dangerous situation to another. She falls in love in South Africa, marries a Dutchman, loses a baby in Russia and then decides to settle down in West Harlem, New York.On her own, she purchases an old decrepit brownstone in a drug infested neighbor that is full of many scary people. Talk about taking on a project…she appears to bite off more than she can chew.My experience in the home building industry makes me cringe when she describes the construction people working on her home. It sounded to me; like the blind leading the blind. Why would you find termites after drywall?Her naivety in dealing with the drug pushers, strange neighbors, over worked policemen, real estate brokers, homeless people and local politicians, at times can be irritating.The honestly in her writing draws you into the book and wants you to find out how she can possibly pull this restoration off and change her street. Against unbelievable obstacles and with the assistance of her neighbors, she accomplishes the incredible task of turning an unlivable structure into a home on a civilized street.If you are looking for a book about perseverance and optimism, this easy reading and straight forward book is for you.

[bbexlibris · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Starting off as a travel memoir Home Girl really captured my attention in the beginning. Judith is a traveling world journalist who has been at it for 20 years and loves the whole deal. I couldn't help but relate to her gypsyish dreams of travel and adventure. A time comes though, when life's goals change and it is time for Judith to move into the dreams of family, consistency and not living each day in extreme danger. She and her hubby decide to purchase a house. They have no idea that their adventures overseas only were the tip of the iceberg!I could relate to the desire to travel, to see things, experience and to live all over. Half way into the home-remodel Home Girl just lost interest for me, I tried to enjoy the rest but it was just too much detail on the freaky street that they chose to buy on and not enough about the little details that make the story relatable. I do see though how many others could relate to this story better than I did. After the initial couple chapters I just didn't feel that strong of a connection because she was so much different than me, in a different stage of life and searching for different things.Why were Judith and her hubby there in the first place? I don't get it. There are so many, SO MANY, much better places to live than across the street of the crack capitol of the whole east coast!!! Seriously, I willed them to move so many times. What would you do if you found out after buying your home that it was the mecca of drugs and dealers??It was very amusing though, how she and her husband John paid the drug dealers off the streets to help them renovate their home. I found most of those encounters very touching, humorous and to me they seemed pretty realistic. Judith and her husband kept rooting for these guys to get out of their situations, and it showed just how embedded they were that even after being given chances and time they still often felt the need to scurry back to what they knew and where they were comfortable. I get wanting to be someplace familiar, not even caring what it looks like, familiar makes me happy too. I got it.All in all it was interesting, but not really my type of book, I just couldn't relate. But, if you are middle aged, just settling down, dealing with miscarriages or into remodeling homes...this could be perfect for you!

[mldg_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

LT Early Reviewer Program It sat on our front proch under a plastic bin we used as a makeshift table for several months before my husband found it a few days ago. It was worth the wait. I enjoyed this memoir about restoring a brownstone in Harlem. The author spent much of her adult life as a journalist covering stories in dangerous war-torn parts of the world. Turns out, that was good preparation for learning to live in a neighborhood infested with drug dealers.The book takes the reader through the common pitfalls of buying and restoring a piece of real estate that needs a lot of work. It also a tale about the transformation of the neighborhood and the author's life as she becomes a mother.The book is well written and easy to read with many character's brought to life.

[yourotherleft_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After years of cultivating a successful career as a foreign correspondent that had her traveling to all manner of dangerous locations, Judith Matloff stumbled into her mid-life crisis seeking all the things that she had neglected all her life: commitment, safety, and family. When she loses a baby in dangerous and painful fashion in Russia after chasing a story in Chechnya, she vows to change the way she lives and seek out a real home in New York City, her hometown. Having accumulated a fair amount of funds, she sets out to find the right neighborhood for herself, her husband John, and their well-traveled canine companion, Khaya. Her scouting leads her to West Harlem (before it was cool or even safe to live in West Harlem) a place she deems to be a thriving neighborhood with lots of Latin American flavor that reminds her of her past travels. When the opportunity comes to buy a run-down, fixer-upper of a house at a rock-bottom price, she pays cash on the spot without a second thought as to why the asking price is so low, hoping for the best from the house and from her new neighborhood.What she gets is far from the best. Judith soon realizes that the reason the house was shown so early in the morning was that by noon the street becomes a hotbed of cocaine-dealing activity complete with hoards of Dominican men eager to be rich back in their own country effortlessly coordinating massive drug transactions providing drugs to much of the east coast. The dealers think nothing of leaving trash everywhere, urinating on her front steps, and leaning somewhat menacingly on her gate. As if this wasn't bad enough, there's Salami, the unhinged crack addict next door, and he's angry about being displaced from "his" house. While Judith assembles a motley crew of workmen to begin the long task of restoring the house, Salami spends all his spare time, of which he has a lot, skulking about and singing "I'll be watching you" in an effort to get Judith to abandon the house he still thinks of as his. What's surprising about this book is not that Harlem was a hub of criminal activity nor that frightening and disruptive people seemed to be lurking at all hours in this dangerous neighborhood, but how Judith and John embrace their melting-pot neighborhood. Judith strikes up a surprisingly respectful and businesslike friendship with the director of the local drug crew, Miguel, at the same time as she is collecting another group of acquaintances at community meetings where, it is thought, her white face will encourage a stronger response from police to the neighborhood's many problems. Clarence the super from across the street doesn't have the most attractive personality, but he does have a natural cure for whatever might be ailing you while Mackenzie a well-educated recovering addict squatting in the basement of Clarence's building is a frequent borrower of books from Matloff's collection. Other interesting neighbors include a Julliard-trained organist who grows a garden of fake flowers and a feisty elderly black woman still going strong in her 80s who is renowned throughout the neighborhood. Matloff's connections with the many unique characters that make up her neighborhood even as it begins to transform from underprivileged drug Wall Steet to the dwelling of yuppies are what makes this book shine. It's as charming as it is ironic to find one of the first white couples to venture into West Harlem embracing their community and its members embracing them. Sure, there are many bumps, and occasional bottomless craters, in the road which Matloff renders honestly, but by the time the house is restored and police have finally begun to crack down on the most egregious drug activity, it's clear that her house in Harlem proved to be a great growing experience for Judith and that the she did, at last, find just the sort of home she was longing for albeit in the most unlikely of places.

[lallybroch_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Judith Matloff has traveled to, and lived in, many dangerous places during her years as a newspaper correspondent. After countless moves, her nomadic lifestyle wasn't what she craved anymore. She, and her husband John, longed for some stability and decided to put roots down in New York. After looking in many different areas, they purchased a dilapidated brownstone in a Dominican neighborhood in West Harlem.Matfoff begins spending time at the house before closing to protect it from the squatters and drug dealers in the area, and introduces us to some wonderful and colorful characters. After moving in, Judith and John find the house is a little more run down then they had anticipated. This begins a seemingly enless parade of contractors and repairmen. Matloff's book is a wonderful story of adapting to a foreign environment, right in your own back yard. I enjoyed the glimpse into a way of life completely removed from my own. The neighbors, and Matloff's reactions to them, provide an entertaining and quick moving story. I found myself laughing out loud more than once at the antics of the neighbors and contractors. This book will be high on my list of recommendations to other memoir lovers.

[bambamgotchatwice · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As someone who just recently renovated my own house, I thought I might find some funny stories and anecdotes about doing just that. I was surprised at how worldly the book really was. It wasn't so much about rennovating a house as it was forging a place in the world. I enjoyed it very much and found humor in some of the situations the writer found herself in and also sorrow at some of the events she had to get through to find the story.

[replay_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Harlem, just a few blocks away north from home. Land of mistery, legends and darkness, as told me my dear 85 year old upper eastsider neighbour, eyes full of fear and the corners of her lips trembling softly.She's seen it all, wars, slaughters, crualty, human stupidity at its upmost. She had no fear, risking the life of her unborn baby, boldness in hands as her sole weapon, and journalist immunity as a shield. Judith was definitely the only woman who could have pioneered West Harlem in the mid-nineties and open the way for further gentrifiers to set up their nests in those shabby but still-beautiful brownstones.Judith decided to buy a house in drugdealers-infested West Harlem. After a life of adventure as a grand reporter around the world, she and her Dutch husband decided to anchor in in a "civilised" country.

[tuckertribe · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Home Girl: Building a Dream House on Lawless Street is a non-fiction book by Judith Matloff, a US foreign correspondent of many years who comes home (the most foreign place of all for her lately) and tries to settle down in the US. While her husband is still on assignment somewhere else in the world, Judith falls in love with a decrepit old house in a colorful neighborhood, suitable for one familiar with the flavors of the "hot spots" of the world news. The only trouble...well the subtitle should give you a clue.This was an interesting read. Having been interested in international lives of US citizens, I was intrigued with how re-entry into American life might be. As the story progressed, I realized that Judith re-entry will likely be nothing like mine if ever I should leave and come back to the US. Her story still remained fascinating to me, for the events of this chapter of her life are quite outside my normal suburban life, although they could happen to anyone living in a big US city. I loved the idea living courageously within a new situation, and not demonizing people who are dangerously living (or even living in a way which makes it dangerous for me). On the other hand, courageously living in a dangerous situation should be for a greater purpose than an arbitrary love of a new house....a purpose really worthwhile.

[edreiling_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A well-written autobiographical account detailing a move from abroad back to New York City, specifically West Harlem. The times were tough in this drug infested neighborhood, and Judith details her struggle to overcome adversity and establish a home and life in this neighborhood. Very vivid descriptions fill the book, allowing for a great historical lesson for the reader.

[ennie_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The author was a foreign correspondent and her writing skill is evident in this closer-to-home story of brownstone rehab in West Harlem. I was riveted as she and her husband coped with repairs, neighbors including drug dealers, and childbirth, and eventually found a strong community.

[dmcco01 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Judith Matloff tires of her nomadic life as a foreign journalist, she decides to settle down in the familiar and stable home of her United States. Little does she realize that her new home is situated in a zone of drug dealers, squatters, and other colorful characters that are as unfamiliar and challenging as anything she faced overseas.Matloff recounts her trials and triumphs with a vivid style and sense of humor that will draw life-like pictures of her world in your mind. "Home Girl" will draw you in and make you question if anyone in the story is actually good or bad; or is everyone just looking to make a home where they lie.

[librarymeg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm generally more of a fiction reader than a non-fiction reader, but having said that I cannot recommend Home Girl enough. Judith Matloff is like that friend that everyone wishes they had. She has traveled the world, visiting the sites of terrible wars and international incidents as a foreign correspondent, and she has great stories to tell as a result. She speaks several languages, has friends all over the world, and despite all this comes across as incredibly approachable and sometimes insecure, which I found charming. She uses her book to tell the story of uprooting her life with her husband, also a journalist, to move from Russia to New York City, where her family lives. Upon arrival, she realizes that the only place they can afford to buy a home is West Harlem, which is in the very heart of the drug trade. Her new home, an ex-crack den, requires a lot of renovation, and the book covers that process as well as her attempt to join her new and unorthodox community while also avoiding the crime and drugs on her block. Through Judith, I got to know the kind of people I will likely never meet, including a gentleman drug lord, a homeless man who quotes Latin, a vaguely threatening but hopefully harmless crack addict, a hard-working ex-con, and the small community of activists trying to revive their neighborhood. I couldn't put Home Girl down, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good memoir, is interested in the history of West Harlem and New York City, or who is curious about how the drug trade can affect regular Americans. Loved it!

[trishnyc · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I was not at all impressed with this book and I was quite frankly shocked by her hubris. She by her own admission had quite a bit of money saved up, so she obviously had choices. She could have gotten herself a nice enough place in a safer environment but chose to live in this particular neighborhood which was apparently rife with crime. Before she even commits herself to this property, she becomes aware of its true nature BUT she persists in her quest to buy the place. I guess in her mind this makes her adventurous and brave but speaking as a native New Yorker, I will tell you that most people with half the money that she had would not have been caught dead living in such a place. I found her accounts self righteous and very pretentious.."smelling the mofongo cooking on one block" and then immediately switching to "smells of Spanish cooking on the next block"...really? Give me a break! Was that supposed to impress the reader that she was so well versed in the sights and smells of South America and Africa? I live close to that neighborhood and I can tell you that mofongo soup has never wafted into my nostrils. As an educator who works with children of varying ages, I found some of her accounts about her child to be highly suspect. She describes her child playing at "triple parking" and "cops and dealers", seriously, at twenty months? I highly doubt the validity of that story considering the child's age. And don't get me started on her tendency to classify people in ways that I found irritating and borderline offensive, ..."The Jewess", "the socialist Dutchman" and "the Latino Child"(to describe a child that was not Latino but Caucasian). Whatever happened to just describing someone as a man/gentleman or woman/lady or child or young man or pretty lady etc, anything but the ridiculous categorizations she resorts to?All in all, I am overjoyed that I did not spend my money on this book cause I would have been really annoyed. I would not recommend this book to anyone. Infact I intend to pass this book on to a friend who is a director of diversity so he can discuss the new forms of sterotyping passing for literature.

[grigoro_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book about the harrowing and often hilarious situations involved in setting up a household in a former crack-house with all the sundry and quirly neighbors and fellow residents. Judith Matloff, a former newspaper reporter, writes with a keen eye to personality details and finds humor in seemingly un-humorous situations. I really enjoyed this book, and found myself rooting for her all the way!

[emccullough_10 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Home Girl is a humorous and challenging glimpse into a West Harlem neighborhood's transformation, for better and worse, from a middle class black neighborhood, to a thriving headquarters for Dominican crack dealers, to the incubator of a gentrified bobo enclave.The author and her husband were rootless journalists accustomed to dodging bullets and negotiating with foreign strongmen. But their biggest challenge comes when they decide to put down roots in the US and raise a family. Undaunted by her naivete regarding home rehab or the crack sellers lining the block, Matloff impulsively throws down her life savings on a former crack house in Harlem. She and her husband manage to restore the magnificent architecture of the home, make peace with their lawless and homeless neighbors, find tenants, and raise a son amid near-chaos.Matloff tells her story with good humor, a complete lack of self-pity, and respect for her West Harlem neighbors.

[mel927 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Judith Matloff tell a compelling story of her venture into home-ownership in a West-Harlem neighborhood teeming with Dominican cocaine dealers. HGTV this is not. I enjoyed the time she took to discuss the characters on the block and the history of the drug trade made the book extremely informative as well. The coming togheter of the community to take the neighborhood back was moving. The "Blackout Barbeque" at the end of the book makes you wish you lived there...almost.

[stephivist · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book. Home Girl is the story of an impulse purchase to the extreme—a couple buys a fixer-upper in Harlem to be their new dream home, but discovers the neighborhood to be a hot spot in the drug business, the house a former crack house, and the neighbors to see the new white couple as a key to getting increased police activity. But the story doesn’t progress they way your might expect; instead of shutting up inside their new home, the couple begins to learn about the good and bad in their neighborhood and try to work with the unwanted inhabitants. Even living in this unusual situation, it is very easy to relate to the couple who just want to make this work out. Using humor and honesty, Matloff tells her story of walking the line between homeowner protecting an investment and neighborhood wanting to live happily in her neighborhood.

[lakingston · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In this memoir, Judith Matloff tells of quitting her job as an international correspondent (who very frequently worked in war zones), to seek stability and peace in her home country. When she and her husband buy a an affordable (read completely dilapidated) former crack house in Harlem, she finds her war zone skills being put to good use once again.One of the things that I most appreciated about this book was the author’s intelligent writing and progressive nalysis. She has a solid understanding of the economics behind the drug industry (what she doesn’t know at the outset she sets about researching in a way that really spoke to this former researcher) and manages to portray even the most sophisticated of dealers and hardened of addicts (along with those who oppose them) in a somewhat sympathetic light.This book was a compelling read and the diverse cast of characters had me laughing, crying and turning the pages. I really enjoyed this book and it has made me want to seek out some of Matloff’s more journalistic writing.

[samaree_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After traveling the world as a journalist, Judith and her husband, John, decide they should settle down and start a family. They decide that New York would make an excellent home and start looking for a house. Settling into their run down house in Harlem isn't quite the picture of domestic bliss they had in mind. There is a rowdy drug dealing gang that offers their wares right in front of the house and a crack addict that is bound and determined to reenter his former "squat". This book is laced with the history of the borough of Harlem, the history of the drug trade, the politics of neighborhoods, and all the difficulties of restoring a historic home. Matloff's engaging voice gives the characters depth. The picture she has painted of pre-gentrificaion Harlem is dangerous and wild, even as the old timers and renovators try to reclaim the neighborhood. Informative, funny, touching and very well written. I read this book in a couple days and could barely put it down. I actually contemplated reading while walking home, but feared for my safety.

[novelnympho · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Judith Matloff has led an interesting life as a journalist and her quest to attain homeownership in crime-ridden West Harlem was no more careless or more adventurous than her career life. As a Realtor I think I read this story with a different perspective than most and while I was hopeful for so much, it was a letdown. I was mildly entertained by the descriptions of the more colorful characters, neighbors and their "careers". The story had so much potential and I was excited to read it until I started reading it. Honestly, I found myself wishing it would be over, flipping to the back and wondering how many more pages I had until it ended. Unfortunately for me it was a disappointing read.

[jrbeach · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I requested this book to review because it seemed to fall into the category of homesteading/wilderness living, which is one of my favorite genres. The twist with this book is that the "wild West" was west Harlem, NYC. Since the author was ahead of the curve "gentrification-wise" living in west Harlem, then a center of the crack/cocaine trade, was every bit as dangerous as in the more traditional wilderness areas generally written about. The subtitle of the book is "building a dream house on a lawless block" but anyone looking for building or renovation ideas will be disappointed. There is very little discussion of paint vs. stain, or oil vs. latex etc., which is why I enjoyed the book so much. The focus is really on creating a home, with ties to the community and neighbors, rather than the actual physical renovation of the building. I think her reporter background came thru in her balanced portrayal of the diverse members of the community – from the drug dealers to the cops to the elected officials and all the neighbors – old-timers and newcomers alike. The book is written with much humor, and is very entertaining, as well as being somewhat thought-provoking (in its discussion of the effects of gentrification)

[spurnell_5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Loved this book. Finished it in two days and was sorry to see it end. The premise was interesting on its own but the real reason the book was so engaging was due to Judith Matloff's voice. Her writing style just pulls you in and make the story come alive. I truly felt as though I could see the street and the assortment of neighborhood characters. I look forward to reading more of Matloff's work in the future.

[kcnjamie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Home Girl by Judith Matloff is a memoir about Judith's journey in Harlem. Judith and her husband move into a fixer-upper in Harlem, NY at what is called before Sept. 11, 2001 "ground-zero"-- the hub of Dominican drug activities. Judith moved to home in order to be in a more stable and safer environment than her job as an international journalist took her; however, Judith learned that a home is more than where you live.I am a fan of memoirs, and this is one of the best. Once I started, I couldn't put it down. On first view, I didn't think I wanted to read about someone fixing up their home but I soon found out it was more than about a home renovation. While renovating her home and going through the dangers of "ground-zero" Judith made discovers about herself and people that will last her a lifetime. Great book and I recommend to everyone

[eo206 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Home Girl is written by a former foreign journalist who covered wars, atrocities, and covered some of the most horrific human atrocities of the 1980-1990s. As a result the author suddenly finds a desire to settle down, buy a house, create a home, and be close to her family. Judith Matloff discovers that the house she buys in West Harlem is more than she bargained for amongst the drugs, falling apart interior, and the colorful neighbors who at times try to run her out and reposes her house. Yet, Ms. Matloff goes about reconstructing her house bit by bit.The book follows the genre of authors who write about their trials of rebuilding houses, yet this book adds the twist of getting to know the neighbors. The neighbors and characters add to the humor and insight into the home rehab, they include drug lords, old ladies, nail parlors that don’t do nails, cops, and a guy named Salami and his girl named Charm.This makes a great summer read, pick it up!

[britbrit_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Judith Matloff's book is a how-to book for gentrifiers across the country. Although the gentrification process seemed to be the main theme in her memoir, it appeared as though she did not include herself as such an intruder because of her prior international lifestyle. The reader never receives a full account of what Judith Matloff and her husband John actually encountered and reported on, which I lament because I think it would have added more to the story. Instead, we were thrown bits and pieces of Judith’s endeavors (i.e. “I’ve walked through battlefields in South Africa, I can handle Salami [a crack addict on her block]”) to add to her picture of bravado and why she could live on the seedy block. I was mildly entertained by the story of the Matloff family's entrance into the unknown: West Harlem. Throughout their purchase and rehabilitation of the crackhouse that became their loving home, Judith encounters many eccentric characters along the way. I found myself most interested in the drug dealers and how their trade works, and I wish the author would have focused on further portraits of them. Instead, however, we were bombarded with a detailed account of the work on the house, with bits of 9/11, Judith’s pregnancy and the New York blackout making informational debuts, confusing the main storyline. I expected much more out of this memoir, because I truly think Judith led a very interesting life until she became a homeowner, and although I am biased in negativity towards gentrifiers and their quest to find a “real” neighborhood (i.e. poor people and crime), I believe the plot had true potential. If you are considering moving into a poor neighborhood as a middle class white American and rehabbing a house, or if you are looking for a very light, slightly entertaining tale about a family doing just that, please read this book. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t recommend it.

[acornell_13 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy memoirs that I can easily picture myself living. Although I do not live in Manhattan nor have I ever bought and rehabbed a Victorian crack den in the middle of a crack infested neighborhood, I could do that. I could by an old beat up house and live in less than favorable circumstances while I fixed it up like Judith Matloff in her lovely personal story Homegirl: Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block. Ms Matloff has moved to New York City after a whole other lifetime living abroad and reporting on wars and natural disasters for various newspapers. She and her husband want to settle down and start a family which involves buying a house in their now chosen home of New York. Judith rationalizes that she has been in war zones and faced down militias, why should she worry about living on a black with drug dealers?As I predicted from the start, after a few years of sweat and toil she and her husband come to have a beautiful home and family and come to have a real love for their strange neighborhood of misfits and crack addicts. They make friends, watch as stores come into the neighborhood, become activists for drug free neighborhoods, walk the dog and weather 9-11 together. I loved the narrator’s insecurities about living there after she made the decision to buy, and I love watching her life take root. The whole story is delightful and page turning. About the only confusion I have is her ambivalence about the drug dealers who inhabit her street. On the one hand she befriends some of them and learns to use them to help her keep the addicts off her front steps and keep the crime away from the hood. She laments over one of them named Miguel who disappears suddenly. She even searches for him in the Dominican Republic when she goes there on business. On the other hand she openly hates them and works to rid her neighborhood of them. She rejoices when the undercover narcotics cops announce there is no more work to do in her neighborhood. Perhaps it is this very tension in the story that makes the story so compelling. Isn’t this basic truth for all of us? The very things we hate are somehow secretly so much a part of us that we really have a hard time not loving them. Or something like that. Read this one. It is enjoyable.