You'll never believe me A life of lies, second tries, and things I should only tell my therapist

Kari Ferrell

Book - 2025

"Adopted at a young age by a Mormon family in Utah, Kari struggled with questions of self-worth and identity as one of the few Asian Americans in her insulated community, leading her to run with the 'bad crowd' in an effort to fit in. Soon, stealing from superstores turned into picking up men (and picking their pockets), and before she knew it, Kari had graduated from petty theft to Utah's most wanted list. Though Kari was able to escape the Southwest, she couldn't outrun her new moniker: the Hipster Grifter. New York City's indie sleaze scene had found its newest celebrity--just as Kari found herself in a heap of trouble. Jail time, riots, bad checks, and an explosion of internet infamy and fetishization put h...er name in the spotlight. Beyond the gossip and Gawker posts, there's a side to Kari the media never saw--until now"--Inside jacket flap.

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Subjects
Genres
Autobiographies
Published
New York : St. Martin's Press 2025.
Language
English
Main Author
Kari Ferrell (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
viii, 277 pages ; 22 cm
ISBN
9781250288226
  • 1. Adopt Don't Shop
  • 2. Let's Get Celestial
  • 3. The Lasting Effects of "Pay What You Weigh" Restaurants
  • 4. I Meant to Do That
  • 5. Baby's First Grift
  • 6. Lexicon Artist
  • 7. Hot Dogs & Hand Jobs
  • 8. Capture
  • 9. Riot Grrrl
  • 10. Con Air
  • 11. The Long Haul
  • 12. The Long Haul Part 2: Electric Chair Boogaloo
  • 13. Trailer Trash
  • 14. Murder-Suicide
  • 15. Han Ball
  • 16. Return to the Motherland
  • 17. A Work in Progress
  • Acknowledgments
Review by Booklist Review

Ferrell didn't mean to do it, as she explains in this memoir of larceny, lust, and identity. By the time she was dubbed "The Hipster Grifter," she'd already been in jail, had warrants for $60,000 in forgeries and retail theft, and had kited checks from Utah to NYC. Buried beneath the headline-grabbing behavior was the pain and rejection of being a transracial adoptee, her hidden bisexuality, and rebellion against the strict mores of the LDS church. Stuck in a spiral of bad behavior and ripping off everyone in her life, Kari gets collared and spends a significant amount of time in jail, where she starts to transform her approach to life. Her observations deepen and her voice is strongest when she talks about the intricacies of incarceration, her fellow cellmates, and their stories of being women in the system. While Kari became famous for lying about her background to snag a prestigious job at VICE Magazine, she's working to prove that her story is just as interesting when she's free of the grift. A "bad girl makes good" memoir with some sharp insights.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Ferrell debuts with a raw and riveting account of how she became infamous for scamming New York City's hipsters. Adopted from South Korea as a five-month-old by Mormons in Salt Lake City, Ferrell weathered both the church's religious strictures and casual racism from classmates and acquaintances. Insecure and lonely, she fell in with a bad crowd after her parents' divorce, shoplifting and committing check fraud as a teenager. In 2008, Ferrell moved to New York, where she charmed a string of men--mostly Brooklyn artists--whom she subsequently fleeced. The New York Observer nicknamed Ferrell "the Hipster Grifter," and, while serving nearly a year in jail for her crimes, she began to drop her hard-edged persona as she met and bonded with her fellow inmates. After her release, Ferrell became a prisoners' rights advocate and developed a production company that focuses on work from women of color. With a combination of bruising vulnerability and self-deprecating humor ("I was like a law-breaking Martha Stewart. Oh, wait"), Ferrell's audacious coming-of-age tale pairs the thrill of true crime with the redemptive arc of a good memoir. It's a deliciously edgy testament to reinvention. Agent: Lily Dolin, UTA. (Jan.)This review has been updated.

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