A homeless man who turned his life around by offering book reviews
This is a great story.  But...someone who has the intelligence and work ethic to do this probably wasn't going to be homeless for long.Honestly, there are probably millions of people who pull themselves together like this - it's just they end up working regular jobs like maintenance work or burger flipping that aren't as inspirational.The problem with stories like this is they conflate two problems:
(1) being down on your luck (but hard-working and reasonably intelligent)
(2) being stuck in a poverty loop due to mental illness, criminal record, or countless other complex factors.Problem (1) is something a lot of HN readers can relate to, especially in their early twenties.  Hence, the popularity of this article.Problem (2) however is the much bigger problem.  Unfortunately, what this guy did is only marginally useful in coming up with solutions to that problem.All that said, I'm sure he's a pretty cool guy.