Spent: Memoirs of a Shopping Addict
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Product Description
As a child, Avis Cardella devoured the glamorous images in her mother’s fashion magazines. She grew up to be one of the people in them, living a life that seemed to be filled with marks and luxury. But shopping had become a treacherous addiction. She forwent food for Prada. Credit card debt blossomed like the ever-increasing pile of unworn shoes and clothing in the back of her closet. She defined herself by the things she owned and also lost herself in the mad hunt for the perfect pair of pants or purse that might make her feel whole.
Spent is Avis Cardella’s timely, deeply personal, and shockingly dramatic exploration of our cultural need to spend, and of what happens when a name is consumed by the desire to consume.
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Avis Cardella was raised in a middle class Brooklyn household with a blue collar father, two brothers and a fashionably-chic mother. Young Avis could regularly be establish waiting patiently for her mother to return from the grocery store so she could commandeer the latest issues of Vogue and Cosmo; which fueled her like for fashion and photography and primed her for a future career as a freelance writer.
As Avis got older she noticed she shopped more and more frequently. After a fleeting, tumultuous marriage to a photographer and the death of her mother, Avis was once again alone and her shopping nonstop to escalate. As her financial situation approached dire, Avis started dating Thomas, a wealthy German entrepreneur who helped her clean up her credit card mess–but did nothing for Avis’ hidden addiction. Eventually the couple became engaged and Thomas commenced a total makeover of Avis, molding her into the perfect, pricey façade of a woman worthy enough to join the fashionistas of the Upper East Side and the Hamptons.
Ultimately Avis would place Thomas in the hopes of finding herself, but with her safety net pulled out from under her, the freefall into financial ruin would soon start.
Although she saw early signs of her impending addiction, Avis wasn’t sure how to fix it; and there permanently seemed to be a new wealthy mate or distraction that allowed her to foster her denial.
Spent wasn’t fun and flirty like Confessions of a Shopaholic and it wasn’t as appealing a tale as Save Karyn, but written more as a cautionary tale for all who have mastered the technique of rationalizing their excessive shopping forays.
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
Every small girl has looked through magazines and thought about what it would be like to wear persons fancy clothes and expensive jewelry. Avis, desperate to be that gorgeous model dressed in Gucci, grew up to only buy the finer things in life. The problem was, she didn’t have an unlimited amount of income to afford her shopping habits which landed her in an enormous amount of debt.
Spent is just like Confessions of a Shopaholic except that it’s a right tale. I was able to connect with Avis because I know what it’s like to bury your fears and frustrations by consuming your time with one thing or another. Now go out and buy this book so that Avis can get a new pair of Prada heels.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
I permanently admire people who are courageous enough to write a tale about their misfortunes and I have to give leader Avis Cardella her due.
But, I have to say that Spent is not really what I thought it would be. Cardella details her own financial problems in a very honest and down to planet manner but two glaring things occured to me. Firstly, her book is kind of slow moving. The pace of this one could certainly have used some improving. I establish the detail way too involved and it made me feel completely disconnected from the leader.
The second issue was the course of her life – yes, i do realize that a memoir is about a name else’s life – but I establish that some of her “experiences” were so far removed from my day to day life that I just could not identify with them or with her.
The leader deserves points for writing such a personal tale – but to be completely honest, this book just did not engage me all that much.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
As of recent-when building any buy, a small voice within questions, “Is this something I want? Or, is this something I need?” I attribute my new establish mindfulness to Avis Cardella. I also establish her journey compelling because it spoke about an uncomfortable truth so many of us are unwilling to face. How much of our buys are really vital or necessary? The deeper issues are why! Avis Cardella clarifies her WHY and the resolve it took to face the endless acquiring of things that we call addiction. Addiction comes in a variety of form and Cardella invites the reader along from a perspective that may place us asking at our next buy, “Do I really need this want?”
I could not place this book down!
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
I painstakingly loved this memoir. In my opinion, unlike additional books on the theme, it starts at the beginning of the “I am what I wear, what I buy” zeitgeist of the early nineties (which is still in full force today) and examines in detail, the attitudes and forces that propelled it. I remember persons days, and many intelligent people succumbed to being identified by the brand of clothing (slot in, car, accessory, sound system here as well) they bought and wore, as opposed to the individual that they were. The additional aspect of the memoir that I reflect is crucial, and differentiates it from additional “shopping” books, is that she confronts the need to fill the emotional void, and how overwhelming and nearly impossible it seems at times. I reflect it is vital tale and a fantastic cautionary tale.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5