In this smart, engaging book, Lee Eisenberg, best-selling
author of The Number: A Completely Different Way to Think
about the Rest of Your Life, leads us on a provocative and
entertaining tour of America's love/hate affair with
shopping, a pursuit that, even in hard times, remains a true
national pastime.Why do we shop and buy the way we do? In a
work that will explain much about the American character,
Eisenberg chronicles the dynamics of selling and buying from
almost every angle. Neither a cheerleader for consumption
nor an anti-consumerist scold, he explores with boundless
curiosity the vast machinery aimed at inducing us to
purchase everything from hair mousse to a little black
dress. He leads us, with understated humor, into the broad
universe of marketing, retailing, advertising, and consumer
and scientific research--an arsenal of powerful forces that
combine to form what he calls "The Sell Side." Through the
rest of the book, Eisenberg leads us through the "Buy Side"
-- a journey directly into our own hearts and minds, asking
among other questions: What are we really looking for when
we buy? Why are we alternately excited, guilt-ridden,
satisfied, disappointed, and recklessly impulsive? What are
our biases, need for status, impulses to self-express, that
lead us individually to buy what we buy? Are you a classic
buyer (your head wants to do the right thing), or a romantic
buyer (your heart just wants to have fun)? How do men and
women differ in their attitudes towards shopping, and does
the old cliche -- "Women shop, men buy" -- apply any
longer?Of special interest are the author's findings on the
subject of What Makes a Good Buy? We all purchase things
that we sooner or later regret, but what are the guidelines
for making purchases that we'll never regret? What, for
instance, defines the perfect gift?Brimming with wit and
surprise, Shoptimism will be delightful and instructive
reading for anyone with a credit card and a healthy
curiosity about American culture, through good times and
bad. For here, in one vivid journey, is a memorable,
panoramic portrait of our everyday self-delusions, desires,
and dreams.
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