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From Amazon
If you've ever paid off one credit card with another, thrown out a bill before opening it, or convinced yourself that buying at a two-for-one sale is like making money, then this silly, appealing novel is for you. In the opening pages of Confessions of a Shopaholic, recent college graduate Rebecca Bloomwood is offered a hefty line of credit by a London bank. Within a few months, Sophie Kinsella's heroine has exceeded the limits of this generous offer, and begins furtively to scan her credit-card bills at work, certain that she couldn't have spent the reported sums.
In theory anyway, the world of finance shouldn't be a mystery to Rebecca, since she writes for a magazine called Successful Saving. Struggling with her spendthrift impulses, she tries to heed the advice of an expert and appreciate life's cheaper pleasures: parks, museums, and so forth. Yet her first Saturday at the Victoria and Albert Museum strikes her as a waste. Why? There's not a price tag in sight.
It kind of takes the fun out of it, doesn't it? You wander round, just looking at things, and it all gets a bit boring after a while. Whereas if they put price tags on, you'd be far more interested. In fact, I think all museums should put prices on their exhibits. You'd look at a silver chalice or a marble statue or the Mona Lisa or whatever, and admire it for its beauty and historical importance and everything--and then you'd reach for the price tag and gasp, "Hey, look how much this one is!" It would really liven things up.Eventually, Rebecca's uncontrollable shopping and her "imaginative" solutions to her debt attract the attention not only of her bank manager but of handsome Luke Brandon--a multimillionaire PR representative for a finance group frequently covered in Successful Saving. Unlike her opposite number in Bridget Jones's Diary, however, Rebecca actually seems too scattered and spacey to reel in such a successful man. Maybe it's her Denny and George scarf. In any case, Kinsella's debut makes excellent fantasy reading for the long stretches between white sales and appliance specials. --Regina Marler
From Publishers Weekly
Add this aptly titled piffle to the ranks of pink-covered girl-centric fiction that has come sailing out of England over the last two years. At age 25, Rebecca Bloomwood has everything she wants. Or does she? Can her career as a financial journalist, a fab flat and a closet full of designer clothes lessen the blow of the dunning letters from credit card companies and banks that have been arriving too quickly to be contained by the drawer in which Rebecca hides them? Although her romantic entanglements tend toward the superficial, there is that wonderful Luke Brandon of Brandon Communications: handsome, intelligent, the 31st-richest bachelor according to Harper's and actually possessed of a personality that is more substance than style. Too bad that Rebecca blows it whenever their paths cross. Will Rebecca learn to stop shopping before she loses everything worthwhile? When faced with the opportunity to do good for others and impress Luke, will she finally measure up? Rebecca is so unremittingly shallow and Luke is so wonderful that readers may find themselves rooting for the heroine not to get the manAalthough, since Shakespeare's time, there's rarely been any doubt concerning how romantic comedies will end. There's a certain degree of madcap fun with some of Rebecca's creative untruths; when she persuades her parents that a bank manager is a stalker, some very amusing situations ensue. Still, this is familiar stuff, and Rebecca is the kind of unrepentant spender who will make readers, save those who share her disorder in the worst way, pity the poor bill collector. (Feb. 13) Forecast: This is a well-designed book, with a catchy magenta spine, and a colorful and kinetic double coverAwhich will attract many browsers. Major ad/promo, including national NPR sponsorships, will enhance sales, despite the novel's flaws.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
OK. DON'T PANIC. Don't panic. It's only a VISA bill. It's a piece of paper; a few numbers. I mean, just how scary can a few numbers be? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
OK. DON'T PANIC. Don't panic. It's only a VISA bill. It's a piece of paper; a few numbers. I mean, just how scary can a few numbers be? Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
An hilarious quick read,
By
This review is from: Confessions of a Shopaholic (Mass Market Paperback)
I was looking for a little break from all of my textbooks and found this to be the perfect quick read. Hillarious and witty, you just have to keep turning the pages.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A hilarious read that will make anyone burst out laughing,
By Cordelia Kwon (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Confessions of a Shopaholic (Mass Market Paperback)
I can't say how many times I've read this book and still managed to burst out laughing.Becky Bloomwood is in some serious debt, and some serious denial about that niggling crush she has on Luke Brandon, head of his own PR firm for financial businesses, Brandon Communications. She's on Successful Saving as a journalist, but does she really have any success with savings? As a shopaholic, the answer is a flat out no. In many ways, Becky is like a child in the way she is self draw intuitively to pleasure and always has some kind of comment like, "And it wasn't really like I was on the regime," and constantly making excuses for herself. She continually thinks up of reasons (glandular fever, broken leg, dead dog, dead aunt) not to schedule a meeting with Erica Parnell, her bank manager's assistant. And then she discovers something really dishy and writes for the Daily World and that all results in a slot on Morning Coffee, in which she advises the world about money. To think she would do that! And when you think it's all over... there's still the rest of the series to read! If you don't know anything about designers, you will after reading this book, which of course you're gonna buy because it's just so good!
1.0 out of 5 stars
Oh so annoying,
By jamie a beck (connecticut) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Confessions of a Shopaholic (Paperback)
I've nothing against a light summer read...and that is what I'd hoped for when I picked up this book. Unfortunately the 'heroine' is repugnant to the point where I was actually unhappy that things worked out for her in the end. She showed no true remorse for her lies, schemes and immaturity; so I wasn't routing for her to overcome them. Also, the 'turnaround' in her career was at best happenstance...and so preposterous and unbelievable. So, I think I can sum up my review in a single word which reflects the amount of thought and creativity that went into writing this fiction: BOO.
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