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Confessions of a Shopaholic
Release Date: 2003-04
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $29.99



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Product Description
Rebecca Bloomwood just hit rock bottom. But she's never looked better....

Becky Bloomwood has a fabulous flat in London's trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season's must-haves. The only trouble is that she can't actually afford it -- not any of it.

Her job writing at Successful Savings not only bores her to tears, it doesn't pay much at all. And lately Becky's been chased by dismal letters from Visa and the Endwich Bank -- letters with large red sums she can't bear to read -- and they're getting ever harder to ignore.

She tries cutting back; she even tries making more money. But none of her efforts succeeds. Becky's only consolation is to buy herself something ... just a little something....

Finally a story arises that Becky actually cares about, and her front-page article catalyzes a chain of events that will transform her life -- and the lives of those around her -- forever.

Sophie Kinsella has brilliantly tapped into our collective consumer conscience to deliver a novel of our times -- and a heroine who grows stronger every time she weakens. Becky Bloomwood's hilarious schemes to pay back her debts are as endearing as they are desperate. Her "confessions" are the perfect pick-me-up when life is hanging in the (bank) balance.
Amazon.com Review
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
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Product Reviews:
  There are better ones from Kinsella 
After reading "the Undomestic Goddess" and "Can you keep a secret?" which are some of the later books of Kinsella I thought I'll just give the book that shoot her to fame a try. I must admit that the title had put me off for quite some time because it just sounded so silly. But I thought that maybe that was just the title. Well, the book is kind of silly at a whole. I know these chic lit books don't set out to use symbolism or to deal with political issues, their humble goal seems to be to entertain us readers and most of the time they do. But I believe there is a very fine line when funny and chic becomes ridiculous and over the top. While the later books of Kinsella seem to stay on the right side of that line this one doesn't.

Don't get me wrong, this book will make laugh sometimes and it definitely has a few moments but the shopping and stupidity of Becky, the main character is excessive and boring. Where the main characters of the later books of Kinsella didn't have their life in order in a fun way, Becky just comes off as dumb and hard to sympathize with.

This is an ok book that might keep you slightly humored but the later books of Kinsella are much better and I would recommend them before this one.

  Great read :) 
I've heard a lot about the book and decided to pick it up since I heard they were making a movie. If you're into chick lit, I found it very amusing, funny, and easy to read. The book came in quickly and was in perfect condition.
  Disappointed! ( fauxreal4 )
Our bookclub selected this for our October gathering. We were very disappointed with the book and the characters. There were many opportunities for character development ~ didn't happen. It required more than 100 pages to get to the first really humorous situation! And for all her dingbat antics, the heroine still got the job and the millionaire ~ go figure!

  Hilarious 
If you want to read something that will make you laugh out loud this is the book for you....written somewhat like the Bridget Jones collection..very entertaining, light read. All of us can relate to the struggles Rebecca has with her money I am sure. I have already read the next book in the collection.
  I LOVE THIS AUTHOR 
I AM SO ADDICTED TO THIS SERIES OF BOOKS... I love her humor, I can relate to her main characters lives in all of her books.. I can't wait until she comes out with new books I'm always pre-order. TOTALLY ADDICTIVE.. even though I am not a shopaholic I get so pulled into her characters lives. She's my fav. author...