Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping [Hardcover]

Judith Levine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2006

Many of us have tried to call a halt to our spending at one time or another. But what if we decided not to buy anything for a whole year? Obviously, we would need necessities like food and soap, but how would be manage without new clothes, treats, entertainment? Funny, smart and self-deprecating, Not Buying It is a close look at our society's obsession with shopping and the cold turkey confession of a woman we can all identify with - someone who can't live without French roast coffee and expensive wool socks, but who has had enough of spending money for the sake of it. Without consumer goods and experiences, Levine and her partner Paul pursue their careers, nurture family relationships and try to keep their sanity and humour intact. Tracking their progress and lapses, she contemplates the meanings of need and desire, scarcity and security, consumerism and citizenship. She asks the big questions - can the economy survive without shopping? Are Q-tips a necessity? A thought-provoking account of the pleasures and perils of the purchase-driven life, Not Buying It will get readers talking about their reliance on the act of buying and the possibility of getting off the merry-go-round.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

If you've ever contemplated cutting down on your consumerism but couldn't bring yourself to do it, Levine's volume allows you to witness and learn from this drastic experiment without going through the withdrawal yourself. Since giving up shopping entirely is impossible in North America (buying food requires money), the most interesting aspect of Levine's adventure is the process of defining necessity. High-speed Internet access, Q-tips and any soap fancier than Ivory, for example, are all ruled out as luxuries. With chapters divided by month, the book witnesses Levine's journey from enthusiastic experimenter in January to a still game but weary participant by the fall, as favorite luxuries run out and clothes become shabbier. As Levine trades in movies and restaurants for the public library system and dinner parties at home, she is forced to reflect on not only the personal indulgences she's become used to but also their place in defining her social space. Since this book is about exploring consumerism rather than economizing (although she does manage to save $8,000 by the end of the year), Levine investigates several anticonsumer movements—she joins her local Voluntary Simplicity group, participates in Buy Nothing Day and consults experts on issues of consumerism and conservation. Yet the most insightful aspect is Levine's account of her own struggle to keep down her day-to-day consumption of goods and to define the fine line between need and want. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Other than phenomenal willpower and maxed-out credit cards, what does it take to simply stop purchasing for 12 months? Levine took the plunge--and found it irritating, exhilarating, thought provoking, and humiliating--among many other conflicting emotions. What's an inexpensive substitute for Q-tips? How to best gift a soon-to-be college graduate without spending any money? How to avoid the consumption seduction that lurks in every corner? Levine chronicles her feelings in this almost-weekly diary of the year of nonpurchasing. Many of her points are intentionally provocative; for instance, not buying makes her feel vulnerable and having to ask for help. Plus, her secondary sources, from the recently issued Trading Up (2003) to federal deficit projections and Socratic pronouncements, add a great deal of depth to a topic that could be perceived as frivolous. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (February 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743269357
• ISBN-13: 978-0743269353
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (155 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #801,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

400 of 426 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What you need to know to decide if this is for YOU, March 8, 2006

By 

K. Corn "reviewer" (midwest, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping (Hardcover)

I bought this book after hearing a discussion with the author on public radio on March 8, 2006. If it is still up on the NPR site, I would strongly advise listening to a partial or full transcript of that show. It will help you make a decision to buy this book and whether it meets your needs [...]

In the interview, the author not only discusses her experiences, refusing to buy her usual daily latte, to make do with an old, used truck and to (ouch!) even give up her book buying habit. In short, if it wasn't absolutely necessary, it wasn't a purchase. She also discusses larger political views about consumerism in our culture and this, perhaps, is what is upsetting so many readers. She speaks of achieving balance, of deciding whether an ephemeral object is more important than devoting one's time and money towards larger pursuits, such as improving the school system or contributing to safer parks and neighborhoods or...whatever.

I think that maybe some readers were disappointed because they wanted a "how to" book rather than an exploration of consumerism and one woman's very individual experience. The book provides food for thought, a beginning step in a process rather than an absolute program. Those looking for absolutes should get a "how to" book.

This wasn't an easy process for Ms. Levine. Like so many of us, she had deeply entrenched habits and some seemingly minor daily purchases that were nearly automatic. Changing habits was far more difficult than she could have foreseen.

The author speaks of "unexpected longings" which she felt, longings that could be so easily focused or symbolized by objects or purchases. A new handbag may be simply a practical way to carry one's money and some tissues or it can carry meanings far beyond the obvious, including the desire to be seen as a person with "taste", buying nice items and avoiding the cheap, the apparently tacky.

Certain brands may smack of taste, style and reflect an image. They affect our very identify and sense of self...that's a LOT of emotional baggage to put on a specific object and yet, without those extra layers of meaning, how many expensive consumer items would actually sell?

Shopaholics should definitely buy this book. It may not cause them to completely revise their habits but they may well become more conscious of their motivations.

I will admit up front that I LOVED the book. It was more than an exploration of consumerism but of certain assumptions about "the better life" and what items constitute our viewpoints about ourself and reflect our values. Why do we surround ourselves with the possessions we have? Why do we buy the homes we do? Why do we spend far more than we really need to?

Yes, as some critics here have pointed out, the author has a political agenda and, yes, it is admittedly on the liberal side. If that bothers you, do not buy this book. This book is about making you THINK about your values, what motivates you to shop and buy what you do. It will help you reconsider both your conscious and subconscious motivations for doing so.

However, if you are looking for a HOW TO book, a guide to getting you out of debt or a program for saving money, don't expect this book to provide that structure. It isn't about that. It is simply one woman's experience (and experiment) with trying to do without for a year, as much as possible. It touches upon greater political and social issues and how our choices affect the world, not just our personal lives.

114 of 123 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Why Free isn't Always Good, February 11, 2007

By 

M. Spencer (Rocky Mountains, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping (Hardcover)

Let me begin by saying that, in the main, I am on Ms. Levine's side of the political aisle. I certainly think of myself as a liberal and a feminist.

That being said, this book was not a cogent call to arms for likeminded activists, a reasoned diatribe against consumerism, or even a mildly entertaining look at how Americans live (and buy) in the early part of this century.

Instead the book is a poorly written, self-indulgent, and condescending look at "doing without". While the author and her partner enjoy the benefits of two homes, three cars, and a plethora of options not possible to the working class, Ms. Levine is nevertheless ballsy enough to embark on a book about doing without. I think one of the moments that best summed up this entire failed experiment was when the author mentioned how often her friends are shocked to hear she is doing without films.

In the real America, when we "decide" to do without, we make decisions about whether to let our prescription drugs lapse or buy food for the family, whether to make an ER trip because we couldn't afford to go to a primary care physician, and whether to pay the heat, electric, or water bills this month. I know I don't get to decide that the New York Times and $55 haircuts are necessities. Let's talk about real decisions. I don't begrudge the author her $1,000/year diabetic cat, or even her non-processed organic foods (another option many of us simply can't afford), but I most certainly resent that Judith Levine holds up this year of her life as anything more than a cute and patronizing indulgence of her own whims.

As my husband pointed out when I was discussing the book with him, "They aren't buying anything, but they can't even cut their own hair? They have a forty-acre place in Vermont and can't even grow SOME of their own food?"

I don't know that I picked up this book (from the library) expecting a book that would teach me how not to buy, or solve the big problems of the world. But I think I should get more than this book had to offer. Like some of the "g*dawful" free entertainments the author substituted for her usual round of paid theatre and film performances, I expect more than this book has to offer. Even when I don't pay for it.

113 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Self-absorbed, clueless, yuppie., March 28, 2008

By 

Dixie Diamond "DD" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping (Hardcover)

I'm glad I _didn't_ buy this (I got it from the library). I was amazed, first of all, at how awkwardly-written and poorly-organized it is considering the author is a professional editor. It's repetitive. She does not seem to have any clear idea of where she's going with this experiment (well, she's trying to spend less, but the tone of the book is that she's white-knuckling it through the year until she can shop again). She has minimal insight and seems to have missed the point of her own book. She goes off on long, pointless tangents about politics and something about a cell-phone tower. I guess that was in her original journal but it's unrelated to the alleged purpose of the book and feels like it should have been omitted.

This book is really basic. I mean, REALLY basic. If any of this is a revelation to anyone, then their spending habits are already so out of control that . . . I don't even know where to begin. If this is what she thinks of as "doing without", she has no idea at all what it's like to genuinely do without.

This was one of the most incredibly self-centered, shallow, books I have ever read. I was amazed that the author would describe herself as "a woman of bird-like consumer appetites" since she is far more brand-conscious than I am, and I would not apply the same label to myself. If she doesn't actually buy more than I do, she certainly pays more attention to what is out there to be bought. I don't believe for a moment that her Alain Mikli glasses or Ibex jacket (neither of which brands I have ever heard of before) are not status symbols--she bought them to achieve a certain look. The only people you impress with you Ibex, or whatever, jacket, are other shallow people who think you can buy a personality.

She is not poor. I make just over half of what she does, I don't have a husband to subsidize my lifestyle, and I am still not considered poor. I can't imagine she supports three cars and two households in the Northeast on $50k so I assume that Paul must be providing the bulk of the household income. Hmmm. Convenient.

Ms. Levine appears to have a whopping sense of entitlement and a very poor grasp of cost vs. value. She admits that she had no plans to pay back her government student loans until the credit companies caught up with her. She laments the lack of state funding for the arts but has never paid more than 25 cents' voluntary donation to the MoMA ($12 suggested). She constantly mocks free entertainment and harps on the lack of "culture" in Vermont and Bozeman, Montana, and how she lived in New York to be near high culture. She wants hand-outs, but she doesn't give back. "I'm too good for your open mic night, but I want everyone else to subsidize my top-flight tastes." Oh, yeah? Well, mock my open-mic night, but at least I'm out there contributing. I play four instruments and arrange music for them, I paint, I sew, and I fork over at the museum because I'm darned glad the museum is even there for me to look at. What do YOU do with your spare time? Oh, yeah--you SHOP.

She is spoiled and less able to entertain herself than most four-year-olds. She seems to expect an award for hand-making a Valentine. Without a credit card, art movies, or theater tickets, she has no idea what to do with herself. Get a hobby, woman!

I'd also like to know why an environmentalist who is trying not to spend has a New York Times subscriptions. She could read it online and save both money _and_ paper.

Her ravings about Bush, even if you agree with her, made no sense in context. Bush, et. al., are not responsible for American consumer culture. She should have left the politics out if she has so poor an understanding of it, or is so unwilling to consider multifaceted viewpoints.

Overall, my impression was that this was the viewpoint of a very limited, self-absorbed, immature woman whose identity seems to have been almost completely purchased--designer glasses-frames, the "right" jacket, the "right" entertainment, the "right" politics, the "right" organic food--but who, left to her own devices, has never developed a sense of who she is under the trappings.

One cannot help but thing that the non-consumption is as much an identity schtick as was the overconsumption.