It's a shopper's delight--without, unfortunately, the bargain-store names and addresses needed to make a score. Canadian journalist Klaffke has obviously had more fun than any writer should in writing about this ancient, usually female-dominated sport. From 687 BCE (the first use of coins in Lydia) to the present, she chronicles a huge variety of facts and fictions, statistics and stories. Have you ever wondered where the world's biggest flea market is? Or heard of shopper's bulimia? Do you know how and when the great inventions of shopping--cash registers, shopping carts, and bar codes--were born? Care to place a bet on who's got more economic power, QVC or Home Shopper's Network? Other topics include the retail store, shopping from home, discounting, the media (ah, for
Breakfast at Tiffany's), secondhand items, and more.
Spree ends with the perfect point-of-purchase impulse buy: the shopping behavior of individuals born under each sign of the zodiac.
Barbara JacobsCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
Does for shopping what Margaret Visser did for table salt. Replete with esoteric facts, shopping marginalia and popular culture, it runs the gamut.
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Fashion Magazine (
Fashion Magazine )
. . . combines a whimsical history of milestones in shopping . . . with a witty and insightful look at its place in modern life.
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Maclean's (
Maclean's )
. . . a counterpoint to all the chatter. [Klaffke's] book is as free of spin as Lucky magazine—and just as entertaining.
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The New York Times (
New York Times )
. . . a shopper's delight. . .
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Booklist (
Booklist )
. . . breezy chapters on all things merchandise-related: mini reports on such topics as the evolution of shopping malls; shopping in movies and television; music to shop by; second-hand shopping; professional shoppers; shopping and gender; and shopping and kids.
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Quill & Quire (
Quill & Quire )
This informative and photo-filled book covers the history of malls and departments stores and the evolution of retail design.
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Avenue Magazine (
Avenue Magazine )
As someone with too many pairs of shoes to count. . . [Klaffke] is, perhaps one of the best people to dish about something that has evolved from a need to a want to, yes, a sport.
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The Calgary Herald (
Calgaray Herald )
. . . bring[s] to light the history behind our habits at the mall, with stops along the way for insights on fashion, lifestyle, technology and vice—including. . . the disturbing new phenomenon of "shopping bulimia."
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Elm Street Magazine (
Elm Street )
Spree is an exhaustively researched look into the history of shopping and how it has changed pop culture as we know it. It's filled with facts, but rarely gets too bogged down with dates, numbers and figures. Instead, the book is just a whole lot of fun.
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Nexus (
Nexus )
. . . successful at conveying the scope of shopping in society. . . Like a shopping binge,
Spree is a lot of fun. . .
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The Georgia Straight (
Georgia Straight )
Entertaining,
Spree is nonetheless substantive as well—with both historical and timely matter on malls, the retail system, the diversity of shopping options, consumerism, and related subjects.
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Small Press Book Review (
Small Press Book Review )
...a delightful romp as enjoyable as finding the perfect designer boots in your size at 75 percent off...delivered with Klaffke's unapologetic and enjoyable wit.
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Airlines (
Airlines )
