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" Today&amp;#039;s book review is from WomansDay.com Senior Associate Editor Meghan Ahearn. She read Spent by Avis Cardella : Taking retail therapy to another level, Spent is a memoir about a woman who becomes emotionally, mentally and, to some extent, physically addicted to shopping. A life story told in specific memories, with statistical data about compulsive buying mixed in, the reader sees her addiction through the lens of hindsight, resulting in &amp;quot;a-ha&amp;quot; moments when shopping transgressed from a need to a want to an obsession and, finally, to a compulsion. Mostly set in the shopping hey-day of New York City during the &amp;#039;80s and &amp;#039;90s, this was a time when luxury was exalted and conspicuous consumption celebrated. But for Avis Cardella, the clothes, cosmetics, handbags, shoes and decor became a representation of who she thought she was\u2014or was supposed to be\u2014until eventually, she no longer recognized herself in the mirror. As much about self-discovery as it is about debt-reduction, this elegantly-written novel leaves the reader questioning just how much we need the &amp;quot;things&amp;quot; in our lives and why we really felt the need to purchase them to begin with. \u2014Meghan Ahearn  We&amp;#039;d love to hear about what you&amp;#039;re reading, too. Send your reviews to LitFix@womansday.com and we&amp;#039;ll post them right here on the blog. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/entertainment/reviews/a46264/spent-by-avis-cardella-1223/>