Rating: 3 stars

Avis Cardella was raised in a middle class Brooklyn household with a blue collar father, two brothers and a fashionably-chic mother. Young Avis could often be found waiting patiently for her mother to return from the grocery store so she could commandeer the latest issues of Vogue and Cosmo; which fueled her love for fashion and photography and primed her for a future career as a freelance writer.

As Avis got older she noticed she shopped more and more frequently. After a short, tumultuous marriage to a photographer and the death of her mother, Avis was once again alone and her shopping continued to escalate. As her financial situation approached dire, Avis began dating Thomas, a wealthy German entrepreneur who helped her clean up her credit card mess—but did nothing for Avis’ hidden addiction. Eventually the couple became engaged and Thomas commenced a total makeover of Avis, molding her into the perfect, pricey façade of a woman worthy enough to join the fashionistas of the Upper East Side and the Hamptons.

While with Thomas, money was no object and Avis’ addiction grew. Each purchase spurred the next with increasing urgency and demand. Avis often tried to figure out what was missing in her life that caused her to fill the void with extravagant purchases. Ultimately Avis would leave Thomas in the hopes of finding herself, but with her safety net pulled out from under her, the freefall into financial ruin would soon begin.

Although she saw early signs of her impending addiction, Avis wasn’t sure how to fix it; and there always seemed to be a new wealthy mate or distraction that allowed her to foster her denial. At the high point of her addiction Avis noted that at some point she stopped consuming and was instead being consumed. To make matters worse, most of the purchases were thrown—bag and all—into the back of a closet, never to be worn. Avis’ intense need to buy resulted in mocking symbols of shame.

Spent wasn’t fun and flirty like Confessions of a Shopaholic and it didn’t have a tidy Hollywood ending, but more of a cautionary tale for all who have mastered the technique of rationalizing their excessive shopping forays. Although Avis Cardella’s story isn’t unique, it’s quite relevant, with an important warning to be heeded and a valuable lesson to be learned.
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Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (May 14, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0316035606