The Virago Joy of Shopping

Jill Foulston
Virago

It’s been called everything from an art form to a chore, but whatever your opinion might be, there is no denying that shopping has been captivating us for centuries. This entertaining anthology contains extracts from books, blogs, poems, songs, historical records, newspaper columns, magazine articles and letters about shopping. Jill Foulston begins with an introduction about how shopping has changed over the years. Most pieces are written from a woman’s perspective and the book is arranged in chapters, grouping pieces by topics such as sales, impulse buying and window-shopping.

While many writers, such as Sophie Kinsella and India Knight, wax lyrical about the delights of purchasing, others, such as Helen Fielding and Faith Popcorn, point out that it’s not all fun and excitement at the shops.

Helen Fielding’s famed character, Bridget Jones, questions the logic of spending 169 pounds on a scarf and also offers her amusing thoughts on communal changing rooms.

One chapter, ‘Lists’, features a shopping list from the 1400s, written by a Norwich woman for her husband who was visiting London. Another chapter, ‘Five-finger discounts’, looks at shoplifting and includes a fascinating piece about celebrity shoplifters including US tennis player Jennifer Capriati, who was arrested for stealing jewellery.

The trials and triumphs of shopping in foreign countries also make for interesting reading, particularly if you have ever haggled in a market or struggled to understand exactly what you were buying.

With concise passages, it’s good for dipping in and out of, and will delight big spenders as well as penny pinchers alike.

Starting points for discussion:

1. Why do you think most of the extracts in the book are told from a woman’s perspective? Would you have liked to have read more extracts from a man’s point of view?
2. What was the most amusing thing about shopping you learned from this book?
3. Why do you think women flock to shopping malls and supermarkets?
4. How has the way we shopped changed since the 1950s? Are you a fan of online shopping or do you prefer to go to the shopping centre?
5. What are the upsides of shopping? What are the downsides?
6. How do you think shopping will change in the next 50 years? 

If you liked this you will enjoy: 

• In the Red: The Diary of a Recovering Shopaholic by Alexis Hall
  Style A to Zoe: The Art of Fashion, Beauty and Everything Glamour by Rachael Zoe
• Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Lustre by Dana Thomas
• A Year in High Heels by Camilla Morton
• Save Karyn: One Shopaholic’s Journey to Debt and Back by Karyn Bosnak