They came. They saw. They came and took what they saw. The Esker sisters are shoppers. Loving, caring, driven, merciless shoppers. Ida never “passes a store without slipping in and buying something to give away.” Pola, who only buys in bulk, would have been good in foreign affairs: “If a nation acted up, Aunt Pola would buy it.” And Hedy, dearest of them all, proved the whole thing was genetic. Or maybe environmental. Either way, she passed the bug of galloping consumption onto her son. Her son is Joe Reckler. Twenty-six. Yale grad. No job. No ties. Nothing to keep him from joining Mother and the aunts on a week-long shopping extravaganza disguised as a New England Autumn Leaves Tour that takes them everywhere from Bloomingdale’s to L. L. Bean. But soon Joe notices a difference between himself and his mega-shopping mentors. You see, he figures you’re supposed to pay.
“From the double-edged title to its last line, Rudnick’s new novel spotlights its author’s comic gifts even more vividly than did his hilarious, cartoonish debut, Social Disease. Turning his attention from brainless club-hopping WASPs to a nice Jewish family from New York whose members have an unusual fondness for shopping, Rudnick uses his wicked ear for dialogue and sure sense of caricature to sustain a vengefully funny and deeply affectionate portrait.” – Publisher’s Weekly.
“Flat out hilarious … Sort of like what I imagine P.G. Wodehouse would have written after spending some time in Bloomingdale’s … For sheer enjoyment, this book is a bargain. Buy two. You can freeze one. You never know.” – Jeff Danzinger, The Boston Globe