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This title in other formats:Green with Envy: Why Keeping Up with the Joneses Is Keeping Us in Debtby Shira Boss
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:A silent struggle with our money is raging across America, each of us is harboring secret financial desires and discontents, but few dare confess. No matter how much we refuse to admit it, our contentment is based not on the size of our bank account but on how we measure up to those around us. Everyone, regardless of income, occupation, or net worth, wants to keep up with the Joneses, even when it means making financial messes and covering them up.
In this myth-shattering tour of America's mind-set about money, Shira Boss offers a tantalizing mix of hard facts and juicy gossip as she peers into the lives and checkbooks of our neighbors...and exposes the shocking gap between public image and what's really going on behind closed doors. Meet:
Review:"Freelance journalist Boss performs a real service by putting some of America's financial hangups on trial, charging that 'the money taboo' — our good-manners reluctance to discuss what we earn and spend — is 'destructive nonsense' that leads to debt and despair. Boss argues that envy ('the only vice warned against in both the Ten Commandments and the Seven Deadly Sins') can be good for the economy, but our drive to keep up with our neighbors can be unhealthy. In five case studies, she shows the consequences of maintaining appearances when we can't afford it; the highlight is a chapter in which Boss lives a fantasy by interrogating her seemingly well-off next-door neighbors and getting the real scoop on their savings, income and credit card bills. The scope of the author's reporting is a bit limited — except for one billionaire, her subjects aren't especially socioeconomically diverse — and we never learn whether non-U.S. cultures suffer the same pangs of envy. Worse, her soft concluding chapter tacks toward self-help, offering counsel that's surprisingly platitudinous ('The universe will provide'). Even so, Boss's case for candor is valuable." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:"[A] fascinating morality play about what can happen to those naive about the dangers of trying to 'keep up...'" The Houston Chronicle Synopsis:In this myth-shattering book, a leading business journalist exposes the shocking gap between personal finance and public image, and reveals how Americans are caught in the trap of living beyond their means. Table of ContentsChapter One Green with Envy
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Endnotes What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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