Shoptimism : why the American consumer will keep on buying no matter what / Lee Eisenberg.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 318-321) and index.

Prologue: The world, stuffed into a little black dress -- A view from within : the education of a floorwalker -- Lost in retail space : giant sponges, swarming algae, and a magic mirror that reflects the future -- How we got here : the coming of Gen Buy and the selling power of S-E-X -- Downtown : in the land of merchant princes, there lurks a master spy -- Midtown : the Sell Side can see your house from up here -- Brain wave : the search for the elusive buy button -- Bombarded : four ways to think about advertising -- You : the new them -- Poor ewe : are you a sheep, constantly grazing, easily fleeced? -- You are what you buy : in search of a unified theory -- You are why you buy : you buy for (a) status, (b) therapy, and/or (c) it's complicated -- The classic buyer : price and value : your head what to do the right thing -- The romantic buyer : novelty and desire : your heart just wants to have fun -- The stop-me-before-I-buy-again buyer : where self-indulgence ends and self-destruction begins -- Martians buy, Venusians shop : old myths die hard -- Shoptimism : final closeout : four ways to say good buy -- Afterword: The perfect gift.

Offers a provocative and entertaining tour of America's love/hate affair with shopping, a pursuit that, even in hard times, remains the true national pastime, in a book by the best-selling author of The Number that delves into both "The Sell Side" and "The Buy Side" of the world of shopping.