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A review by crybabybea
I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt by Madeline Pendleton
emotional
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.0
Just what I expected from Madeline's book. Ironically read this at a time where they are under a lot of fire on TikTok and it made me like them more.
I liked the way this was structured, a memoir chapter followed by a related financial advice chapter. It helped break up both parts of the book so each chapter felt new but cohesive. The memoir bits were truly heartfelt and vulnerable (in the audiobook it sounded like Madeline was tearing up a few times), while the financial bits cut to the chase and provided helpful advice that isn't often shared. I found a lot of information was already covered on their TikTok and podcast, so I didn't learn as much as I expected, but I still appreciated the financial advice for what it was, and enjoyed the memoir part of the book a lot.
The summary describes this as "no-bullshit", which I agree with. Madeline is very up-front about the fact that she thinks the system is broken, and we have to do what we have to do to get by. She talks about how the system is designed to hurt people and keep them in debt, and helps the reader understand that having financial instability or making "poor spending choices" aren't faults of the individual, but instead an inevitable consequence of capitalism. And, while Madeline is an outspoken communist, the book didn't come across as preachy or trying to "get you on her side", so to speak.
The last bit about their business was inspiring, although I have no plans of being an entrepreneur of any sort, it's nice to see that something different is possible.
I liked the way this was structured, a memoir chapter followed by a related financial advice chapter. It helped break up both parts of the book so each chapter felt new but cohesive. The memoir bits were truly heartfelt and vulnerable (in the audiobook it sounded like Madeline was tearing up a few times), while the financial bits cut to the chase and provided helpful advice that isn't often shared. I found a lot of information was already covered on their TikTok and podcast, so I didn't learn as much as I expected, but I still appreciated the financial advice for what it was, and enjoyed the memoir part of the book a lot.
The summary describes this as "no-bullshit", which I agree with. Madeline is very up-front about the fact that she thinks the system is broken, and we have to do what we have to do to get by. She talks about how the system is designed to hurt people and keep them in debt, and helps the reader understand that having financial instability or making "poor spending choices" aren't faults of the individual, but instead an inevitable consequence of capitalism. And, while Madeline is an outspoken communist, the book didn't come across as preachy or trying to "get you on her side", so to speak.
The last bit about their business was inspiring, although I have no plans of being an entrepreneur of any sort, it's nice to see that something different is possible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Classism