A review by helenaliu
Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture by Ellen Ruppel Shell

5.0

Profoundly informative and insightful, Cheap is the sort of book that haunts you in between putting it down and picking it back up. It forced me to critically reflect about where I put my money and my own tendencies to hunt down a bargain, even when it occasionally pained me to do so. The immense research and dedication that went into this detailed book is evident and I especially loved the way Rupel Shell presents her arguments in a balanced and considered way. In my experience, Western critiques on consumerism tend to contain a grain of defensiveness for our own practices and a hint of derisiveness towards the developing countries who produce inferior products (even though they do so at our demand and for our consumption). What makes Cheap such a provocative and enriching read is that it avoids this self-serving mind frame. For relentlessly challenging me, I have thus considered this book one of my all-time favourites.