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Sarah Lazarovic
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A Bunch of Pretty Things I Did Not Buy Hardcover – October 28, 2014

by Sarah Lazarovic (Author)
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 59 ratings
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A witty, gracious, and charmingly illustrated anti-consumer manifesto

Like most people, Sarah Lazarovic covets beautiful things. But rather than giving in to her impulse to spend and acquire, Sarah spent a year painting the objects she wanted to buy instead.

Based on a visual essay that was first published on The Hairpin, A Bunch of Pretty Things I Did Not Buy is a beautiful and witty take on the growing “slow shopping” movement. Sarah is a well-known blogger and illustrator, and she writes brilliantly without preaching or guilt-tripping. Whether she’s trying to justify the purchase of yet another particleboard IKEA home furnishing, debating the pros and cons of leg warmers or calculating the per-day usage cost of big-ticket items, Sarah’s poignant musings will resonate with any reader who’s ever been susceptible to an impulse buy.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    192 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  4. Publication date
    October 28, 2014
  5. Dimensions
    4 x 0.5 x 6 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0143124714
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0143124719
  8. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sarah Lazarovic is a writer, illustrator, and artist based in Toronto. She is the founding editor of the popular website torontoist.com.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books (October 28, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143124714
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143124719
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4 x 0.5 x 6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 59 ratings

About the author

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Sarah Lazarovic

Sarah Lazarovic

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Sarah Lazarovic is an artist and visual journalist. She founded the local news blog Torontoist.com, and launched the website for CBC's The Hour with George Stromboulopoulos. For five years she served as an editorial cartoonist for The Ottawa Citizen and Vancouver Sun. As a digital journalist, she files live sketch reports from all sorts of events for Maclean's magazine, for which she won the live commentary award from the Online News Association in 2014. She charts monthly news events for the National Post, as well as the popular website, I Love Charts. As a filmmaker, she's made two shorts for the National Film Board. Her work has been screened at festivals all over the world and on CBC's Rough Cuts and Canadian Reflections. Her first book, A Bunch of Pretty Things I Did Not Buy (Penguin, 2014), is a visual essay about consumerism and living with less. She has a portrait gallery in her garage.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
59 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Vaelorn
5.0 out of 5 stars Thought invoking
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2014
Verified Purchase
I saw this book suggested on the Apartment Therapy website. I felt a little self conscious buying it, since it's about buying less, but I found it to be a worthy read. I have the Kindle version, but I plan to get a hard copy for my daughter. It was a fun read, and very informative. I was pleasantly surprised. I liked the fun drawings, and the writer's sense of humor. It was like having a friend talk to me. As a result of reading this book, I'm going to start giving more thought into what I buy, and pay more attention to detail and quality. If you are trying to do quality over quantity, this is a good book to start with. The writer gives good and easy to understand information for buying quality items.
6 people found this helpful
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bibliophile
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2017
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A nice little niche book that will be used as a giveaway at a costume event.
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Gail
5.0 out of 5 stars Great holiday gift!
Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2014
Verified Purchase
This creative, artistic book, which arrives without a book jacket, hits home. Written in grade-school-like handwriting, it humorously gets to the root of the spending problem most of us have in a society that visually bombards us constantly with things to buy--a problem exacerbated by the Internet. Yet, it provides practical solutions in a fun, but well-researched way around colorful illustrations. It's definitely a lot more entertaining than simply being told to budget!
10 people found this helpful
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JesseJane
2.0 out of 5 stars The illustrations were fun and Lazarovic makes good points but this felt like ...
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2014
Verified Purchase
I was hoping for more substance. The illustrations were fun and Lazarovic makes good points but this felt like a sample, not a meal.

It lacked the narrative element I was hoping for. What was it like to cut down on your stuff? How do you go from pack rat to minimalist? What middle ground was Lazarovic advocating? It was all fluff and no substance.

If you wrote a book, I shouldn't have to go to your blog or another book for the details you promised me. I was disappointed.
7 people found this helpful
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Marly Harris
1.0 out of 5 stars It seemed like a good idea at the time...
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2015
Verified Purchase
Sorry, folks. I'm sure there are people who adore this book but I couldn't stand it. The art work is fresh and well-done but some of the "fonts' are difficult to decipher and it's not an important enough book to have to make an effort to read it. I gave it away immediately. She loved it.
2 people found this helpful
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ACG
3.0 out of 5 stars meh
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2015
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Not what I hoped - I expected a bit more substance and wit, not just a scribble sketch. I was through it in less than 10 min.
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Rhonda Lomazow
5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty things
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2014
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Beautiful book hand painted portraits of items from Sarah's childhood till now.A wonderful narrative of things we buy whether we need them or not&herbdecision to take a year off from shopping &drawing the things she could of bought,wil have you thinking about the things you buy needed or just shopping for asking of shopping,A lovely fun book would make a great gift,
One person found this helpful
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Donna
5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely book
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2020
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This is a lovely illustrated book about how we are addicted to shopping and lots of ideas for getting off the consumerist bandwagon.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Marc
1.0 out of 5 stars No aporta mucho más allá de ilustraciones bonitas
Reviewed in Spain on January 1, 2019
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Muy flojo el libro
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Tana
3.0 out of 5 stars Another thing that you don't need to buy
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 29, 2016
Verified Purchase
I wish there was more in-depth psychology about the need to own and buy pretty things in the first place and not just about "try not to buy it, because you don't really need it" approach. The book is pretty, but some of the writing was very hard to read.
One person found this helpful
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Armalite
4.0 out of 5 stars Mémoires illustrées d'une consommatrice
Reviewed in France on November 23, 2015
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Dans ce mémoire illustré, l'artiste Sarah Lazarovic décortique son parcours de consommatrice depuis l'enfance: la recherche de son style, adolescente, et la façon dont ses choix vestimentaires participent à la construction de son image d'elle-même; le départ de chez ses parents et la découverte de la notion de budget; sa boulimie de shopping et ses regrets consécutifs; sa découverte du minimalisme et, par la suite, la culpabilité associée à la moindre dépense; l'établissement de critères et la liste des achats auxquels cela l'a amenée à renoncer; enfin, une forme d'apaisement vis-à-vis de la consommation. J'ai aimé ses interrogations tout à fait dans l'air du temps, sa façon ludique de les présenter et le ton qu'elle emploie - celui de la confidence plutôt que d'une leçon donnée au lecteur.
One person found this helpful
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