Product Description

Jillian Siegel is living the quintessential Manhattan life: great clothes, fabulous boyfriend, a job at the hottest ad agency in town. But what nobody knows is that this twenty-nine-year-old has a dark little secret -- one that involves stuffing her oversize Gucci handbag with high-priced designer clothes and leaving the store without paying.

There was once a time when Jillian didn't need to shop (much less steal) to feel whole. But that was long ago -- when her beloved uncle Bingo still owned Loevner's, the elegant Upper East Side department store. When, as a little girl, she spent hours listening to the wisdom of the perfume counter ladies and modeling party dresses for her uncle's impish partner, Alain; when she danced beneath Loevner's magnificent chandelier, found solace in the secret passageways behind its grand facade, and when her mother's prolonged absences were easily forgotten with a new camel-hair coat or a fresh pair of Mary Janes.

And then one day it was all gone. The department store family, the enchanted world, the endless abundance -- pulled out from under her by her jet-setting mother, Lois; by the father she never knew; by the death of Alain, a cherished friend and confidant; and by the man with two first names who orchestrated the corporate takeover of her family's venerable sanctuary.

Now, years later, Jillian cannot seem to make things right no matter how many Chloé blouses come home in her pocketbook. Her "perfect" life is loosely held together with half milligrams of Ativan and stolen cashmere scarves. It's only a matter of time until everything crumbles.

Penned by one of advertising's most influential and provocative writers, this highly anticipated debut is packed with vibrant characters, bristling dialogue, and the rich detail of the author's real-life research into the clandestine world of shoplifting rings. The Booster is a uniquely stylish, deftly woven story about discovering one's true self in the most unexpected of places.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #985632 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Solow's spectacular debut sounds a warning to fashionista shopaholics while providing a healing catharsis that anyone grieving over the loss of a loved one can appreciate. "It is mine. It is mine. It is mine" is the mantra Jillian Siegel repeats before any major shoplifting expedition, believing her hobby is not a crime but her "birthright." The Upper East Sider's addiction to larceny increases after she loses her ad agency job just before the agency acquires the coveted Loevner's department store account. Loevner's had once been owned by Jillian's dying uncle Bingo, a beloved parental figure. As a little girl in bunny fur, Jillian had appeared in the original ad that defined Loevner's upscale glamour. After Shelly, a needy young drifter whom Jillian meets in jail in the wake of a tourist-trap incident, introduces Jillian into a Peruvian shoplifting ring, Jillian becomes the ring's star American booster. "Designer clothes are like armor" providing "protection from the masses," Jillian thinks, but by the thrilling wind-up, Solow, an ad agency veteran, has ripped the tags off this assumption, forcing Jillian to face what compels her to steal. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"A spectacular debut...thrilling!"- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"Solow writes remarkably well - both tender and razor sharp."- The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

"A heart-stopping look at the pathology of a fabulously dressed shoplifter."- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"The Booster is a true original. I thoroughly enjoyed this warm, witty, well-written book."- Jane Green, author of The Other Woman and Jemima J

"Solow steals the show with this energetic debut."- People

About the Author
Jennifer Solow is a well-decorated veteran of the advertising industry and a displaced Manhattanite. A full-time writer with (finally) a very big closet, she now lives in Mill Valley, California. Visit her website at www.jennifersolow.com.

Customer Reviews

slightly disappointing...but overall a great novel!
First, if I could've given this novel half-stars, I would've. I liked it more than just a 3, but not quire as much as a 4. So...like 3.8 maybe :)

I was actually recommended this novel from the author herself through Amazon. After reading the 3-chapter excerpt on her website, I was hooked and just had to get my hands on a copy of the entire book. I enjoyed the novel, just not as much as I would've expected from the first 3 chapters.

Jillian Siegel is a department store owner's niece, although no one knows it. After being fired from her job, she takes to her favorite comfort-activity: shoplifting. As the title gives away, that's what the majority of the novel is about...Jillian's shoplifting.

For me, the novel was awesome and completely addicting until Jillian starts working with the shoplifting ring. I have to say, I found myself trudging through those chapters just hoping she would get herself out and get her life back on track. The "big job" seemed no bigger than any other one...although there was a lot of time spent building it up. For me, too much time was spent building up the heist, and the book wrapped up too quickly. Although I must say, the ending was perfect!

In all, I enjoyed The Booster. I would absolutely recommend it for an awesome beach read. I'm definitely looking forward to Ms. Solow's next novel!

great summer read
I thoroughly enjoyed Solow's The Booster--much more than I had anticipated. It's glossy cover had me expecting laundry lists of expensive clothes, and while I often did find myself amidst racks of fashionable suits and luxurious cashmere sweaters, Solow digs much deeper into the psyche of protagonist Jillian Siegel than it's book jacket ever would have indicated.

Jillian, niece to the founder of a ritzy Manhattan department store, seems as though she'd be living a picture perfect life, but of course, her thirty-ish years of life have been anything but easy. By the time we meet her in the novel, her beloved uncle (and now former owner of the old department store) is nearing death, she's just lost her job, she's on the rocks with her boyfriend of two years and she finds great pleasure in shoplifting--daily. Eventually, Jillian comes to realize that she has to put an end to her behavior (mind you, this is after she meets her new best friend in a holding cell and goes through intensive training to join an underground shoplifting ring).

Slightly unrealistic but fresh enough to hold my attention, my only real complaint is Solow's use of present tense throughout most of the novel. As readers, we're so used to seeing past tense used in books like this one, that I don't think it was necessary or even beneficial to the story. But, overall, I really did enjoy it. The novel really picks up once Jillian becomes buddy buddy with her quirky cellmate Shelly. After that, I was hooked until the novel's very creative and satisfying ending.

chick lit at its worst
Starts out a bit depressing...then just gets BORING! This is my idea of truly terrible "chick lit". 20 years ago this would have been a cheesy Harlequin romance, now it's dressed up to look like a proper novel - don't be fooled!