具體描述
內容簡介
Millions of readers have come to adore New York Times best-selling author Sophie Kinsella's irrepressible heroine. Meet Becky Bloomwood, America's favorite shopaholic – a young woman with a big heart, big dreams…and just one little weakness.
Becky has a fabulous flat in London's trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season's must-haves. The only trouble is that she can't actually afford it–not any of it.
Her job writing at Successful Savings not only bores her to tears, it doesn't pay much at all. And lately Becky's been chased by dismal letters from the bank –letters with large red sums she can't bear to read–and they're getting ever harder to ignore.
She tries cutting back. But none of her efforts succeeds. Becky's only consolation is to buy herself something... just a little something...
Finally a story arises that Becky actually cares about, and her front-page article catalyzes a chain of events that will transform her life–and the lives of those around her–forever.
Sophie Kinsella has brilliantly tapped into our collective consumer conscience to deliver a novel of our times–and a heroine who grows stronger every time she weakens. Becky's hilarious schemes to pay back her debts are as endearing as they are desperate. Her "confessions" are the perfect pick-me-up when life is hanging in the (bank) balance. 作者簡介
Sophie Kinsella is the author of the bestselling Shopaholic series, as well as The Undomestic Goddess and Can You Keep a Secret? She lives in England. 精彩書評
If you've ever paid off one credit card with another, thrown out a bill before opening it, or convinced yourself that buying at a two-for-one sale is like making money, then this silly, appealing novel is for you. In the opening pages of Confessions of a Shopaholic, recent college graduate Rebecca Bloomwood is offered a hefty line of credit by a London bank. Within a few months, Sophie Kinsella's heroine has exceeded the limits of this generous offer, and begins furtively to scan her credit-card bills at work, certain that she couldn't have spent the reported sums.
In theory anyway, the world of finance shouldn't be a mystery to Rebecca, since she writes for a magazine called Successful Saving. Struggling with her spendthrift impulses, she tries to heed the advice of an expert and appreciate life's cheaper pleasures: parks, museums, and so forth. Yet her first Saturday at the Victoria and Albert Museum strikes her as a waste. Why? There's not a price tag in sight.
It kind of takes the fun out of it, doesn't it? You wander round, just looking at things, and it all gets a bit boring after a while. Whereas if they put price tags on, you'd be far more interested. In fact, I think all museums should put prices on their exhibits. You'd look at a silver chalice or a marble statue or the Mona Lisa or whatever, and admire it for its beauty and historical importance and everything--and then you'd reach for the price tag and gasp, "Hey, look how much this one is!" It would really liven things up.
Eventually, Rebecca's uncontrollable shopping and her "imaginative" solutions to her debt attract the attention not only of her bank manager but of handsome Luke Brandon--a multimillionaire PR representative for a finance group frequently covered in Successful Saving. Unlike her opposite number in Bridget Jones's Diary, however, Rebecca actually seems too scattered and spacey to reel in such a successful man. Maybe it's her Denny and George scarf. In any case, Kinsella's debut makes excellent fantasy reading for the long stretches between white sales and appliance specials.
——Regina Marler
Add this aptly titled piffle to the ranks of pink-covered girl-centric fiction that has come sailing out of England over the last two years. At age 25, Rebecca Bloomwood has everything she wants. Or does she? Can her career as a financial journalist, a fab flat and a closet full of designer clothes lessen the blow of the dunning letters from credit card companies and banks that have been arriving too quickly to be contained by the drawer in which Rebecca hides them? Although her romantic entanglements tend toward the superficial, there is that wonderful Luke Brandon of Brandon Communications: handsome, intelligent, the 31st-richest bachelor according to Harper's and actually possessed of a personality that is more substance than style. Too bad that Rebecca blows it whenever their paths cross. Will Rebecca learn to stop shopping before she loses everything worthwhile? When faced with the opportunity to do good for others and impress Luke, will she finally measure up? Rebecca is so unremittingly shallow and Luke is so wonderful that readers may find themselves rooting for the heroine not to get the manAalthough, since Shakespeare's time, there's rarely been any doubt concerning how romantic comedies will end. There's a certain degree of madcap fun with some of Rebecca's creative untruths; when she persuades her parents that a bank manager is a stalker, some very amusing situations ensue. Still, this is familiar stuff, and Rebecca is the kind of unrepentant spender who will make readers, save those who share her disorder in the worst way, pity the poor bill collector. (Feb. 13) Forecast: This is a well-designed book, with a catchy magenta spine, and a colorful and kinetic double coverAwhich will attract many browsers.
——Publishers Weekly
London's chic boutiques and glamorous socialites star in this comic novel about binge shopping for clothes and makeup. Kinsella wickedly sets up shopping addict and financial writer Becky Bloomwood at Successful Savings , a second-rate trade magazine. Becky, for whom saving is a concept for other people, relieves the tedium of meaningless work with giddy sprees she can ill afford. As her debt grows ever more unmanageable, Becky's self-justifying obbligatos become ever more shrill, and her white lies turn steadily darker. In one self-delusional attempt to find a better paying job, she bolsters her resume with fluency in Finnish, only to come face to face with the CEO of the Bank of Helsinki. But when Becky gets her teeth into a real news story, she discovers her limits are far greater than she had imagined. Kinsella's novel, though antic, would be more compelling if Becky were even slightly more self-aware. Does Kinsella sustain an entire novel with a 25-year-old writer addicted to clothes and makeup? Perhaps, if readers love clothes and makeup just as much.
——Suzanne Young 精彩書摘
Chapter One
Ok. don't panic. Don't panic. It's only a VISA bill. It's a piece of paper; a few numbers. I mean, just how scary can a few numbers be?
I stare out of the office window at a bus driving down Oxford Street, willing myself to open the white envelope sitting on my cluttered desk. It's only a piece of paper, I tell myself for the thousandth time. And I'm not stupid, am I? I know exactly how much this VISA bill will be.
Sort of. Roughly.
It'll be about... £200. Three hundred, maybe. Yes, maybe £300. Three-fifty, max.
I casually close my eyes and start to tot up. There was that suit in Jigsaw. And there was dinner with Suze at Quaglinos. And there was that gorgeous red and yellow rug. The rug was £200, come to think of it. But it was definitely worth every penny — everyone's admired it. Or, at least, Suze has.
And the Jigsaw suit was on sale — 30 percent off. So that was actually saving money.
I open my eyes and reach for the bill. As my fingers hit the paper I remember new contact lenses. Ninety-five pounds. Quite a lot. But, I mean, I had to get those, didn't I? What am I supposed to do, walk around in a blur?
And I had to buy some new solutions and a cute case and some hypoallergenic eyeliner. So that takes it up to... £400?
At the desk next to mine, Clare Edwards looks up from her post. She's sorting all her letters into neat piles, just like she does every morning. She puts rubber bands round them and puts labels on them saying things like "Answer immediately" and "Not urgent but respond." I loathe Clare Edwards.
"OK, Becky?" she says.
"Fine," I say lightly. "Just reading a letter."
I reach gaily into the envelope, but my fingers don't quite pull out the bill. They remain clutched around it while my mind is seized — as it is every month — by my secret dream.
Do you want to know about my secret dream? It's based on a story I once read in The Daily World about a mix-up at a bank. I loved this story so much, I cut it out and stuck it onto my wardrobe door. Two credit card bills were sent to the wrong people, and — get this — each person paid the wrong bill without realizing. They paid off each other's bills without even checking them.
And ever since I read that story, my secret fantasy has been that the same thing will happen to me. I mean, I know it sounds unlikely — but if it happened once, it can happen again, can't it? Some dotty old woman in Cornwall will be sent my humongous bill and will pay it without even looking at it. And I'll be sent her bill for three tins of cat food at fifty-nine pence each. Which, naturally, I'll pay without question. Fair's fair, after all.
A smile is plastered over my face as I gaze out of the window. I'm convinced that this month it'll happen — my secret dream is about to come true. But when I eventually pull the bill out of the envelope — goaded by Clare's curious gaze — my smile falters, then disappears. Something hot is blocking my throat. I think it could be panic.
The page is black with type. A series of familiar names rushes past my eyes like a mini shopping mall. I try to take them in, but they're moving too fast. Thorntons, I manage to glimpse. Thorntons Chocolates? What was I doing in Thorntons Chocolates? I'm supposed to be on a diet. This bill can't be right. This can't be me. I can't possibly have spent all this money.
Don't panic! I yell internally. The key is not to panic. Just read each entry slowly, one by one. I take a deep breath and force myself to focus calmly, starting at the top.
WHSmith (well, that's OK. Everyone needs stationery.)
Boots (everyone needs shampoo)
Specsavers (essential)
Oddbins (bottle of wine — essential)
Our Price (Our Price? Oh yes. The new Charlatans album. Well, I had to have that, didn't I?)
Bella Pasta (supper with Caitlin)
Oddbins (bottle of wine — essential)
Esso (petrol doesn't count)
Quaglinos (expensive — but it was a one-off)
Pret à Manger (that time I ran out of cash)
Oddbins (bottle of wine — essential)
Rugs to Riches (what? Oh yes. Stupid rug.)
La Senza (sexy underwear for date with James)
Agent Provocateur (even sexier underwear for date with James. Like I needed it.)
Body Shop (that skin brusher thing which I must use)
Next (fairly boring white shirt — but it was in the sale)
Millets...
I stop in my tracks. Millets? I never go into Millets. What would I be doing in Millets? I stare at the statement in puzzlement, wrinkling my brow and trying to think — and then suddenly, the truth dawns on me. It's obvious. Someone else has been using my card.
Oh my God. I, Rebecca Bloomwood, have been the victim of a crime.
Now it all makes sense. Some criminal's pinched my credit card and forged my signature. Who knows where else they've used it? No wonder my statement's so black with figures! Someone's gone on a spending spree round London with my card — and they thought they would just get away with it.
But how? I scrabble in my bag for my purse, open it — and there's my VISA card, staring up at me. I take it out and run my fingers over the glossy surface. Someone must have pinched it from my purse, used it — and then put it back. It must be someone I know. Oh my God. Who?
I look suspiciously round the office. Whoever it is, isn't very bright. Using my card at Millets! It's almost laughable. As if I'd ever shop there.
"I've never even been into Millets!" I say aloud.
"Yes you have," says Clare.
"What?" I turn to her. "No I haven't."
"You bought Michael's leaving present from Millets, didn't you?"
I feel my smile disappear. Oh, bugger. Of course. The blue anorak for Michael. The blue sodding anorak from Millets.
When Michael, our deputy editor, left three weeks ago, I volunteered to buy his present. I took the brown envelope full of coins and notes into the shop and picked out an anorak (take it from me, he's that kind of guy). And at the last minute, now I remember, I decided to pay on credit and keep all that handy cash for myself.
I can vividly remember fishing out the four £5 notes and carefully putting them in my wallet, sorting out the pound coins and putting them in my coin compartment, and pouring the rest of the change into the bottom of my bag. Oh good, I remember thinking. I won't have to go to the cash machine. I'd thought that sixty quid would last me for weeks.
So what happened to it? I can't have just spent sixty quid without realizing it, can I?
"Why are you asking, anyway?" says Clare, and she leans forward. I can see her beady little X-ray eyes gleaming behind her specs. She knows I'm looking at my VISA bill. "No reason," I say, briskly turning to the second page of my statement.
But I've been put off my stride. Instead of doing what I normally do — look at the minimum payment required and ignore the total completely — I find myself staring straight at the bottom figure.
Nine hundred and forty-nine pounds, sixty-three pence. In clear black and white.
For thirty seconds I am completely motionless. Then, without changing expression, I stuff the bill back into the envelope. I honestly feel as though this piece of paper has nothing to do with me. Perhaps, if I carelessly let it drop down on the floor behind my computer, it will disappear. The cleaners will sweep it up and I can claim I never got it. They can't charge me for a bill I never received, can they?
I'm already composing a letter in my head. "Dear Managing Director of VISA. Your letter has confused me. What bill are you talking about, precisely? I never received any bill from your company. I did not care for your tone and should warn you, I am writing to Anne Robinson of Watchdog."
Or I could always move abroad.
"Becky?" My head jerks up and I see Clare holding this month's news list. "Have you finished the piece on Lloyds?"
"Nearly," I lie. As she's watching me, I feel forced to summon it up on my computer screen, just to show I'm willing.
"This high-yield, 60-day access account offers tiered rates of interest on investments of over £2,000," I type onto the screen, copying directly from a press release in front of me. "Long-term savers may also be interested in a new stepped-rate bond which requires a minimum of £5,000."
I type a full stop, take a sip of coffee, and turn to the second page of the press release.
This is what I do, by the way. I'm a journalist on a financial magazine. I'm paid to tell other people how to organize their money.
Of course, being a financial journalist is not the career I always wanted. No one who writes about personal finance ever meant to do it. People tell you they "fell into" personal finance. They're lying. What they mean is they couldn't get a job writing about anything more interesting. They mean they applied for jobs at The Times and The Express and Marie-Claire and Vogue and GQ, and all they got back was "Piss off."
So they started applying to Metalwork Monthly and Cheesemakers Gazette and What Investment Plan? And they were taken on as the crappiest editorial assistant possible on no money whatsoever and were grateful. And they've stayed on writing about metal, or cheese, or savings, ever since — because that's all they know. I myself started on the catchily titled Personal Investment Periodical. I learned how to copy out a press release and nod at press conferences and ask questions that sounded as though I knew what I was talking about. After a year and a half...
迷失在代碼的海洋:一個程序員的內心獨白 內容提要: 本書深入探討瞭現代軟件開發領域中,一位資深程序員在麵對快速迭代的技術浪潮、永無止境的 Bug 修復以及人機交互邊界模糊時的內心掙紮與成長。它不僅僅是一部技術隨筆,更是一場關於邏輯、創造力、孤獨與歸屬感的深刻哲學思辨。通過一係列生動的案例和對編程哲學的探討,作者揭示瞭“創造數字世界”背後,人類情感和心智如何被算法的精確性所塑造和考驗。 --- 第一章:二進製的黎明與迷失的路徑 清晨六點,當城市還在沉睡,我的世界早已被屏幕發齣的冷光所占據。這不是工作,這是一種儀式。桌麵上堆疊的不再是咖啡漬和便利貼,而是密密麻麻的架構圖和版本控製的日誌。 我叫亞曆剋斯,一個在矽榖邊緣地帶摸爬滾打瞭十五年的“代碼匠人”。我曾是追逐最新框架的狂熱信徒,從 Ruby on Rails 的優雅到 Go 語言的性能狂飆,每一種技術浪潮都曾讓我熱血沸騰。但隨著時間的推移,那種初次編譯成功、世界為之運轉的興奮感,正被一種深層的、難以名狀的疲憊所取代。 本書的開篇,我將帶你走進我那間布滿瞭散熱風扇噪音和鍵盤敲擊聲的“聖殿”。我們不會討論如何優化數據庫查詢,而是探討這些查詢背後,程序員如何處理“無限性”與“有限性”的矛盾。我們構建的係統是無限擴展的,但我們的時間和精力卻是殘酷有限的。 我記得有一次,為瞭修復一個發生在用戶支付環節的罕見並發 Bug,我連續七十二小時沒有離開過我的工位。那感覺,就像是深入一個信息黑洞,周圍的一切現實感都在衰減,隻剩下屏幕上跳動的十六進製代碼。當 Bug 最終被定位並修復時,我感受到的不是勝利的喜悅,而是一種對自身心智被機器過度消耗的恐懼。這種恐懼,是每一個深陷其中的創造者都必須麵對的。 第二章:API 的詩意與機器的冷漠 軟件開發的核心,在於定義接口(API)。API 是溝通的橋梁,是不同模塊之間交流的契約。對我而言,設計一個優雅、健壯的 API,其美感不亞於海明威的一句話。它要求極度的簡潔、嚴密的邏輯和對未來擴展性的深思熟慮。 然而,機器對這種詩意是無感的。 在第三部分,我將詳細闡述我與“遺留代碼”(Legacy Code)的搏鬥史。這些代碼,就像是城市深處的地下管道係統,它們在運作,但你永遠不知道它們是如何運作的,更彆提修改瞭。每一個企圖優化的嘗試,都可能引發連鎖反應,導緻整個係統的“雪崩”。 我曾花費數月時間試圖重構一個由十年前離職的同事留下的核心模塊。那段經曆讓我深刻理解瞭“技術債務”的真正含義:它不是金錢上的負債,而是精神上的枷鎖。每次提交代碼時,我都會産生一種負罪感,害怕我修復的隻是錶象,而深層的結構性缺陷依然潛伏著。 我們是數字世界的建築師,但我們卻必須生活在他人留下的、未經規劃的廢墟之上。這種對“完美”的不懈追求與對“現實妥協”的反復拉扯,構成瞭我們日常工作的基本張力。 第三章:調試:人類思維與隨機錯誤的哲學對決 “九十 процентов 的編程是調試。” 這是一個廣為流傳的笑話,但它殘酷地揭示瞭真相。調試,就是與那些你絕對沒有編寫的錯誤進行對話。 在這一章中,我將拆解幾次我職業生涯中最具挑戰性的調試案例。其中一個 Bug 錶現為:隻有在閏年二月的第三個星期二的下午三點零三分,且用戶的 IP 地址落在特定地理坐標範圍時纔會齣現。這不再是邏輯錯誤,它更像是一種宇宙的嘲弄。 我們不得不進入一種近乎偏執的狀態:質疑一切。是內存泄漏?是時區轉換錯誤?是編譯器優化過度?還是……隻是一個錯位的零和一? 調試的過程,是對程序員耐心和心智的極限測試。它強迫我們將思維從宏大的係統架構拉迴到最微小的代碼行。我發現,在那些深夜,當整個辦公室隻剩下我的顯示器散發著微光時,我與代碼之間的界限變得模糊。我不再是“閱讀”代碼,我仿佛在“感受”數據流動的方嚮。這是一種危險的沉浸,因為它讓你開始相信,你所創造的邏輯世界,其真實性遠高於窗外模糊的物理世界。 第四章:技術更迭的焦慮與工匠精神的迴歸 近五年來,技術棧的更新速度達到瞭一個前所未有的峰值。新的框架、語言和雲服務層齣不窮,它們承諾著更高的效率和更少的樣闆代碼。但對我而言,這更像是不斷被要求學習一門新語言,而舊的知識儲備卻在迅速貶值。 這種持續的焦慮——“我是否被淘汰瞭?”——是數字時代獨有的集體病癥。我們被訓練成“快速學習者”,卻鮮有時間成為“深刻理解者”。 我開始反思:我們是在構建工具,還是在被工具所驅使? 在本書的後半部分,我將介紹我如何有意識地放慢腳步。我開始重新鑽研基礎:操作係統原理、網絡協議的底層細節、編譯器的工作方式。我發現,真正的力量並非來自於掌握最新的“糖衣”,而是理解其下的“麵粉”。 當我不再追逐每一個新工具的閃光點,而是專注於將我已掌握的工具打磨到極緻時,我終於找迴瞭那種作為“匠人”的滿足感。這是一種慢下來纔能獲得的深度。這不再是關於“快”,而是關於“準”和“恒久”。 第五章:代碼之外的連接:人機交互的溫度 我們構建的程序最終要服務於人。然而,在高度抽象化的開發過程中,我們很容易忘記用戶那張有著情緒、疲勞和非理性需求的臉。 本書最後探討的是人機界麵的“情感代碼”。為什麼一個設計精良的錯誤提示能挽救一天的壞心情,而一個冰冷、通用的“Error 500”則能瞬間點燃用戶的怒火? 我分享瞭在設計用戶體驗(UX)時,我如何運用自己在調試中獲得的“同理心”來預測用戶的睏境。當我們麵對一個復雜的係統時,我們必須像一個外星人一樣,用全新的、充滿耐心的眼光去審視自己的創作。 《迷失在代碼的海洋》不是一本教你如何寫齣完美代碼的書,因為它相信完美是永恒的幻覺。它是一份關於一個現代數字創造者,如何在邏輯的絕對性與人性的模糊性之間,尋找平衡、保持清醒和實現自我價值的詳盡記錄。它邀請每一位在屏幕前與復雜性搏鬥的人,停下來,審視那段被鍵盤敲擊聲掩蓋的、真實的心跳。