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A la Cart: The Secret Lives of Grocery…
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A la Cart: The Secret Lives of Grocery Shoppers (edition 2008)

by Hillary Carlip

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648410,199 (3.2)1
A comic original in the tradition of Tracey Ullman and Lily Tomlin--with Cindy Sherman's eye--Hillary Carlip transforms herself into America's most unforgettable grocery shoppers. It's happened to all of us--we find, tucked away in the corner of our shopping cart, someone's discarded grocery list. Who's the person buying "Whole milk, heavy cream, ice cream, cheese, and Gas-Ex?" Why would someone need to write down "Coors and Oreos" on a matchbook cover--couldn't he just remember those two items? And what's the person like who scrawled their list on a PROZAC notepad? Taking her clues from the items listed, the types of paper written on, the handwriting, and even misspellings ("Aunt Spray"), Hillary saw that each list--at once mundane and personal--offered an intimate peek into a complete stranger's life. She chose 26 lists and imagined who the shoppers might be. She then transformed herself into all 26 people, one by one, literally stepping into each character--all ages, genders, and ethnicities--with hair, makeup, outfits, and one Fu Manchu. Photographer Barbara Green then captured unforgettable images of Hillary portraying these shoppers at their neighborhood markets. Hillary came to love these characters, so her accompanying stories for each are as poignant and hilarious as the photographs. She brings to life richly imagined inner worlds, including one for macho Woody, a self-described "Lady's Man with NO BANKRUPTCIES ready to meet just one Special Lady with NO KIDS." After getting to know these grocery shoppers through Miss Carlip's dedicated voyeurism, going to the supermarket will never be the same.… (more)
Member:nicryjust
Title:A la Cart: The Secret Lives of Grocery Shoppers
Authors:Hillary Carlip
Info:Virgin Books (2008), Hardcover, 128 pages
Collections:Your library
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A la Cart: The Secret Lives of Grocery Shoppers by Hillary Carlip

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Showing 1-5 of 8 (next | show all)
This was a very quick read--more of an artsy-coffee-table-book than something you would read before you go to bed. The book has a bizarre and quirky premise--the author has been collecting people's discarded grocery lists for the last several years. She picked 24 or 26 of her favorites and made up a story about the person, complete with picture (all of the pictures are her, dressed up as these people--very bizarrre!!). It was a very original idea, and it was a funny book! I was only disappointed it didn't contain more grocery lists--I would have liked it if she had included an index with other grocery lists she'd found, so we could draw our own conclusions about them! ( )
  goet0095 | Mar 27, 2014 |
What's so amazing about this book is its creativity. The jist is one woman finds shopping lists and then manifests herself into characters based on the shopping lists, pictures included!
I loved the different stories behind each list and like I said, the creativity of it all is amazing. Very fast and fun read!
( )
  mawls | Apr 4, 2013 |
This book comes from an interesting concept. Comedienne Hilary Carlip collects abandoned grocery lists, and here she's compiled a group of them and dreamed up the characters who might have written them. Carlip has written a backstory for each of the characters and she's dressed up as each of them. And, shockingly perhaps, her impersonations are quite convincing. Carlip has become everyone from a teenage goth to an elderly man. Some of the stories are funny and some are actually quite sad. What's truly striking about this book is Carlip's ability to portray a ridiculously broad range of characters. The fact that she came up with all of this from a stack of found shopping lists is impressive. THis is a coffee table book. It's both larger than your average book, and full of bright colors and glossy pictures. Ultimately, I found the concept and the photos to be more interesting than the text. This is more a book to thumb through than to sit and read. ( )
  lahochstetler | Mar 7, 2009 |
Entertaining. I found myself wanting to know more about these shoppers for the stories Carlip came up with. But I also found myself reading the lists and coming up with my own ideas of who wrote the lists. A fun book and unique idea. ( )
  lasperschlager | Nov 24, 2008 |
This was an unexpected but fun little book. The author finds grocery lists, imagines who could have dropped it, gives them a name and a story, then becomes that character and has her picture taken in the grocery store. I will never again see a discarded shopping list without wondering who's it was.
  aallen66 | Nov 18, 2008 |
Showing 1-5 of 8 (next | show all)
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A comic original in the tradition of Tracey Ullman and Lily Tomlin--with Cindy Sherman's eye--Hillary Carlip transforms herself into America's most unforgettable grocery shoppers. It's happened to all of us--we find, tucked away in the corner of our shopping cart, someone's discarded grocery list. Who's the person buying "Whole milk, heavy cream, ice cream, cheese, and Gas-Ex?" Why would someone need to write down "Coors and Oreos" on a matchbook cover--couldn't he just remember those two items? And what's the person like who scrawled their list on a PROZAC notepad? Taking her clues from the items listed, the types of paper written on, the handwriting, and even misspellings ("Aunt Spray"), Hillary saw that each list--at once mundane and personal--offered an intimate peek into a complete stranger's life. She chose 26 lists and imagined who the shoppers might be. She then transformed herself into all 26 people, one by one, literally stepping into each character--all ages, genders, and ethnicities--with hair, makeup, outfits, and one Fu Manchu. Photographer Barbara Green then captured unforgettable images of Hillary portraying these shoppers at their neighborhood markets. Hillary came to love these characters, so her accompanying stories for each are as poignant and hilarious as the photographs. She brings to life richly imagined inner worlds, including one for macho Woody, a self-described "Lady's Man with NO BANKRUPTCIES ready to meet just one Special Lady with NO KIDS." After getting to know these grocery shoppers through Miss Carlip's dedicated voyeurism, going to the supermarket will never be the same.

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