Peabody and Emmy Award–winning journalist Jane Marie expands on her popular podcast The Dream to expose the scourge of multilevel marketing schemes and how they have profited off the evisceration of the American working class.
Just about everyone knows someone who has, at some point, sold the products of a company like Tupperware or Mary Kay, businesses that mainly offer their products through everyday people selling in their own community, recruited by other local sellers. Which means just about everyone knows how few of those people actually make money doing so. Selling the Dream: The Billion-Dollar Industry Bankrupting Americans by Jane Marie is a deep dive into multilevel marketing. Jane Marie understands why people sign up. Hailing from a small town in the Midwest, plenty of her family and friends have tried their hands at it, and she has come close herself before finding her way to journalism. She puts all of her skills as a journalist to use to explain the anatomy and history of the industry in clear prose and affecting personal stories, as well as explaining why this industry just won’t die no matter how many people call the whole idea a scam.
This book may not convince your family member to give up on their dream of beating the odds and climbing to the top of the Amway pyramid, but it is a cracking good read for people interested in seeing how the nuts and bolts of part of our society work, even when that system doesn’t benefit the majority of the people within it. It could also be interesting for the true crime fans out there looking for a good anthology of con artist stories. - Catherine, Cataloging Associate
Comentários