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The Customer Is Always Wrong: The Retail Chronicles - Paperback
$15.95
In stock
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by Jeff Martin (Editor)
From mom-and-pop general stores to big-box, strip-mall chains, it is impossible to consider the American experience without thinking about the buying-and-selling retail culture: the sales and the stockrooms, the shift managers, and the clock punchers. The Customer Is Always Wrong is a tragicomic and all-too revealing collection of essays by writers who have done their time behind the counter and lived to tell their tales. Jim DeRogatis, author of Let It Blurt, for example, describes hanging out with Al himself at Al Rocky's Music Store, while Colson Whitehead explains how three summers at a Long Island ice cream store gave him a lifelong aversion to all things dessert-like. This book not only shines a light on the absurdities of retail culture but finds the delight in it as well.
Author Biography
Jeff Martin edited the retail anthology The Customer Is Always Wrong and in 2009 released his fabricated memoir, My Dog Ate My Nobel Prize. He lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
C. Max Magee created and edits the online magazine The Millions. He has appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition and has written for Poets & Writers, The Morning News, and The Rumpus. He lives in Philadelphia. Contributors Include: Thomas Allen - Kyle Beachy - John Brandon - Sonya Chung - Elizabeth Crane - Rudolph Delson - Rivka Galchen - David Gates and Jonathan Lethem - Joshua Gaylord - Lauren Groff - Garth Risk Hallberg - Owen King - Benjamin Kunkel - Reif Larsen - Victor LaValle - Emily St. John Mandel - Clancy Martin - Michael Paul Mason - Joe Meno - Ander Monson - Victoria Patterson - Tom Piazza - Marco Roth - Nancy Jo Sales - Katherine Taylor - Deb Olin UnferthPay with
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Cindi Book is the trade name of Cindi Book LLC, a Texas-registered online-only retailer. We provide clear contact, shipping, return, and checkout information so customers can make informed purchasing decisions.
Business & Customer Care
Cindi Book LLC
Administrative office only; no storefront or local pickup.
214-308-1733 · info@cindibook.com
Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM CT
Shipping Transparency
Orders ship within the United States. Cindi Book branded titles typically arrive in 5–9 business days, including 0–2 business days of handling and 5–7 business days in transit. Supplier-fulfilled items typically arrive in 8–11 business days, including 1–3 business days of handling and 7–8 business days in transit. Business days are Monday–Friday, excluding U.S. federal holidays. Delivery estimates are not guarantees. Cindi Book items have a flat $9.99 shipping charge. Shopify Collective items use shipping rates set by the supplier. Orders containing items from different fulfillment sources may include more than one shipping charge. Your full shipping total is shown at checkout before payment.
Returns & Refunds
Standard U.S. returns are accepted for eligible new, unopened items within 30 days of carrier delivery. Returns are by mail. Customers are responsible for standard return shipping, there is no restocking fee, and standard exchanges are not offered. Once an approved return is received and inspected, the refund is issued to the original payment method within 5 business days. Damaged, defective, or incorrect items are handled at no return-shipping cost to the customer.
Return eligibility is subject to the full policy. Opened, read, or unsealed books with broken seals or visible wear are final sale. Digital downloads, gift cards, and personalized products are non-refundable. Original shipping charges are not refunded for standard returns. Contact us within 7 days of delivery about damaged, defective, or incorrect items.
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Some items may ship from Cindi Book or U.S.-based publishing, manufacturing, or distribution suppliers that fulfill orders for Cindi Book. Cindi Book LLC remains the customer-service contact for order questions, delivery support, returns, and refunds.