THE INSIDER’S GUIDE TO WHERE AND HOW TO BUY A CAR

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THE INSIDER’S GUIDE TO WHERE AND HOW TO BUY A CAR

Name: THE INSIDER’S GUIDE TO WHERE AND HOW TO BUY A CAR
Author: Joe DiFeo
ISBN: 978-1-978445-20-8

STRIKE A DEAL AT THE DEALERSHIP

by Joe DiFeo ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 2017

A good starting point for potential car buyers, filled with helpful tips about how to analyze a purchase.

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An easy-to-read guide that attempts to demystify car buying.

Debut author DiFeo, an automotive dealer whose family has been in the business for three generations, bides his time getting to his main topic: how to buy a car. Before that, he detours into the tale of his great-great-grandfather, Saverio DiFeo, who migrated from Italy to New York City in the early 1900s and made a living selling fruit. One of his sons, Joseph, started a bakery in Jersey City and Joseph’s son, Sam, the author’s grandfather, opened a car dealership in the 1940s in the same area. The author himself first tried his hand at organic farming in Asheville, North Carolina, but, frustrated by the long hours, meager wages, and backbreaking work, he began selling cars and now sells Volkswagen with his brother in St. Augustine, Florida. This family history slows the book down a bit, but it also establishes DiFeo as a companionable partner on the car-buying journey. He then begins in earnest by tackling the stereotype of the pushy, aggressive car salesperson, eager to prioritize profit over integrity. This caricature, he says, is based on sales practices that faded long ago. Consumer-friendly laws and the widespread availability of purchase prices and other data have put customers on more equal footing with dealers, he notes. In addition, he says, many dealers have recognized that customers are more likely to return if they think that they received fair treatment. As DiFeo reviews various options, including buying new and used cars and leasing, he takes his readers on a smooth ride, avoiding jargon that could have provided bumps in the road to understanding. He could have possibly strengthened the work, however, by crunching the numbers to show, for example, the savings from buying a used car with cash and driving it as long as possible versus the cost of leasing a new one every few years.

A good starting point for potential car buyers, filled with helpful tips about how to analyze a purchase.

Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-978445-20-8

Page Count: 56

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2017

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.