Don't Buy What I'm Selling
A Memoir
$51.95
- Hardcover
416 pages
- Release Date
29 September 2026
Summary
Part memoir, part manifesto, this is the story of a woman determined to go deep inside a business she was raised to hate, so she could save the world - and herself - through advertising. What could possibly go wrong?
As a high-level advertising creative director for 14 years, Lu Chekowsky willed inanimate objects to life and made people want to buy stuff they didn’t need. Her colleagues called her “Mary Manifesto” because she could whip up an emotional ad campaign like no one else. Ne…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780316588515 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0316588512 |
| Author: | Lu Chekowsky |
| Publisher: | Little, Brown & Company |
| Imprint: | Little, Brown & Company |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 416 |
| Release Date: | 29 September 2026 |
| Dimensions: | 235mm x 152mm |
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Critics Review
“A book about advertising has no business being this funny.”–Elissa Bassist, author of Hysterical“What is the human cost of making our bodies into commodities and letting ads into our minds and hearts? Lu Chekowsky knows all too well. Her riveting and wise story will prompt you to rethink who you are and what made you, from the first jingle to the latest Instagram click.”–Sonya Huber, co-editor of Nothing Compares to You: What Sinéad O’Connor Means to Us
“Chekowsky knows her way around a sentence and has a sharp eye for the transactional machinery beneath glamour … Both an acidic, funny indictment of an industry and a quietly hopeful story of someone finding her way out.”
–Kirkus“Lu Chekowsky’s voice and insight are switchblade keen, and right on time.”–Saeed Jones, poet and author of How We Fight for Our Lives“This is a jaw-dropping memoir of a woman at war with her body while her brilliant creative mind spins the campaigns that sell our dreams back to us. It’s also a wildly entertaining exposé of the advertising industry. It’s impossible not to root for Lu’s escape from the prison we all share–whenever we believe there’s something we could consume that would relieve the discomfort of living inside our own skin.”–Leigh Stein, bestselling author of Self Care“Don’t Buy What I’m Selling is a whip-smart and funny wild ride through the advertising industry as experienced through both Lu Chekowsky’s gimlet eye and a body that first whispered and eventually demanded a more authentic way of life. I found it so gripping that I ignored my own body’s sleep signals several nights in a row in favor of reading just one more chapter, cheering Lu on the entire time for her ambition, wit, and sheer moxie.”–Kristi Coulter, author of Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career“Don’t Buy What I’m Selling is a fascinating, smart, and hilarious look at the advertising world and the complex longings at the heart of consumer culture. Chekowsky’s prose crackles with life, and each scene shimmers with heart. I turned each page, greedy for more, happy to root for Chekowsky, her mother, and for all of us ensnared and enthralled by images and fantasies peddled by advertisers.”–Christie Tate, author of the New York Times bestseller Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My LifeAbout The Author
Lu Chekowsky
Lu Chekowsky is a writer and Emmy-award winning creative director. She was formerly the Lead Creative Director for Video at Facebook. Prior to that, she served as SVP of Brand Creative at Comedy Central, developing campaigns for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, South Park, Nathan for You, and Broad City. She also held the position of VP, Creative Director at MTV, where she created advertisements for Teen Wolf, The Jersey Shore, The Real World, and the Video Music Awards. Before her career in entertainment, Lu worked as a Creative Director and Copywriter at Wieden+Kennedy, overseeing work for brands including Jordan, Noxzema, Delta Airlines, and The National MS Society.
A 2023 New York State Council on the Arts/New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in Nonfiction Literature, her writing has been supported by Mass MoCA, Vermont Studio Center, Craigardan, and Tin House. Her essays and poetry have been published in The Rumpus, Pigeon Pages, and Hobart. Her work analyzing the cultural impacts of advertising has appeared in Ad Age and Muse by Clio. She resides in the Hudson Valley.
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