I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt: Everything I Wish I Never Had to Learn About Money

Pendleton, founder of the clothing company Tunnel Vision, shines in her idiosyncratic debut memoir-cum-finance guide. Raised in a money-strapped household in Fresno, Calif., Pendleton took a series of low-paying jobs before getting hired in the marketing department of a “high-end jewelry brand” where her boss taught her how to negotiate and the basics of personal finance. In 2011, she decided to start her own business redesigning and selling secondhand clothing. Describing her struggle to structure the company equitably, she explains that she initially strived for a cooperative-style arrangement that gave employees far-reaching autonomy over clothing sales, but found that this merely foisted the “stress of business ownership” onto each employee, leading her to reconfigure the business more traditionally while distributing compensation and profit evenly among employees, including herself. Pendleton is a penetrating critic of economic injustice and the shortcomings of traditional personal finance programs, noting that it’s “intrinsically impossible for everyone” to follow such common suggestions as becoming a landlord. Her substantial guidance on “how to run an equitable business” is a refreshing alternative to the lip service found in other manuals (“Be radically transparent about all things financial”; “Pay everyone equally for their labor”). This stands out from the pack. Agents: Caroline Marsiglia and Rick Richter, Aevitas Creative Management. (Jan.)