 What is the general tone of this writing genre?
Perhaps it is wrong, the Shopping Avenger thought, to complain about the petty insults and inconveniences of life in the materialistic '90s. The Shopping Avenger does not make light of the Dalai Lama or of the notion that there is more to life than the impatient acquisition of material goods. Before we begin, though, the Shopping Avenger nearly forgot to announce the winner of last month's contest, in which readers were asked to answer the question, "What's the difference between pests and airlines?" The winner is one Tom Morgan, who wrote, "You can hire someone to kill pests." The new contest question: How much Turtle Wax comprises a year's supply of Turtle Wax?
 Ironic.
 Sorrowful.  Academic.  Ironic.  Infuriated.