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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Jul 2005, 320 pages
Paperback:
Aug 2006, 336 pages
Book Reviewed by:
BookBrowse Review Team
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A brilliant exploration into the soiled heart of the American trash can.
Into our trash cans go dead batteries, dirty diapers, bygone burritos,
broken toys, tattered socks, eight-track cassettes, scratched CDs, banana
peels … But where do these things go next? In a country that consumes and
then casts off more and more, what actually happens to the things we throw
away?
Named one of the New York Times Top 100 Notable Books for 2005.
Chapter One
Dark Angels of Detritus
On a cool October morning, I caught up with John Sullivan and Billy Murphy in the middle of their Park Slope garbage route. I watched them carefully, from a slight distance, but still it took me several long minutes to figure out, in the most rudimentary way, what my san men were doing. They moved quickly, in a blur of trash can dragging, lid tossing, handle cranking, and heaving. Though barrel-chested and muscle-bound, they moved with balletic precision. Sometimes Murphy and Sullivan appeared to be working independently, other times they collaborated. Save for the grunts and squeals of the truck, it all happened in relative silence. While Murphy drove to a gap between parked cars, Sullivan slid barrels up the sidewalk to the waiting truck. Sometimes Murphy jumped down to load, sometimes Sullivan did it on his own. Then they ...
In a style reminiscent of Fast Food Nation, Royte investigates what happens to our garbage, balancing conversational reporting with technical details, covering both the economic and ecological perspectives of garbage.
(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
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Here are a few suggestions, edited from Royte's site, on how each of us can make a difference:
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