Waste and Want
A Social History of Trash
Susan Strasser
- An
- unprecedented
- look
- at
- that
- most
- commonplace
- act
- of
- everyday
- life—throwing
- things
- out—and
- how
- it
- has
- transformed
- American
- society.**“Strasser
- reads
- our
- American
- history
- in
- our
- tea
- leaves—and
- countless
- tons
- of
- other
- domestic
- garbage—as
- she
- traces
- the
- changing
- meanings
- of
- waste
- and
- thrift
- from
- Colonial
- times
- to
- the
- present.”
- —**The
- Boston
- GlobeWinner
- of
- the
- Abel
- Wolman
- Award
- of
- the
- Public
- Works
- Historical
- SocietySusan
- Strasser’s
- pathbreaking
- histories
- of
- housework
- and
- the
- rise
- of
- the
- mass
- market
- have
- become
- classics
- in
- the
- literature
- of
- consumer
- culture.
- Here
- she
- turns
- to
- an
- essential
- but
- neglected
- part
- of
- that
- culture—the
- trash
- it
- produces—and
- finds
- in
- it
- an
- unexpected
- wealth
- of
- meaning.Before
- the
- twentieth
- century,
- streets
- and
- bodies
- stank,
- but
- trash
- was
- nearly
- nonexistent.
- With
- goods
- and
- money
- scarce,
- almost
- everything
- was
- reused.
- Strasser
- paints
- a
- vivid
- picture
- of
- an
- America
- where
- scavenger
- pigs
- roamed
- the
- streets,
- swill
- children
- collected
- kitchen
- garbage,
- and
- itinerant
- peddlers
- traded
- manufactured
- goods
- for
- rags
- and
- bones.
- Over
- the
- last
- hundred
- years,
- however,
- Americans
- have
- become
- hooked
- on
- convenience,
- disposability,
- fashion,
- and
- constant
- technological
- change—the
- rise
- of
- mass
- consumption
- has
- led
- to
- waste
- on
- a
- previously
- unimaginable
- scale.Lively
- and
- colorful,
- Waste
- and
- Want
- recaptures
- a
- hidden
- part
- of
- our
- social
- history,
- vividly
- illustrating
- that
- what
- counts
- as
- trash
- depends
- on
- who’s
- counting,
- and
- that
- what
- we
- throw
- away
- defines
- us
- as
- much
- as
- what
- we
- keep.**“**Waste
- and
- Want
- **shows
- to
- startling
- effect
- how
- radically
- both
- our
- notions
- of
- trash
- and
- our
- means
- of
- coping
- with
- it
- have
- altered
- over
- the
- years.”
- —**The
- Washington
- Post**“[A]
- vibrant
- social
- history
- of
- American
- attitudes
- toward
- superfluous
- or
- unusable
- material
- items.
- .
- .
- .
- The
- book
- spills
- over
- with
- fascinating
- facts.”
- —**Publishers Weekly
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