| Title | : | Trashed |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1419714546 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781419714542 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 |
| Publication | : | First published November 3, 2015 |
Trashed Reviews
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This book is (all about) garbage - and it’s great!
Following up his excellent memoir, My Friend Dahmer (a book about actually going to school with cannibal serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer), John “Derf” Backderf takes a look at the American trash industry in Trashed. Part fiction, part memoir (Backderf was briefly a garbageman in 1980) and part non-fiction (the facts presented in this book are meticulously researched), Trashed follows 21 year old JB through the four seasons, learning the trade of trash collecting.
It’s a juggling act between styles that Backderf manages really well. A book that would just list facts about garbage would be too dry and one just about his experiences as a garbageman, or the misadventures of the fictional JB, would be a bit insubstantial. But merged together, Trashed is a very strong comic.
Through JB, we see the horrors of being a garbageman: maggots in bins, bin soup, dead cats, headless deer, diaper bombs (when compacted, you get flying shit!), yellow torpedoes (plastic bottles of pee tossed out of car windows), and the worst of the worst, cheap bin bags that break leaving the garbageman to scoop up the trash with his arms.
Trashed is very informative and the reader will get a brief history of garbage through the ages, how recycling works, the biodegrading of various materials, how trash trucks are designed, how landfills operate, and the landfills’ legacy on the ecological landscape. These facts are seamlessly woven into JB’s story as he encounters them, eg. when he’s picking up dirty diapers, there are facts on how many diapers Americans go through and how long they’ll take to break down.
It IS a bit depressing in just how much garbage there is and how our culture has become more enamoured with throwing stuff out over the last few decades. In fact, Western economies seem built around the short lifespan of products with everyday devices intended to only last a few years before needing to be replaced. But as gloomy as it may be, it’s still a fascinating read.
Backderf makes the book palatable through our likeable everyman protagonist JB, a young man disgusted with our society’s garbage culture but who approaches it from a practical and light perspective. Joining him are a colourful cast of characters like his perpetually pissed-off manager, Wile E, his flatmate, the hipster Magee, his colleagues Mike and Bone, and Marv the (far too old) Village Dog Catcher.
There isn’t too much of a plot as it’s mostly on-the-job anecdotes though these are plenty as these episodes are interesting and bring home the variety of crap we throw out. The fiction ties it all together even if it isn’t a terribly gripping read.
Trashed is a very American-centric book and, while Backderf briefly mentions the various alternative methods of trash disposal used by Europeans who don’t have the luxury of endless space like America, I would’ve liked to have seen a wider look at the issue. Backderf’s conclusion at the end seems to be bigger landfills in remoter places like Alaska which seems a bit pointless when there are better methods out there than simply burying the problem. Then again, there’s real money behind landfills so I guess Americans are stuck with the crap solution for now.
A book about garbage doesn’t seem the likeliest choice for a good read but Derf Backderf pulls it off in Trashed! It’s entertaining and a little sad, but very revealing, it’s one of the most memorable comics I’ve read all year. Definitely worth checking out! -
Technically this is impressive, in alt comics style, and listed as fiction, though it is a mix of memoir/personal experience, as once Backderf worked in sanitation, and non-fiction, with some background based in research on trash. Backdoor started this is as a memoir, as was his My Friend Dahmer, but he didn't have enough for a full length project, so he shifted into fiction.
I seem to be in a minority here but I am not that into it. I guess it is a cool enough portrait of a working class job, though I didn't care that much for the characters, really. It's hard for me to catch the tone. It's not that funny. It doesn't tell me much that I didn't already know about American consumption and waste and trash piggery. The art is great, though and he is a talent; in that respect this is his best work. -
Featuring a like-to-put-you-off-your-dinner parade of maggots, bin soup (you don’t wanna think too much about what that might be), doggy doo bags which can burst when the truck is compacting them, animal corpses (some with no heads), used condoms, diaper bombs, perfectly good chairs, stacks of porn and the occasional piano, this memoir of Backderf’s two years as a garbageman is justly vicious about our western lifestyle’s addiction to using everything up and throwing everything away and thus befouling our own living space, but he offers no easy green solutions either; although naturally he says “the Scandinavians” do recycling much better (it’ll be those pesky Swedes again making the rest of us look bad). The way Derf tells it, it would take a total revolution, like, you know, the abolition of capitalism, to allow us to produce less poisonous crap, and that’s not going to happen.
And by the way he points out that rich people produce more garbage per person than poor people do.
I got this because I loved My Friend Dahmer and it’s almost just as good. Also – there’s a connection between the two subjects. Can you guess what might connect Jeffrey Dahmer with Derf’s life as a refuse collector? Aw, I see you are ahead of me …
Jeff butchered the body of his first victim… he bagged up the remains and set them out for the trash collectors! It was just a few months before I climbed on the back of the truck. Creepy, huh?
Yes, quite creepy.
There is much revolting fun to be had with Trashed. It could have done with a scratch ‘n’ sniff page but you can’t have everything.
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What happens to our trash when it leaves our front curb? This graphic novel gives us the inside story on the entire 'trash industry' from the perspective of someone who once did the job. Derf Backderf presents the facts - but is never preachy - about the dire situation our landfills are in today. This graphic novel will change the way you look at trash forever.
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Follows a guy who drops out of college and ends up getting a job loading trash into the city dump truck. Includes real statistics and facts about trash in society.
It's depressing, of course. We're fucked.
Most people who are paying attention know that. Hence all the dystopian literature and space colonies in our future.
We also learn about the mechanics of dumptrucks, and a little bit about local government (the details of which may or may not be true about your community).
Since I'm someone who loves learning minutiae about how society functions, and people's jobs, I was totally into this. Backderf isn't one to make his characters comfortable or friendly, and draws people with an element of mocking disdain.
But that perspective seems specifically fitting for this book, given its thesis. HUMANS ARE SCREWING UP THIS PLANET. So we deserve to be ugly in this tale.
His drawing is consistently great, though. I posted on another platform that, inspired by a row of panels in this book, I wanna dream up a leg full of tattoos of various artists' depictions of rain (see page 197 for the row I'm talking about). He only uses black, white, and tones of blue here. And that choice keeps the focus on the story, instead of on intricate, chaotic panels full of refuse.
Extra star because the message needs to be in front of everyone's faces.
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"Life stinks. Mmmm! This, however, is a great shake!"
If you've ever pondered our garbage plight, this constantly entertaining (and educational) graphic novel should not be discarded from your fleeting consideration. Basically, what I'm typing is this: don't trash Trashed. It's an increasingly comical and lighthearted look at the lives of some failing-at-life garbagemen who hate everything and nearly everyone residing in their crappy little town. And boy, are they embittered! The on-the-job horrors and adventures that these poor souls experience are what made me speed through this book in under two hours.
Lemme just belabor the fact that there's much to savor.
From dealing with the total insanity of their special nutcase friend, the "assistant to the assistant cemetery sexton" Magee, to begrudgingly compacting pianos and suffering the groan-worthy consequences of their constantly looming boss, I just really loved every informative, illuminating page of this eye-opening piece. This one's great fun.
Almost weirdly so, I've always thought about trash...it sounds weird, but you know, I have. But haven't we all at some point? Just where DOES the waste go? Obviously it all gets dropped in municipal landfills and the like, yet I can't deny that I have had this nagging curiosity about the topic ever since I was a tiny tyke.
Well, have no fear...because Trashed is here to broaden your closed-off horizons. It'll give you a pretty good idea as to how bad it has become for us as a whole, as well as disclosing just how awful it used to be back in the days of yesteryear. I can't believe how destructive we've been on this planet. And we're all a part of the destruction. Day after day after day. This book will definitely make you think...if only for a passing moment before returning to something else—like your beloved smartphone! Hey, I do it too.
In the end, I loved this one loads. No nitpicking will be living anywhere here. If this enjoyable romp were made into a television series or even a movie, I'd jump right on that train.
"Think of the economy as a giant digestive tract. And we're here at the rectum of the free market to clean it all up." -
The art reminded me of Joe Ollmann’s stuff. The writing is a mix of faux memoir and factoids on the garbage crisis in America. The relationships between the municipal workers are well crafted and nuanced. I love Backderf quite frankly and if you want a hot tip follow him on Twitter. He has regular, scathing updates on the decline of western civilization. A very witty and brilliant man.
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يا له من كتاب مليء برائحة القمامة والأزبال. نعم انه كتاب كوميك بسيط لكنه يحتوي على معلومات عن القمامة وتاريخها ومستقبلها ما لم اجده لا في كتاب ولا ف�� تلفاز
أجمل ما فيه انه يتوقع ان قمامتنا لو صففناها لوصلت الى القمر، ولو جمع قمامة أمريكا وحدها في مكان واحد لاحتاجت مساحة الف هكتاراً مربعاً وبعمق اربعمئة قدم تحت الأرض، اي بشكل اكثر ارتفاعاً من مبنى التجارة العالمي
الغريب ان الكاتب قد سحّل تجربته كعامل خدمة بين 1979 و1980.. فماذا ستكون حال القمامة الآن؟ وما هي الأرقام؟ وما هو حال الكوكب؟ هل توجد اجابات واضحة وحلول ناجعة؟ للأسف كلا -
A funny, philosophical, and fact-filled graphic novel about garbage and the slackers who are paid to pick it up for you. The monochromatic color scheme of the art highlights Backderf��s heavily-inked gangly cartoons. Visually, quite striking. All in all, this was an enjoyable read.
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So I tagged this disgusting-crap,and poubelle-basura-rubbish-etc.but that's for the content and not a reflection of the writing.The story was very human,it drew a very clear picture of small town America fading from sight and the people seemed authentic.I learned a lot of science,and the book really did a great job of exposing political greed,mismanagement,and stupidity.A real plus was that it
explained how Hillary blew the election!Okay,I made that part up.It's a terrific little book.Check it out. -
Derf (John) Backderf has written a graphic novel about trash and its collection. It is a combination of personal experiences when he briefly collected trash (in 1980) and a fairly well researched compendium of facts about trash, recycling, landfill, and a problem that will likely never be solved. It is comic in parts and stone cold serious in others. Overall I liked it: 3.5 stars.
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Taken from the jacket cover of the book~~
"Americans generate about 389 million tons of trash annually. We recycle only 29 percent of our trash, and send 63.5 percent of it - 246.9 million tons every year to landfills. On average, 5.06 pounds of waste per person is disposed of every day... and there are 321 millions of us in the U.S. alone!"
I found this book hilarious. Backderf has a very dry humor and it came across gallantly in this book. Mixed in were a lot of details about garbage and trash and landfills. Such as, did you know that New York city puts their garbage into semi trucks and trucks it out of New York into other states for disposal? Hmmmm.... think about that one for a minute!!
To make this story even better it has been put into a graphic novel. Admitting that graphic novels are not really my reading choice, I really enjoyed this one. I laughed out loud time and time again.
Twenty -one year old, college drop out, J.B. takes a job at the "Village" thinking he would be driving a lawn mover and not liking that it was an outside job without air conditioning. Lo and behold, he never thought he would survive one shift of garbage detail - let alone become a "Garbageman!" -
I've read Backderf's work since My Friend Dahmer, but this is the first long-form work he's published since the 2012 book. This is another wonderful book, and for different reasons. As the author makes clear in his introduction, while this has roots in personal experiences, Trashed is not autobiographical in nature, as was My Friend Dahmer. He's written this, instead, as a work of fiction. There are strains in the narrative that do seem to have autobiographic leanings (or at least there's the feel of that)...but then again, what work of fictional narrative doesn't have some links to the life experience. What mitigates the fictional tone of the work are the informative, fact-filled sections that intersperse the story proper. It's as if the protagonist -- or Backderf himself -- is momentarily stepping in to give us some data on garbage collection before getting back to the story of J.B.'s experiences in his village service office. These sections -- citing EPA studies and other research -- read more like memoir or documentary than fiction.
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I was really hoping for a lot of Derf's humor in this book, and I got it. A lot of really funny stuff. Also, I always love his art and this is no exception. My biggest issue was it also scared the shit out of me.
There is a lot of research here, and a lot scary facts about garbage dumps, where they have been and where they are now, how many there are, what happens to them, what COULD happen to them, and basically we are all going to go up in flames in one big fucking trash explosion one day. -
Weirdly brilliant.
So, it's a kinda-sorta autobiographical comic about a guy who works as a garbage collector for a couple of years. There's not a ton of plot, but what's there (mostly mini-feuds between various factions of town employees) is often hilarious. Mixed in with the trash bombings of innocent pedestrians there's also a lot of interesting (really!) stuff about waste management in the U.S.
Highly recommended, but I'm not quite sure to who. -
Who could imagine that such great art could come out of (literal) garbage?
The creator worked for a time as a trash collector and this became rich experience to be mined for TRASHED. The book takes micro- and macro- views of the secret life of trash, from the everyday job of the garbage collectors to amazing crosscut diagrams of landfills. While entertaining readers with the bizarre and gross everyday experiences of the workers, he sneaks in plenty of thought-provoking lessons about where the disposables of our modern lives actually end up.
It will be impossible to close this book without newfound insight and appreciation for trash collectors, a job that's near-universally looked down upon. Readers will also be forced to ponder the incredible amount of trash that each and every one of us produces as a part of everyday life. There are no easy answers, but the full, leaky landfills stand as a mute testament to limiting the size of our families. -
The more I read of Backderf's work, the more I like it. His somewhat punk-y, alt comics style is combined with a surprising degree of readability. While his works have their roots in autobiography, he knows how to meld it with fiction to get an actual story, as opposed to just an anecdote. Trashed is a look at JB, and his job as a trash collector. The book is rife with observed detail interspersed with facts and figures about trash and its disposal in modern society. If nothing else, it's instructive to read this and think, "Okay, my job sucks, but it could be worse ..." This is a highly entertaining graphic novel. While reading it, I could almost hear the sound of approaching garbage trucks and the clanging of galvanized metal cans.
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I will think about the info in this book each week when I put my trash out. Numerous interesting facts included. I will write it up for jillsbookmark.com this upcoming week.
High -
This review can also be found on my blog:
https://graphicnovelty2.com/2018/08/3...
“An ode to the crap job of all crap jobs” is an excellent introduction to this graphic novel that is equal parts fiction, non-fiction and memoir.
Trashed is written by Derf Backderf who is most famous for knowing serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in high school and writing a book about him, My Friend Dahmer. In this book here he too recounts stories of his youth as a trash collector, but fleshed it out to bring it up to date and add facts about the garbage collecting industry. This book about trash is surprisingly good and has a rather timeless feel.
Derf switched the narrative away from himself and writes the story from fictional college drop out JB’s perspective. JB and his friend Mike suffer through an entire year of garbage collecting in their hometown, starting as easily grossed out newbies to being stoic workers in a year’s time. They work with a misfit crew: their boss who never gives them a moment’s peace, the hipster roommate, the truck driver who is a genius but has no common sense, a creepy racist, along with a few good guys. Small town politics are shown along with the realities of just getting by in a working class environment. And of course there is the endless supply of garbage that people heedlessly throw out, not thinking of the workers, much less the impact their waste has on the world. Out of sight out of mind.
Interspersed among the narrative are the non-fiction segments that show how trash collection has evolved from medieval times to present day. These sections will really make you pause and think of your own goods consumption and subsequent trash. Its sobering to realize that despite recycling efforts America’s trash is a huge and growing issue. A brief mention is made of how other countries handle their waste in better ecological ways than we do, but going into more depth than that would veer off too far from the narrative.
As I said in my Dahmer review, Derf’s artwork is very reminiscent of Robert Crumb and of Don Martin from Mad magazine, with the angular and strangely jointed people. It is all drawn in black and white, and while not an attractive art style, it does get that underground comix vibe right. This subject matter is certainly socially relevant and satirical in nature, with Derf drawing with loving detail the most disgusting parts of the job. Because I read this book after his first, I could not help but compare the two books to each other as his style is very distinctive and the Ohio setting is the same. I kept on expecting a teen aged Dahmer to appear as some of his characters look eerily familiar to how he drew him in the other book.
While this graphic novel may not be a light heartened romp, it is worth a read for its humor and insight into an issue we should be more informed about. -
What happens to your trash? Who takes it away? Where does it go?
Find out, daring reader!
Okay, so it's not the most exciting topic in the world. It's trash. The stuff we don't want anymore. But this book does a good job of mixing the factual stuff with the vignettes about smalltown life.
I won't tell you all the dirt on garbage, but there IS a section in here that briefly mentions how Denmark uses new, fancy incinerators that burn garbage to generate power, and I was intrigued.
It turns out that these are totally legit. Burning garbage is potential method of getting rid of trash. Granted, the carbon emissions are a problem, but I don't know how much worse that is than the way Americans dispose of their trash (want to know more? READ the book!).
What's more interesting is that the incinerators have demonstrated that trash is more of a social problem than a scientific one.
I read an article about Denmark's incinerators, and it pointed out that there was a problem. Not with the incinerators themselves, but with the way that incineration to generate power de-incentivizes waste reduction and recycling. The incinerators require a certain amount of trash to run at maximum efficiency, and so if I want to power my house this winter, a certain number of bags need to hit the curb every week.
None of that stuff about the problems with the incinerators is in the book, but it underscores the book's message, which is that the problem has a lot less to do with biodegradation and such, and a lot more to do with the fact that we buy too much stuff, it breaks too quickly, and we toss it out and start over.
-Peter -
Derf Backderf’s Trashed is an appropriately grimy follow-up to his graphic-novel-memoir My Friend Dahmer, Backderf’s recounting of his high school acquaintance with serial cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer.
My Friend Dahmer is my go-to book for a certain kind of reader, the kind who doesn’t find anything in print worthy of interest. MFD always hooks them. If they need other reading suggestions, now I can offer Trashed.
Trashed is a graphic-novel-ish tale of some guys who work as trash collectors. As with any job story, there is a boss, a boss’s boss, corruption, pain-in-the-butt customers, and some down-time. But as with few other jobs, this one has a lot of really gross things going on. Think diapers and roadkill and you’ll be getting in the zone.
But Trashed goes beyond that storyline to share insights about how America generates and processes its trash. Readers will learn about garbage trucks, landfills, recycling and other garbage-related topics. The balance between these nonfiction elements and the workers’ storyline is perfect. Those who are in it for the yucky stuff will stick with the book through these relatively short explanation sections.
Trashed probably isn’t for every reader, but it’s perfect for some we all know.
Thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an advance copy of Trashed. Look for it in November, 2015. -
My review of this book is now at the curb, waiting to be picked up and read:
http://www.tcj.com/reviews/trashed/ -
review -
https://youtu.be/GxPn1PtyzIg -
Probably really four stars but I really liked the drawing style which reminded me of classic 80s MAD magazine artists like Al Jaffee and Don Martin. And I learned something too!
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Darkly funny and depressingly informative look at the world of garbage creation, collection and processing. A lot of interesting factual information here, but none of it encouraging.
As with Backderf's equally offbeat
My Friend Dahmer, his indy style is perfectly suited to his material. Definitely recommended - but only if you're "into this sort of thing"...
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A discouraging graphic novel about the USA’s trash industry with narrator JB, a recent college dropout now a garbage collector. Trashed includes all the grisly details most blithe homeowners never consider. Not a book to read at snack time.
Along with the gore, Backderf includes plenty of dark humor as the reader follows this motley cast of municipal workers. This is a male dominated novel and business; expect a spritz of misogyny here and there.
Also Trashed is interspersed with dismal landfill facts. Did you know Canadian’s produce the most trash per capita?
Is this a necessary read? It may cause some to buy less and make less trash. But Backderf makes personal change feel futile, and by the end JB is a hardened cynic. If you read this you’ll see why. -
Recuerdo un sketch de Les Luthiers en que anunciaban una serie sobre los basureros de Los Ángeles, narrando la introducción como si pudiese ser una historia intrigante y emocionante. Derf Backderf lo consigue en un ambiente menos atractivo que la gran ciudad californiana. Me ha parecido una historia muy crítica, entretenida y adictiva, con un dibujo un poco extraño en el que cuesta entrar. Un autor al que voy a seguir.
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Excellent! Everyone should read it.
![My Friend Dahmer [2002]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1250754749l/6726717.jpg)
