“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.
-Nancy

September 4, 2018 at 10:46 pm
Have you ever seen ‘The Story of Stuff’? It’s a short (about twenty minutes) documentary about our consumption. Outside of a now-dated reference to an iPod at the beginning, it’s still frighteningly and sadly relevant/accurate. It’s available for free on YouTube. We show it in our science and religion class when we’re discussing this stuff. If you haven’t see it, and you’re contemplating this sort of stuff, I’d recommend you check it out.
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September 6, 2018 at 12:09 pm
Thanks for the video suggestion- I watched it last night when I was prepping dinner and it presented a lot of info that many people wouldn’t think of. I am proud to say that my family produces the least amount of garbage in our entire neighborhood. I have been shocked how much families with less people in their household put out at the curb. People need to change their mindset about their role in the entire cycle!
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September 9, 2018 at 10:19 am
That’s wonderful! Go you and your family! My aunt was the head of the recycling department in my township for years and I remember once she went to this presentation by a few people from Germany. They talked about how Germany handles their recycling and different things we could implement to be more efficient. One of the attendees asked, “But what do you do with the people who won’t recycle?” The German presenters were dumbfounded because they couldn’t understand why someone would just choose not to do something so easy and so beneficial for the world. It’s not an expressly U.S. problem by any stretch of the imagination but you’re so right. We DO need to change our mindsets, especially in this country!
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September 7, 2018 at 11:56 am
I would highly recommend checking out “Punk Rock and Trailer Parks” if you enjoyed reading “Trashed” and “Dahmer”.
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September 8, 2018 at 2:19 pm
I will definitely check it out- I was able to track down a copy through another library!
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September 9, 2018 at 9:42 pm
Derf put a recommended play list at the beginning, if you have Spotify or iTunes, listen to the tunes while you read. Pretty cool on his part.
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October 12, 2018 at 11:01 am
Review up for Punk Rock & Trailer Parks!
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