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Trashed: A Graphic Novel
Every week we pile our garbage on the curb and it disappears--like magic! The reality is anything but, of course. Trashed, Derf Backderf's follow-up to the critically acclaimed, award-winning international bestseller My Friend Dahmer, is an ode to the crap job of all crap jobs--garbage collector. Anyone who has ever been trapped in a soul-sucking gig will relate to this tale. Trashed follows the raucous escapades of three 20-something friends as they clean the streets of pile after pile of stinking garbage, while battling annoying small-town bureaucrats, bizarre townfolk, sweltering summer heat, and frigid winter storms. Trashed is fiction, but is inspired by Derf's own experiences as a garbageman. Interspersed are nonfiction pages that detail what our garbage is and where it goes. The answers will stun you. Hop on the garbage truck named Betty and ride along with Derf on a journey into the vast, secret world of garbage. Trashed is a hilarious, stomach-churning tale that will leave you laughing and wincing in disbelief.
256 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2002
80 people are currently reading
2638 people want to read
About the author
Derf Backderf
19books541followersJohn Backderf is a Eisner-award-winning American comics creator, also known as Derf Backderf. He is most famous for his recent graphic novels, especially My Friend Dahmer, the international bestseller which won an Angoulême Prize, and earlier for his comic strip The City, which appeared in a number of alternative newspapers from 1990�2014.
Derf has been nominated for multiple Eisner, Harvey and Ignatz awards and a Rueben Award. In 2006, he won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for political cartooning. Backderf has been based in Cleveland, Ohio, for much of his career.
Derf has been nominated for multiple Eisner, Harvey and Ignatz awards and a Rueben Award. In 2006, he won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for political cartooning. Backderf has been based in Cleveland, Ohio, for much of his career.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 733 reviews
November 23, 2015
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!
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!
January 14, 2016
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.
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.
May 23, 2025
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.
October 3, 2016
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.
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.
March 15, 2025
Lixeiro só tem de se preocupar com o seguinte...
A pessoa deixa o lixo no meio-fio ... a gente recolhe.
Um dia depois do outro, uma semana depois da outra, um ano depois do outro.
... E o lixo NUNCA acaba.
Um livro muito interessante para quem tiver curiosidade em perceber como funciona o ciclo da recolha do lixo desde que deixamos os sacos no contentor até ao seu despejo nos aterros.
Nesta obra o autor fala da realidade americana, onde cada pessoa produz 2kg de lixo por dia. Os aterros sanitários são terrenos enormes, buracos com até 120 metros de profundidade em que o lixo é despejado e fica a apodrecer, a escorrer líquidos perigosos, a lançar para a atmosfera gases como o metano e até pode atingir os lençóis freáticos. Muitos aterros acabam por ser encerrados e aproveitam-se os terrenos para campos de golfe ou instalação de painéis fotovoltaicos.
É impressionante e aterrador perceber como se faz lixo neste planeta. E, grande parte nem consegue ser reciclado, simplesmente fica enterrado, a apodrecer, ou não, como as fraldas dos bebés.
Parece que, em média, um bebé americano gasta qualquer coisa como oito mil fraldas até dominar a arte de usar o pote!!!
Uma BD informativa, com uns toques de humor, para desanuviar o ambiente fétido. Gostei muito.
A pessoa deixa o lixo no meio-fio ... a gente recolhe.
Um dia depois do outro, uma semana depois da outra, um ano depois do outro.
... E o lixo NUNCA acaba.
Um livro muito interessante para quem tiver curiosidade em perceber como funciona o ciclo da recolha do lixo desde que deixamos os sacos no contentor até ao seu despejo nos aterros.
Nesta obra o autor fala da realidade americana, onde cada pessoa produz 2kg de lixo por dia. Os aterros sanitários são terrenos enormes, buracos com até 120 metros de profundidade em que o lixo é despejado e fica a apodrecer, a escorrer líquidos perigosos, a lançar para a atmosfera gases como o metano e até pode atingir os lençóis freáticos. Muitos aterros acabam por ser encerrados e aproveitam-se os terrenos para campos de golfe ou instalação de painéis fotovoltaicos.
É impressionante e aterrador perceber como se faz lixo neste planeta. E, grande parte nem consegue ser reciclado, simplesmente fica enterrado, a apodrecer, ou não, como as fraldas dos bebés.
Parece que, em média, um bebé americano gasta qualquer coisa como oito mil fraldas até dominar a arte de usar o pote!!!
Uma BD informativa, com uns toques de humor, para desanuviar o ambiente fétido. Gostei muito.
March 23, 2025
PT Curiosamente, daqui a três dias faz exatamente um ano desde que li "O Meu Amigo Dahmer", do mesmo autor.
Desta vez, o autor apresenta-nos uma obra sobre a indústria do lixo, baseada na sua própria experiência como lixeiro durante alguns anos.
Ao longo do livro, acompanhamos um grupo de lixeiros no seu dia a dia, enquanto aprendemos como o lixo é tratado e descobrimos vários factos e curiosidades sobre a gestão de resíduos nos EUA e no mundo.
Apesar de ser uma obra densa, consegue ser bastante divertida. É realmente impressionante a quantidade de lixo que produzimos diariamente e a forma como nos "livramos" dele.
Um livro que nos deixa mais sensíveis ao problema do excesso de lixo e nos faz refletir sobre o impacto das nossas ações.
--
EN Interestingly, in three days, it will be exactly one year since I read "My Friend Dahmer" by the same author.
This time, the author presents us with a work about the waste industry, based on his own experience as a garbage collector for a few years.
Throughout the book, we follow a group of garbage collectors in their daily routines while learning how waste is processed and discovering various facts and curiosities about waste management in the US and around the world.
Although it's a dense work, it manages to be quite entertaining. It's truly impressive how much waste we produce daily and the way we "get rid" of it.
A book that makes us more aware of the problem of excessive waste and makes us reflect on the impact of our actions.
Desta vez, o autor apresenta-nos uma obra sobre a indústria do lixo, baseada na sua própria experiência como lixeiro durante alguns anos.
Ao longo do livro, acompanhamos um grupo de lixeiros no seu dia a dia, enquanto aprendemos como o lixo é tratado e descobrimos vários factos e curiosidades sobre a gestão de resíduos nos EUA e no mundo.
Apesar de ser uma obra densa, consegue ser bastante divertida. É realmente impressionante a quantidade de lixo que produzimos diariamente e a forma como nos "livramos" dele.
Um livro que nos deixa mais sensíveis ao problema do excesso de lixo e nos faz refletir sobre o impacto das nossas ações.
--
EN Interestingly, in three days, it will be exactly one year since I read "My Friend Dahmer" by the same author.
This time, the author presents us with a work about the waste industry, based on his own experience as a garbage collector for a few years.
Throughout the book, we follow a group of garbage collectors in their daily routines while learning how waste is processed and discovering various facts and curiosities about waste management in the US and around the world.
Although it's a dense work, it manages to be quite entertaining. It's truly impressive how much waste we produce daily and the way we "get rid" of it.
A book that makes us more aware of the problem of excessive waste and makes us reflect on the impact of our actions.
September 14, 2016
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.
Read with
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.
Read with
July 8, 2017
"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."
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."
June 15, 2019
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.
January 5, 2018
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 في 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
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
July 22, 2017
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.
November 29, 2017
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.
explained how Hillary blew the election!Okay,I made that part up.It's a terrific little book.Check it out.
July 31, 2019
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.
June 13, 2017
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!"
"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!"
December 24, 2015
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.
February 23, 2016
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.
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.
February 25, 2016
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.
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.
January 15, 2024
“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 wrote the story from fictional college dropout 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 the present day. These sections will really make you pause and think of your own goods consumption and subsequent trash. It's 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 teenage 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-hearted romp, it is worth a read for its humor and insight into an issue we should be more informed about.
This review can also be found on my blog:
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 wrote the story from fictional college dropout 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 the present day. These sections will really make you pause and think of your own goods consumption and subsequent trash. It's 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 teenage 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-hearted romp, it is worth a read for its humor and insight into an issue we should be more informed about.
This review can also be found on my blog:
March 26, 2018
Title: Trashed
(Graphic Novel)
Author: Derf Backderf
The author has made many Novels on how life is or from personal experience and just life things in people’s life and what goes on. Very interesting and just an overall open and funny book. The main theme of the book is about a kid that had dropped out of college and didn’t have a job or anything and his mom finally told him if he’s not in school he needs a job and he needs to start doing things in life and be more responsible and clean person. Book is very good put together just not much detail. Doesn’t really know what to do and mom makes him find a job. He ends up getting a job for a trash company and through the whole book it just talks about him working as a trashman and now he is basically trash and doesn’t want to do anything and how much they mess up all the time on there job. In the book he technically just turns into trash and does nothing for himself and he’s just a drop out in everyone else’s eyes.
The book leaves out a lot more about his life before college and why he dropped about besides him just being lazy and it really doesn’t get into detail as much about any of that. I honestly think the author should have added more detail before college and life was for him and giving more reasons of why he dropped out. In the book it starts off with just “laying in a messy trashy room. Mom says - � I don’t know how you can live in this filth� and then she said “If you’re not going to school, you need to be working.�
Very interesting book and I do agree with the author’s opinions in the book. In reality when someone drops out everyone just thinks they are lazy and nothing in the world and those people just feel like trash or upset in life. I feel like this book can relate to some people in life.
(Graphic Novel)
Author: Derf Backderf
The author has made many Novels on how life is or from personal experience and just life things in people’s life and what goes on. Very interesting and just an overall open and funny book. The main theme of the book is about a kid that had dropped out of college and didn’t have a job or anything and his mom finally told him if he’s not in school he needs a job and he needs to start doing things in life and be more responsible and clean person. Book is very good put together just not much detail. Doesn’t really know what to do and mom makes him find a job. He ends up getting a job for a trash company and through the whole book it just talks about him working as a trashman and now he is basically trash and doesn’t want to do anything and how much they mess up all the time on there job. In the book he technically just turns into trash and does nothing for himself and he’s just a drop out in everyone else’s eyes.
The book leaves out a lot more about his life before college and why he dropped about besides him just being lazy and it really doesn’t get into detail as much about any of that. I honestly think the author should have added more detail before college and life was for him and giving more reasons of why he dropped out. In the book it starts off with just “laying in a messy trashy room. Mom says - � I don’t know how you can live in this filth� and then she said “If you’re not going to school, you need to be working.�
Very interesting book and I do agree with the author’s opinions in the book. In reality when someone drops out everyone just thinks they are lazy and nothing in the world and those people just feel like trash or upset in life. I feel like this book can relate to some people in life.
February 23, 2018
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 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.
December 15, 2015
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.
December 13, 2015
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
High
February 17, 2021
“The only good thing about this job…is the fun of disappointing the public!�
We learn many new phrases and descriptions in here, like how a garbologist is actually a paid job, yellow torpedoes (urine filled bottles cast by the roadside!), Leachate (a mix of solvents, household chemicals and many other nasty poisons), this in the name given to the stuff which leaks from landfills, often finding its way into the water table. Also, did you know that according to a report done by the EPA back in 2013, 29.8% of the US’s garbage is packaging and containers.
“Garbageman is the sixth most dangerous job in the US!...only loggers, fishermen, pilots, roofers, and ironworkers have higher on-the-job fatality rates.�
There is some clever and creative art work in here. There is a slapstick, cartoonish vibe about the drawing which works really well with the tone and mood of the story, though after you peel away the goofy, slackerism there is actually a serious and considered environmental tone underneath it all. We see that old landfills are literally ecological time bombs.
“Before 1979, any and everything went into landfills: industrial waste, paint, solvents, asbestos, you name it. And it’s all still down there.�
We learn that a tin can take 50 years to break down, plastic drink bottles 450 years and Styrofoam never…it may erode into tiny pieces but it won’t decompose. We see that many uses have been made for the vast amount of retired landfill sites around the US, like factories, shops and in some cases even housing, though Backderf lists various closed dumps which resorted to a more creative approach, with some being turned into huge solar farms, ski slopes, grazing land for cattle and apparently LA plans to convert Puente Hills landfill, which is 150 metres high and more than 500 ft deep and covers an area the size of Central Park, into a parks and nature reserve.
This was a really well-drawn story and the strong environmental themes are chilling as they are worrying, reminding us just how ridiculous the amount of waste we put out. I wonder how many Canadians know that according to this they generate more garbage per capita than any other nation on Earth?...
November 17, 2015
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
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
August 27, 2015
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 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.
February 19, 2016
My review of this book is now at the curb, waiting to be picked up and read:
June 2, 2018
review -
November 20, 2018
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!
November 21, 2020
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 , his indy style is perfectly suited to his material. Definitely recommended - but only if you're "into this sort of thing"...
As with Backderf's equally offbeat , his indy style is perfectly suited to his material. Definitely recommended - but only if you're "into this sort of thing"...
July 6, 2021
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.
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.
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