Secondhand

Travels in the New Global Garage Sale

By: Adam Minter

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eText | 12 November 2019 | Edition Number 1

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From the acclaimed author of Junkyard Planet, a global exploration of the hidden market for used stuff and a travelogue that follows unwanted, obsolescent objects' journey into a reusable future.

When you drop a box of unwanted items off at the local thrift store, where does it go? Probably across the country - or even halfway across the world - to people and places eager to re-use what you don't want.

In Secondhand, Adam Minter delves into the vast, multibillion-dollar industry that resells used stuff around the world. He follows the trail of unwanted objects from the closets, garages and storage units of middle America, to epic used goods markets in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Ghana, India, Malaysia and beyond.

Secondhand takes us through the often painful and heartbreaking process of cleaning out a lifetime's worth of possessions, and shows that used stuff still has a place in a world that values new and shiny - it entertains us, makes fortunes, fulfills needs, and transforms the way we live and work.

About the Author

Adam Minter grew up in a family of scrap dealers in Minneapolis. He became a professional journalist and now serves as the Shanghai correspondent for Bloomberg World View, in addition to making regular contributions to the Atlantic, Foreign Policy, and other publications. He now lives in Shanghai and blogs at shanghaiscrap.com. Junkyard Planet is his first book.

Industry Reviews

"It's [Minter's] vibrant sketches of entrepreneurial characters and his dives into obscure industrial histories that make a persuasive case: discarded goods are becoming a big environmental problem."
Los Angeles Review of Books

"With grace, a keen eye for detail, an interesting cast of characters who spend their life reselling used things, and the perennially curious mind of a great journalist, Minter takes readers from the backs of thrift stores all across the United States to small apartments and vintage shops in Tokyo, and from a truck in Mexico to an office in Mumbai, to show the inner workings of one of the world's largest market . . . Secondhand is a gripping narrative. Minter is a superb storyteller who knows empathy is easier to connect with than numbers. In this book, there are plenty of both, but the people he interviews and the stories he tells are what make it an enthralling read . . . It's a book I'd recommend buying now instead of waiting for it to show up at your local thrift store."
NPR.org

"An anthem to decluttering, recycling, making better quality goods and living a simpler life with less stuff. The book is a compelling argument for tempering acquisitions, especially now that global warming compels people to rethink how they live."
Associated Press

"In an accessible and engaging style, Secondhand unravels the complexities of a vast yet mostly hidden and often secretive enterprise of used clothes and goods . . . The result is an unparalleled look at the lifespan of everyday things and the unexpected ways our society's abundance of discarded items are, refreshingly, being repurposed for a second life."
Shelf Awareness