Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale

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

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

A sprawling, insightful travelogue through the world of repair, reuse and waste, Secondhand takes readers deep inside the consumer economy's back end. In exploring the vast global tide of used and discarded goods, Adam Minter delivers a book as crammed with oddities and gems as the second-hand shops he loves to haunt. - Nature

This is a fascinating, eye-opening look at a dynamic, largely unseen world that only starts when one drops off something at a thrift store. - Publishers Weekly

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

Engaging . . . well-written and packed with intriguing details, this is a great look at a global industry to which virtually all of us contribute. - Library Journal

In Minter's capable hands, [this] topic comes alive...Minter designs a workable path forward to combat the glut of stuff. - Booklist

Minter's travels through the afterlife of stuff are revelatory, terrifying, but, ultimately, hopeful. 'Secondhand' helps us to see a world of possibility in the objects we discard. - Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction

A well balanced blend of practical data, real-life experiences, colourful character descriptions and amusing anecdotes. An interesting read for people inside as well as outside the recycling industry. - Recycling International

Minter tells stories and offers insight suffused with legitimacy, pragmatism, and optimism. - Science

Secondhand tells an important story about consumerism gone wild, the complex industry that has grown around its detritus, and how we can push back on an entrenched culture of disposability. - New York Journal of Books

Minter's approach manages to be both detail-orientated and a page-turner.- Foreign Policy

An epic journey across continents to untangle the used-goods market. Minter reports his findings in a readable style laced with anecdotes and statistics...Minter's greatest contribution is his balanced look at the economies of India, Ghana and other countries that have figured out that most things can have a second consumer life, if only we let them. - The Providence Journal

[Minter's] new book moves up a step in the classic environmental hierarchy of 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, ' to see what becomes of our stuff once we let go of it. - Sierra

Fascinating...Minter anchors his globe-spanning tale of material redemption on two themes: why we hesitate to send our goods straight to the landfill, and the extent to which others can actually acquire and use them. - Christianity Today