American Bulk: Essays on Excess

By Emily Mester
Paperback
Regular price$17.99
/
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Non-returnable discount pricing

In a series of deeply personal essays, Mester explores how the things we buy, eat, amass, and discard become an intimate part of our lives. We guiltily watch Amazon boxes pile up on the porch, wade through endless reviews to find the perfect product, and crave the comforting indulgence of a chain restaurant. With humor and sharp intellect, Mester reflects on the joys and anxieties of Costco trips, how a seasonal stint at Ulta Beauty taught her the insidious art of the sale, and what it means to get "mall sad." In a nuanced examination of diet culture and fatness, Mester recounts her teenage summer at fat camp and the unexpected liberation she finds there. Finally, she ventures to Storm Lake, Iowa, to reckon with her grandmother's abandoned hoard, excavating the dysfunction that lies at the heart of her family's obsession with stuff. American Bulk introduces readers to a striking new literary talent from the American heartland, one who dares to ask us to regard consumption not with guilt but with grace and empathy.


Details

Publish date November 26, 2024
Publisher W. W. Norton & Company
Format Paperback
Pages 240
ISBN 9781324035237
1324035234

New Releases View all

New Book Releases for the Week of August 12
New Book Releases for the Week of August 12
New Book Releases for the Week of August 5
New Book Releases for the Week of August 5
New Book Releases for the Week of July 29, 2025
New Book Releases for the Week of July 29, 2025