Secondhand

When you drop a box of unwanted items off at the local thrift store, where do they go? Probably across the country — or even halfway across the world — to people and places eager to reuse 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 the new and shiny — it entertains us, makes fortunes, fulfills needs, and transforms the way we live and work.