Mongo, Adventures in Trash
A wonderfully quirky tale about the people in New York City whose mission is to find treasure … in what other people throw away. The word mongo comes from the 1970’s and refers to ‘any discarded object that is retrieved.’ After noticing the riches discarded by New Yorkers, the author, himself a mongo collector, set out to find that rarefied group of varied and eccentric people addicted to mongo and the extremes they go to in order to find it. From jewelry to computers to 18th century porcelain to books to food to entire sections of demolished buildings, he found a cast of characters – usually in the dead of night when the city is asleep – that you won’t soon forget. And you’ll never look at garbage the same way again. Social History, New York, Nonfiction
““Delightfully weird and thought-provoking enough to make you consider panning through garbage for gold.” ”
““If you thought eBay aficionados and savvy bargain hunters were unduly resourceful, Botha introduces us to a whole new class of scavengers on the streets of New York City.” ”
““[Botha] writes about his subject with such earnest reverence that it’s difficult … not to share his enthusiasm. Megapolitans eager to learn about the seamy underbelly of Manhattan should certainly consult Mongo, a work of urban reportage packed with arcane trivial and entertaining revelations.’”
