The Literature of Waste

[Laura Kelber]

I've always associated the use of the acronym W.A.S.T.E. in COL49 as
perhaps a double reference to getting "wasted" and to wasted human lives,
i.e. to those that are marginalized from the presented mainstream. I never
read it as connected to the waste of consumerist society on an
environmental level - though the opening Tupperware party is a warning
sign. Just curious how/if the novel poses and illuminates environmental
issues (though I see that discard studies covers more than the strictly
environmental).

Laura

On Sat, Feb 2, 2019, 11:43 AM Nicole Bennett <nlbennett at gmail.com wrote:

> I have this book and, as an English lit. academic interested in discard
> studies, use it often in my research. Unfortunately, the author overlooks
> the centrality of waste in books like *The Crying of Lot 49* and *Gravity's
> Rainbow* (she works mostly on medieval literature). There is some
> interesting stuff on more recent authors (Beckett, Calvino, Eliot
> [obviously]), but I also found the style of the book to be a bit haphazard
> for my tastes. It's more of an observation of the different ways the
> concept of waste functions across a vast range of literature. Definitely a
> great reference, though, for those who can afford it. Academic books are so
> stubbornly and frustratingly pricey.
>
> On Sat, Feb 2, 2019 at 8:41 AM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> > From: Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>
> > Date: Sat, Feb 2, 2019 at 9:34 AM
> > Subject:
> > To: Me at G <mark.kohut at gmail.com>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books&linkCode=qs&keywords=9781137394446
> > --
> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
> >
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>