Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks with the Sanitation Workers of New York City

A "gripping" behind-the-scenes look at New York's sanitation workers by an anthropologist who joined the force (Robert Sullivan, author of Rats).

America's largest city generates garbage in torrents—11,000 tons from households each day on average. But New Yorkers don't give it much attention. They leave their trash on the curb or drop it in a litter basket, and promptly forget about it. And why not? On a schedule so regular you could almost set your watch by it, someone always comes to take...