The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard

Or "Sure, Don't Shoot the Messenger... But What If the Messenger Shoots Herself???"

I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT THIS BOOK! You guys! I am in such a quandry! I haven't felt this kind of internal conflict since seeing Toy Story 3!

Quick summary of the aim of the book: The Story of Stuff looks at our extreme consumer culture and how it is "trashing the planet, our communities, and our health." Basically it's In Defense of Food to the millionth degree, and with more Stuff and less Food. In so many ways, this is an extremely important book with ideas that need to be heard. But in so many other ways, Annie Leonard's approach is self-defeating, and I question if, on a large scale, she is helping or hurting. In all fairness, I haven't seen the internet video sensation of the same title that spawned this book, so perhaps her approach is more effective on the screen than it is on the page. But since this is the Year of Magical Reading and not the Year of Magical Watching, the book is what's gonna get reviewed.

The Good
Leonard has spent her entire adult life studying and tracking waste. Where it comes from, where it goes, how much of it there is, and the impact that it has on our health, environment, economy...everything. As a result, she knows, well, a lot. I agree with so much of what she addresses. Stopping waste at the source. The dangers of marketing. That planned obsolescence is the worst. She presents a whole lot of information in a pretty palatable way, and leaves no stone unturned from coal mining to Wal-Mart to PVC. (And oh boy does she talk about PVC!) As I read the book, my brain was actively engaged, reflecting on my own life and consumption habits - I learned a lot, had a lot of ideas reinforced, and definitely look at things differently. So that's all great.

The Bad
What's not so great is Leonard's approach. And this is a problem I have a lot of the time, with a lot of writers, filmmakers, etc. I liken my experience with The Story of Stuff to my experience with Bill Maher's wretched documentary Religulous. I agreed with every word in that documentary, with all of his skepticism, the ways that religion causes more harm than good. But throughout the film Maher was such a colossal dick that I found myself siding with everybody else. So what good does that do? What good does it do to call the status quo into question when the only people who will listen are the people who already agree with you, because you yourself present the information in such a snarky, unempathetic way? I got a lot out of The Story of Stuff because it is, by and large, already in line with the things I believe and value. But picturing myself reading this book as the head of a major corporation or even as a yuppie Lincoln Park mother with three SUVs and expansive collection of technological wizardry was a very different experience. There are plenty of flaws in math and logic that would make it easy to tear this book apart on a micro-level (I kept reminding myself that, although extreme, Leonard generally had the right idea). If I wasn't on her side already there would have been very little to get me there (guilt, mockery, and sarcasm are not great ways to convert the non-believers), and plenty to disagree with if I was looking for an enemy.

The Ugly
As someone who did agree with much of what Leonard posited, I left The Story of Stuff feeling like there is very little for me to actually do. On one hand, I deeply appreciate that she doesn't oversimplify the problem and say "But if you buy organic all this will go away!" because that's unrealistic and untrue. I did find myself wishing, however, that she provided more concrete resources and solutions for those of us who are galvanized into action. My greatest fear with this flaw in the book is that not only does she alienate her non-left wing audience right from the get-go, but that she also leaves such a sense of overwhelming hopelessness (with only the occasional pinch of optimism) that her supporters will feel as if nothing will make a difference anyway, so why try. In the same way that In Defense of Food made me feel empowered by my new found knowledge, The Story of Stuff just made me feel doomed.

The Bottom Line
I wish I wanted to shout this book from the mountaintops and recommend it to everyone I encounter, but I just don't.

But for better or worse this book is an important one. So I'm torn. Maybe The Story of Stuff is intended for those of us who are already on her side, to incite us to action. Maybe it's not meant for the CEOs of major corporations or SUV collectors, so their vilification is all a tactic to make the rest of us work harder to fight against them. But it seems to me that this book - or, more accurately, the information this book contains - should speak to everyone. Because if there is one thing that's abundantly clear, it's that if we are going to reverse this cycle of waste and depletion of resources, it's going to take to take some major work on everybody's part.