Profane Waste

by Dana Hoey, Gretchen Craft Rubin

Jewels buried in a grave, cigarettes smoked in $100 bills, champagne poured into a bathtub--these perverse, irrational acts are also somehow thrilling. Profane Waste explores the workings of an unacknowledged taboo: the taboo against willful dissipation. Dana Hoey, an acclaimed photographer appearing here in her first book, presents a series of 30 haunting images that are at once ultra-real and uncanny. Bestselling biographer and social critic Gretchen Rubin uses lucid analysis and explosive examples--the actions of Rauschenberg, Jesus, Ivan Boesky, Thoreau and Goebbels, among others--to demonstrate the power of the title concept. Together, Hoey's photographs and Rubin's provocative arguments create a shock of recognition: they lay bare intentions that stand outside the conventional goals of acquisition and accumulation.

80 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2006

Reviews

[Jo Starr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't normally read this type of book but as Gretchen Rubin contributed and I have an interest in art thought I'd give it a go. So glad I did, amazing imagery and very thought provoking.

[Pug · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh.
I totally expected this book to be photos of hoarding, (which I love!) Instead, these cheesy photos and tedious essay made this book both boring and irritating at the same time.
It wasn't a condemnation against useless waste, but a celebration of it: "Ordinary waste provokes regret, frustration, or indifference, while profane waste is exhilarating."
Ugh, again.

[Helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically an essay with accompanying photographs, this is a quick but fascinating read. While I found many of the photos to be interesting and to illustrate very well the idea of profane waste, I admit the ones I found most shocking were the one of the pregnant woman smoking a cigarette and the one of the pregnant woman drinking scotch. Maybe this is because I'm pregnant myself, maybe because it's just so ingrained that these are things that are Just Not Done when one is pregnant. I think the idea behind those two was to illustrate the waste of health, which Rubin does mention in her essay, but to me they don't illustrate waste so much as irresponsibility and shocking disregard for one's child. While I did shudder at the idea of the waste in some of the other photos, none got such a strong response from me as those two. All in all I'm glad I read it and would definitely recommend giving it a look.

[Bradley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gretchen Rubin has become a one-trick pony. This essay is supposed to explain why people destroy the things that they love but she dances around the subject and never really clarifies her point. Honestly, I don't know what the point of this essay was. The only saving grace were the Dana Hoey photos.

[Victoria Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an essay on profane waste with photos meant to clarify the concept. Ok but the author dances around the subject and never states her position. It came across as a really long dictionary entry defining the various types of waste.

[Nita]

Met Dana this weekend and am curious to check this out.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read, thought provoking essay with accompanying photographs. I picked it up since I'm on a Gretchen Rubin kick and I wasn't disappointed.