AMERICAN BULK

The dysfunctional joy of America’s indulgences in excess.

In her debut collection, New York transplant Mester, her Midwestern roots firmly intact, dissects America’s complex relationship with excess through nine loosely connected personal essays. Drawing from her own experiences and those of her family, specifically her father and grandmother, she examines the nation’s extreme consumerist psyche, revealing how Middle America’s habits mirror broader national trends in overindulgence. From Amazon’s one-click convenience to Costco’s bulk-buy paradise, from endless Olive Garden breadsticks to the anxieties of overconsumption, Mester paints a vivid portrait of American consumerism. Her trio of “Storm Lake” essays subtly unravel her grandmother’s eccentricities, particularly a hoarding compulsion that begins with collecting freebies and ends with Mester confronting an abandoned, cluttered home in Iowa. In “Wholesale,” Mester fondly recounts her family’s weekly Costco trips. “Nobody ever went to church. Costco was our mass,” she writes. For those unfamiliar with the retail giant, she breaks down Costco’s business model, its place in the retail landscape, and its customer demographics, but it’s through her father’s compulsive shopping that she reveals the store’s broader appeal: “To people like my dad, Costco offers far more than a good deal. It offers the lulling comfort of permanent volume, the same bulwark against scarcity that draws us to the-all-you-can-eat, the BOGO, the unlimited refill, the family size. The endless, the bottomless, the lifetime guarantee—these promises are not to be underestimated, because their flipside is terrifying. To want a boundless supply means also to acknowledge a boundless need. We are inclined to hunger.” Throughout, Mester offers a balanced perspective, blending personal experience with objective analysis. Her cleareyed approach suits the subject matter, though her deadpan style occasionally limits warmth and humor. Despite this, she achieves considerable depth, exploring the complexities of American consumerism with insight and nuance.

A thought-provoking view of our relationship with consumption and excess.