"Ben Shippers doesn't have much use for school, friends, or any members of his family except his smartass sister, but he has a secret passion: Trash Mountain, the central feature of the noxious landfill next to his house. After a botched attempt to destroy Trash Mountain with a homemade firebomb, Ben begins a years-long infiltration that finds him dropping out of school to work alongside homeless trash-pickers, and then, finally, interning at the very place he meant to destroy. Ben's boss there, a charismatic would-be titan of sanitation, forces Ben to choose between providing for his family and sticking to his terroristic principals. With dark humor, Trash Mountain reflects on life in small southern cities in decline, and on the search for meaning among young people without adult examples."--