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The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification Paperback – May 1, 2006

by Julian Montague (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 107 ratings
See all formats and editions
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A must-have for anyone with a passion for shopping carts and a love of the great outdoors.

In The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America author Julian Montague has created an elaborate classification system of abandoned shopping carts, accompanied by photographic documentation of actual stray cart sightings. These sightings include bucolically littered locations such as the Niagara River Gorge (where many a cart has been pushed to its untimely death) and mundane settings that look suspiciously like a suburb near you.

Working in the naturalist's tradition, the photographs depict the diversity of the phenomenon and carry a surprising emotional charge; readers inevitably begin to see these carts as human, at times poignant in their abandoned, decrepit state, hilariously incapacitated, or ingeniously co-opted. The result is at once rigorous and absurd, enabling the layperson to identify and classify their own cart spottings based on the situation in which they were found.
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  1. Print length
    176 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Abrams Image
  4. Publication date
    May 1, 2006
  5. Grade level
    8 and up
  6. Reading age
    13 years and up
  7. Dimensions
    6.25 x 0.63 x 8.5 inches
  8. ISBN-10
    0810955202
  9. ISBN-13
    978-0810955202
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Julian Montague is an artist and graphic designer whose various art projects address issues of scientific classification as they relate to our perceptions of the natural and man-made worlds. A graduate of Hampshire College, he lives in Buffalo, New York.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Abrams Image; 4.1.2006 edition (May 1, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0810955202
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0810955202
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 years and up
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 8 and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 0.63 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 107 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
107 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book amusing and funny. They find it informative and fascinating, describing it as a definitive work on an under-examined subject. The descriptions are thorough, concise, and well-written, with great explanations of different classifications and examples. Customers describe it as a great gift for someone with a sense of humor. The quality photography is also appreciated.

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HumorInsightDescriptionGift valueQuality photography
12 customers mention "Humor"12 positive0 negative

Customers find the book amusing and funny. They say it's worth buying just for the laughs.

"...It's an extremely well-developed parody, insightful even, and deeply humorous. A great gift for the right person." Read more

"...Funny, funny stuff." Read more

"Fun book. I’ve always been interested in why people feel compelled to steal shopping carts. Fascinating works of art" Read more

"...field guide, the level of detail put into this makes this not only hilarious but strangely informative and thought-provoking...." Read more

9 customers mention "Insight"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful and informative about shopping carts. They describe it as a comprehensive guide, perfect for field studies, and a valuable resource. Many consider it the definitive work on the subject and a great coffee table book.

"...It's an extremely well-developed parody, insightful even, and deeply humorous. A great gift for the right person." Read more

"This book changed my life...." Read more

"...Its a terrific guide on just where those shopping carts came from with an unbelievably concise taxonomy as well...." Read more

"...of detail put into this makes this not only hilarious but strangely informative and thought-provoking...." Read more

8 customers mention "Description"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's description thorough and concise, with great explanations of different classifications and examples to aid documentation. They describe it as a genuine nature field guide with an unbelievably concise taxonomy. The attention to detail and elaborate classification system make field identification simple and quick, making it intuitive.

"...I use this book every day, it’s identification flowchart is a life saver!..." Read more

"...The result is an excellent play on the concept of field identification guides...." Read more

"...The photographs are lovingly captured and make field identification simple and quick, so you don't waste precious time and let the perfect chance..." Read more

"...guide on just where those shopping carts came from with an unbelievably concise taxonomy as well...." Read more

5 customers mention "Gift value"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book a good gift for someone with a sense of humor. It also makes a great gag gift.

"...A great gift for the right person." Read more

"Epic gold . Made a fantastic gift...my recipient loved it and was in tears laughing. It blows your mind...so glad someone thought of this...." Read more

"...guide" Fun pictures and descriptions, and it still made a great gag gift. ." Read more

"Got this for my best friend as his Christmas present and he loved it. Great gift for someone who's sense of humor you know!" Read more

5 customers mention "Quality photography"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's photography. They find the images great and amusing for a while.

"...With each page the levity imposed - and the quality of the images both in terms of photographic subject and texture of the page - ensures that for..." Read more

"...The photographs are lovingly captured and make field identification simple and quick, so you don't waste precious time and let the perfect chance..." Read more

"Received the book last week- funny read and the pictures are amusing for a while...then the "field guide" aspect of the book may be a bit too..." Read more

"...All specimen are illustrated with high-quality color photographs of often haunting and transcendental beauty." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • emmejay
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very fun, even insightful
    Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    From the Introduction:
    "Until now, the major obstacle that has prevented people from thinking critically about stray shopping carts has been that we have not had any formalized language to differentiate one shopping cart from another."

    This parody of nature field guides establishes such a language in a taxonomy based not on innate shopping-cart characteristics but on the characteristics of where they're found and their condition and use. It defines two classes -- False Strays (carts that have been temporarily repurposed near their store or have strayed but will be rounded up and returned to the store) and True Strays (carts that won't be returned to their store) -- and then 33 subtypes including variously damaged, vandalized, naturalized (e.g. into bodies of water), repurposed (i.e. stolen for personal or business use), and my favorite, "structurally modified."

    There are hundreds of color-photo field examples, each exhaustively categorized, and then a section on the Niagara Falls River Gorge, "a complex vandalism super site." An appendix introduces related phenomena: stray plastic bags, car tires and traffic cones.

    It's an extremely well-developed parody, insightful even, and deeply humorous. A great gift for the right person.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Jack
    5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable resource
    Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I cannot tell you how many times I’ve needed to identify shopping carts and their origins. I use this book every day, it’s identification flowchart is a life saver!
    Stop what you’re doing and buy this book right now, it is a game changer.
    14 people found this helpful
    Helpful
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  • Chris LaVesser
    5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book, and leave it sitting on your coffee table...
    Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2008
    Verified Purchase
    When I first heard mention of this book (in The Believer magazine), I laughed out loud at the concept...

    I laughed out loud when it showed up on my doorstep, too. The effort and thought put into the development of this silly book is tremendous. The result is an excellent play on the concept of field identification guides.

    Whenever people see this book on my coffee table, it becomes a conversation piece. Funny, funny stuff.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Silea
    4.0 out of 5 stars Easily adapted for use in the Western US
    Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    To my great dismay, i was unable to find a field guide for stray shopping carts specifically for the western US. After reading the reviews here, i decided my best bet was to try this book and see if i could adapt it for use in the Pacific states.

    I'm happy to report that it took very little effort to do so.

    There are some categories of stray that just don't frequent this coast, for example, B/9 (Snow Immobilization) and B/10 (Plow Crush). However, these are already marked as rare in the southern states of the Eastern US, and one can just mentally extend that to include the Western US.

    Beyond that, the major apparent difference between Eastern US strays and Western US is just which types of stray are more common. Though i'm a mere amateur cart-spotter, i'm comfortable saying that there are regional differences in stray cart activity. That difference is slight in the more densely populated regions of California, but in the Pacific Northwest it becomes more stark. Here, the socio-political environment is far more tolerant of strays, and even feral carts. Source Agents are less diligent about rounding up strays, and strays have a many options beyond simply idling on street corners. This means that i rarely see B/2, B/11, B/12, or B/13.

    I would love to give this book five stars, especially given how readily i was able to use it even though i'm not in the geography specified on the cover. However, there's a fundamental problem with the taxonomy that troubles me every time i attempt to classify stray carts: the only way to distinguish A/9 (Remote False) and B/1 (Open True) is through extended observation, which often isn't possible. This problem is probably unavoidable, and may simply be a reality of this type of field guide.

    I hope that, between the publication of this edition and the next, the author or other researchers may have the time and resources to engage in some sort of tag-and-release program to get a sense of the proportion of apparent B/1s that are actually A/9s. Though it would never be definitive, and would certainly have a high regional variance, knowing the approximate percentages would make field identification a little easier.
    143 people found this helpful
    Helpful
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  • Mark Twin
    5.0 out of 5 stars Swift would roar.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    It's hard to fault a book whose title alone is so ingeniously simple: it is precisely what it says it is. A pity more books do not follow such a lead; for instance, 'The Da Vinci Code' should in fact be titled 'Semi-literate's Misnomer Gunked with Loony Half-Truths'; 'Anna Karenina' could be 'Nice Story with the Cast of the Yellow Pages'.
    This is the single wittiest book I have read since 'Pooh Gets Stuck' (though to be sure that title's frisson may yet prove unintentional). With each page the levity imposed - and the quality of the images both in terms of photographic subject and texture of the page - ensures that for sheer, single-minded application alone one can, and should, only applaud.
    19 people found this helpful
    Helpful
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  • Barnabus Marsh
    5.0 out of 5 stars Changed my life
    Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    This book changed my life. Before I purchased and read it I spent countless hours gathering and collecting worthless forgotten shopping carts from the hill behind the mall. Now, I only collect the finest, and as a result, I’ve found love, happiness and the life I always wanted. I’m a new man. Thanks Stray Shopping Carts, for changing my life.
    41 people found this helpful
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  • Hobby Horse
    5.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Steelheart
    Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    A must have for anyone interested in the appreciation of shopping carts in their natural environment. The photographs are lovingly captured and make field identification simple and quick, so you don't waste precious time and let the perfect chance slip by. Now, now, I know what your thinking. You think you can't trust me. I've had lots of jobs in my day: wicker basket-hunter, toaster-clubber, president of NBC, and, like most people, yeah, I've dealt a little shopping cart. That just means you know I speak from experience.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Frank Eramo
    5.0 out of 5 stars Displaced shopping carts
    Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Fun book. I’ve always been interested in why people feel compelled to steal shopping carts.
    Fascinating works of art
    4 people found this helpful
    Helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Paul Alves
    5.0 out of 5 stars Okay, originally I bought this as a gag gift ...
    Reviewed in Canada on March 28, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Okay, originally I bought this as a gag gift to send to Mike Smith who plays Bubbles on Trailer Park Boys but it's actually a really interesting book. It's filled with full color images and takes itself a bit too seriously. But, it does what it says on the cover. :)
    Report
  • S. Rouse
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly weird and sustained
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 5, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    I'm not really sure what 'Stray Shopping Carts. . .' is, but I'm glad it exists. I mainly see it as a brilliantly conceived photo essay; perhaps an assignment that got wonderfully out of control. What really makes it work is the obsessive and detailed nature of the project, with its classification systems. Don't be put off, it's worth every penny. It's also a great book to read in public - the double takes are great :)
    Report
  • Giena
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 19, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Both thumbs UP!!
    Report
  • E.M. Marin
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as I expected
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 24, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    This book works on two levels. On one hand, it is a parody of the classifications that are used in sciences, such as the classifications of plants and animals. On the other hand, it is a photography book that shows shopping carts in different environments.

    From my (European) point of view, the book works much better as a photography book. It shows the kind of American suburbia and nature that you rarely see on TV: abandoned buildings, garbage lots and industrial areas. Many of the pictures are also taken during the fall, winter or spring, when the nature of this area is quite dead and ugly, including the occasional piles of dirty snow. Some of the pictures also show something essential about American culture and values: a shopping cart abandoned next to a building, and on the building wall, there's a poster that reads "BUFFALO FOR JESUS". A shopping cart in some private person's garage, and in the background, there's a sign that reads "WELCOME HOME JOHN" - considering the star decorations in it, perhaps it was a greeting for a soldier who was coming back home from the other side of the world. And then it ended up in the garage among all sorts of junk.

    The humor doesn't work very well, though. Although the classifications for shopping carts are insightful as such, the descriptions tend to be rather dry.

    I was also expecting some sort of social analysis of the life cycle of shopping carts, perhaps also something about their history. But there is none. And in the end, many of the photos are quite similar too. A lone, broken shopping cart on the top of a dirty pile of snow; I feel that I should see some human characteristics in it. But I don't. In that sense, many of the pictures don't quite deliver what I expected, either.

    This book is essential for anyone who collects weird books just for the heck of it. But others might pass - there are funnier things out there, and if you are looking for artistic photography, there are many better books available in that genre too.
    Report