Plastic is no longer such a convenient villain.
Nature-lovers adorn themselves in clothing made from recycled plastic and carry their refillable plastic mugs with pride. Even Mailer seems to have come around, contributing a kind blurb to the back cover of this more or less plastic-friendly volume. It's an often engaging book, chronicling the invention of everything from Bakelite to Teflon, the complex legal battles over various plastic patents and the remarkable popular enthusiasm for new plastic products that has erupted again and again over the years. And because he is so frustratingly vague in dealing with the environmental effects of our widespread plastic use, one hardly knows whether to take his scattered final chapter as a cautious celebration of plastic's victory or a bittersweet elegy to a material as problematic as it is pliable. Nevertheless, this is an indispensable book for anyone seriously interested in the story of an indispensable material.