STARBUCKED: A DOUBLE TALL: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture - Softcover

Clark, Taylor

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316005320 ISBN 13: 9780316005326

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2007

Synopsis

Part Fast Food Nation, part Bobos in Paradise, STARBUCKED combines investigative heft with witty cultural observation in telling the story of how the coffeehouse movement changed our everyday lives, from our evolving neighborhoods and workplaces to the ways we shop, socialize, and self-medicate.

In STARBUCKED, Taylor Clark provides an objective, meticulously reported look at the volatile issues like gentrification and fair trade that distress activists and coffee zealots alike. Through a cast of characters that includes coffee-wild hippies, business sharks, slackers, Hollywood trendsetters and more, STARBUCKED explores how America transformed into a nation of coffee gourmets in only a few years, how Starbucks manipulates psyches and social habits to snare loyal customers, and why many of the things we think we know about the coffee commodity chain are false.

"Starbucked is ...smart cultural criticism minus any academic gobbledygook. Mr. Clark is quite funny as he dryly sends up the excess of the corporate behemoth, and Starbucked is an entertaining, highly readable book....Full of cocktail-party-worthy tidbits." --Adelle Waldman, New York Observer

About this title

Review

The question of how this specialized little Seattle joint became one of the biggest brands in America and the world is one of the greatest business mysteries of modern times. Clark does a better job of answering it than anyone else to date, injecting his story with plenty of zip and humour along the way. Bee Wilson, Sunday TimesBee Wilson, Sunday Times)

engaging, chatty (Judi Bevan, Sunday Telegraph)

"An intriguing and witty observation of the Starbucks Phenomenon." (Scotland on Sunday)

"entertaining and intriguing... His ambivalence translates into a wry balance, and makes for suprisingly gripping reading." (Independent)

'Fans of coffee-flavoured hot milk will find herein the story of how Starbucks spread accross the world like some kind of alt-muzak virus." (Guardian Review)

Book Description

How a once-modest Seattle coffeehouse brought cafe culture to America and the UK and rode this wave to riches, adoration and controversy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0316005320
• ISBN 13: 9780316005326
• Binding: Paperback