Bryant Simon: Everything But the Coffee: Learning About America from Starbucks January 14, 2010

Temple University historian Bryant Simon has taken particular slices of contemporary life, and used them to tell larger, social stories. He did this with his book on Atlantic City's Boardwalk, Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America, and he does it now in his newest, Everything But the Coffee: Learning About America from Starbucks (University of California Press), for which he visits Starbucks' hometown. "Simon knows more about Starbucks—and about why so many Americans find perfection in their lattes—than anyone. He connects our deepest desires to be good, smart, ethical consumers with our equally strong yearning to consume in an authentic way. Our coffee, Simon shows, is us." - Sharon Zukin.

Official Website: http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/jan10/simon