This is a fascinating collection of photos and interesting facts about the coffee biz or should I say buzz. I would highly recommend this book and have to say I will never look at any coffee stand the same way again!

Ah hah! I knew someone was going to publish this book.

I thought of doing this, but glad I didn't, because this one is way better than anything I could have done. The photos are great, and obvously the author did the research. I learned a lot about these funny little buildings/businesses. It's very fascinating.

I think I'll buy more as Xmas presents.

Cool book! Great photos and fascinating description of this part of our culture.

Speaking as someone who has passion, not to mention addiction (caffeine is a drug, you know!), to coffee and espresso, I love all books and art about the culture of espresso. I even discover it intertwined in song lyrics sometimes. This is one of my favorite examples of our culture now. The pics are straightforward and artistic, and the introduction is succinct and revealing.

This book may not say as much about our culture as, say, one about Barack Obama, or the mideast crisis, or Michael Jackson (what made me think of him right now? Oh yeah, he just died.), but it is certainly a statement about the current affairs of coffee and our dependence on cars in America.

I was wondering why the book doesn't include maps, but then again, they are all over the place here, so why bother. It's more fun to just come across one yourself. Actually, I know I have driven past some of these. It's also refreshing that he didn't try to make this a comparison of coffee or give them each a rating, because let's face it, we all have our own opinion about what espresso should taste like. We ALL don't like Starbucks, for instance! Speaking of which, it is good that he didn't include anything about the green mermaid, because that company is always in the press. I like knowing about the smaller businesses and people who are plucky and on their own. This book is for them! Yay!

The short mention about sexy baristas is interesting. I am glad he mentioned the sex-presso phenomenon. I wonder sometimes why some people confuse bikini baristas with some sort of pornography. It's harmless. Come on, people! They're just swimsuits. It's no different than Sports Illustrated does each year. Anyway, there is a mention about it, a nice photo and caption, and it simply says here's part of the culture. Enough said.

I'm going to hang onto this book. I think it will be interesting to look back at in a number of years as this whole business changes and evolves.