“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, author of Naked City

Everything but the Coffee casts a fresh eye on the world's most famous coffee company, looking beyond baristas, movie cameos, and Paul McCartney CDs to understand what Starbucks can tell us about America. Bryant Simon visited hundreds of Starbucks around the world to ask, Why did Starbucks take hold so quickly with consumers? What did it seem to provide over and above a decent cup of coffee? Why at the moment of Starbucks' profit-generating peak did the company lose its way, leaving observers baffled about how it might regain its customers and its cultural significance? Everything but the Coffee probes the company's psychological, emotional, political, and sociological power to discover how Starbucks' explosive success and rapid deflation exemplify American culture at this historical moment. Most importantly, it shows that Starbucks speaks to a deeply felt American need for predictability and class standing, community and authenticity, revealing that Starbucks' appeal lies not in the product it sells but in the easily consumed identity it offers.

"The pages of this book contain incontrovertible proof that our Lord was crucified and buried on Wednesday, not Friday; that those "left behind" are God's people, not the wicked; that America's heritage is Christian, not Judeo-Christian; that Israel-first Scofield dispensationalism is unbiblical and dangerous; that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was a terrible mistake; and that many other myths, dogmas, shibboleths and deceptions of Christianity today should be discarded and replaced by truth. These controversial and sometime explosive issues are dealt with by the author carefully, thoroughly, courageously, and biblically. The astonishing thing about these studies and commentaries is that they were actually broadcast, since 1979, on the Washington, D.C. region's oldest and most influential Christian radio station, WFAX 1220."--[p. 4] Cover.