Danny Caine

Danny Caine of Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, has published a zine titled How to Resist Amazon and Why. The 16-page zine features Caine’s October 2019 letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, a review of the case against Amazon, a compilation of Raven’s Twitter advocacy, and additional material.

How to Resist Amazon and Why

At FLAVORTOWN's core is a sequence of poems that imagines a place called, well, Flavortown, an American culinary dystopia where Guy Fieri is patron saint and everything is painfully delicious and "authentic." The book juxtaposes the dispatches from Flavortown with portraits of the real-life Midwest, in the process exploring fatherhood, masculinity, and nostalgia. ﻿"Because it is easy for me to get swept up and away in the joyously referential nature of this glorious book, let me first say that the writing in Flavortown is stunning. Touchable imagery, a playfulness and excitement around language that drew me in repeatedly. But, of course, I am also drawn to the world this book builds. A world of dairy queens and waffle houses. A stunning ode to the Midwest, a place more than worthy of such beauty." -Hanif Abdurraqib "People who say they don't like poetry need an order of Danny Caine and a side of fries. I guarantee they won't stop at one fry, at just one poem - because Danny Caine is the poet laureate of the fast-food joint, of the diner, of the almost-special occasion, of visits to Waffle House at 2 a.m., of the love and loss and hope people process as the Food Network plays on in the background of another day. His poems explore the real ingredients of lives, the humor, the gaucherie, and even the promise of grace: Danny Caine reminds us that grace is there, there - over by the Weinermobile. His poems always crackle your soul as they end - the grace is the sauce, the taste left on your tongue. I should probably add that Flavortown is also an appreciation of Guy Fieri - the loudest, cookingest, Donkey-Sauciest everyman around - and a gentle inquisition of him too - it is, sure, of course - but this book is much more than that. This book is a family meal. Pull up a seat." - Daniel A. Hoyt "Flavortown is a hilarious and unsettling dip into a hellacious society held hostage by a Willy-Wonkafied Guy Fieri. While the spiky-haired TV chef at the book's center is often lampooned, Caine asks readers to look past the flames and sunglasses, into the mystery of the man, his brand and empire. It's a wild carnival ride-only Caine could write a poetry collection that makes you feel like you're flying through a cloud of MSG down a highway strapped to the side of a donkey-sauce covered Wienermobile-and still, you'll walk away cradling your own heart in awe. For Caine is a poet who understands there is beauty, love, sadness, and humor to be found in everything from fatherhood and complicated heroes to the flashing neon lights of a chain restaurant calling you home." - Christopher Gonzalez

Flavortown

When a company's workers are literally dying on the job, when their business model relies on preying on local businesses and even their own vendors, when their CEO is the richest person in the world while their workers make low wages with impossible quotas... wouldn't you want to resist? Danny Caine, owner of Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas has been an outspoken critic of the seemingly unstoppable Goliath of the bookselling world: Amazon. In this book, he lays out the case for shifting our personal money and civic investment away from global corporate behemoths and to small, local, independent businesses. Well-researched and lively, his tale covers the history of big box stores, the big political drama of delivery, and the perils of warehouse work. He shows how Amazon's ruthless discount strategies mean authors, publishers, and even Amazon themselves can lose money on every book sold. And he spells out a clear path to resistance, in a world where consumers are struggling to get by. In-depth research is interspersed with charming personal anecdotes from bookstore life, making this a readable, fascinating, essential book for the 2020s.

The Fight for Local Economics, Data Privacy, Fair Labor, Independent Bookstores, and a People-Powered Future!

The Present and Future of Bookselling

How to Protect Bookstores and Why

Tara Wray

Dorado Freddy's

Continental Breakfast

Can bookstores save the world? As bastions of culture, anchors of local retail districts, community gathering places, and sources of new ideas, inspiration, and delight, maybe they can. But only if we protect them and the critical roles they fill in our communities.Danny Caine, author of the bestselling sensation How to Resist Amazon and Why and co-owner of the Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, makes a compelling case for the power of small, local businesses in this thoughtful examination of the dynamic world of bookstores. At once an urgent call to action and a celebration of everything bookstores can do, Caine's new book features case-study profiles of a dozen of the most interesting, creative, and progressive bookstores of today, from Minneapolis to Paris. Through a well-informed analysis of these case studies, Caine offers actionable strategies to promote a sustainable future for bookselling, including policy suggestions, ideas for community-based action, and tips on what consumers can do to help. A captivating read for any lover of books, patron of bookstores, or champion of the survival of these vital institutions, How to Protect Bookstores and Why makes the strongest possible case for the importance of a resilient, inclusive, and progressive bookstore landscape.

A sequence of poems, following the traditional order of the Passover Seder, that explores the impact of grief, commercialism, and exodus on a family's sense of itself.

Danny Caine

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