When a company's workers are literally dying on the job, and its business model relies on preying on local businesses and even their own companies, and its CEO is the richest person in the world while its workers make minimum wage 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.

Can independent bookstores save the world? As bastions of culture, anchors of local retail districts, community gathering places, and the source of new ideas, inspiration, and delight, maybe they can. But only if we protect them and the vital roles they fill in our communities. Danny Caine, author of the bestselling sensation How to Resist Amazon and Why and co-owner of Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, makes a powerful case for the in this serious, nationwide survey of the US's vital independent bookstore scene. At once an urgent call to action and a deep appreciation of everything bookstores can do, Caine's new book features a brief overview of 20th century bookselling and how it got that way, plus case-study profiles of the most interesting, creative, and progressive bookstores of today. Through examples, analysis, and vibrant and well-informed advocacy, Caine offers a cohesive roadmap for a sustainable future of bookselling, from policy suggestions to business strategies to tips on what consumers can do to help. A captivating read for any lover of books, patron of independent bookstores, or anyone who champions their survival, How to Protect Independent Bookstores (and Why) makes the strongest possible case for a resilient, inclusive, and progressive landscape of independent bookstores.

Fight back against right-wing censorship and empower your community with this close look at the book banning movement. In a moving call to arms for readers everywhere, Danny Caine, bestselling author of How to Resist Amazon and Why and How to Protect Bookstores and Why, offers an expertly-crafted confrontation of Christian nationalist attempts to reshape American culture through ban campaigns targeting schools, libraries, and marginalized identities-in life and in literature.

A charming and accessible collection of poems dedicated to one of the most American of inventions—fast food. “I went back for seconds.” —Dallas Crow, Rain Taxi Review of Books  El Dorado Freddy’s may be the first book of fast-food poetry. In poems like “Olive Garden,” “Culver’s,” “Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen,” “Cracker Barrel,” “Applebee’s (after James Wright),” Danny Caine—owner of the Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas—“reviews” chain restaurants, bringing our attention to a slice of American life we often overlook, even though it’s everywhere. Along the way, he touches on such topics as parenting, the Midwest, politics, and the pitfalls of nostalgia. Caine’s wry, deceptively accomplished poems are paired with Tara Wray’s color-drenched photos. The result is a literary yet goofy homage to American food and identity, set in a midwestern landscape dotted by the light of fast-food restaurants’ glowing signs. Perfect for those readers who love both poetry and Popeye’s.  “Caine’s work has a tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek appeal that is sly enough to fool the people who believe Popeye’s chicken could be considered healthy, and funny enough to make the rest of us laugh, or groan, to ourselves. Wray’s images in El Dorado Freddy’s are understated in their Steven Shore-esque ability to capture the essence of a meal when we’d rather not admit to, but cannot stop from embracing.” —Cary Benbow, F-Stop Magazine

When a company's workers are literally dying on the job, and its business model relies on preying on local businesses and even their own companies, and its CEO is the richest person in the world while its workers make minimum wage 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.

Can independent bookstores save the world? As bastions of culture, anchors of local retail districts, community gathering places, and the source of new ideas, inspiration, and delight, maybe they can. But only if we protect them and the vital roles they fill in our communities. Danny Caine, author of the bestselling sensation How to Resist Amazon and Why and co-owner of Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, makes a powerful case for the in this serious, nationwide survey of the US's vital independent bookstore scene. At once an urgent call to action and a deep appreciation of everything bookstores can do, Caine's new book features a brief overview of 20th century bookselling and how it got that way, plus case-study profiles of the most interesting, creative, and progressive bookstores of today. Through examples, analysis, and vibrant and well-informed advocacy, Caine offers a cohesive roadmap for a sustainable future of bookselling, from policy suggestions to business strategies to tips on what consumers can do to help. A captivating read for any lover of books, patron of independent bookstores, or anyone who champions their survival, How to Protect Independent Bookstores (and Why) makes the strongest possible case for a resilient, inclusive, and progressive landscape of independent bookstores.

Fight back against right-wing censorship and empower your community with this close look at the book banning movement. In a moving call to arms for readers everywhere, Danny Caine, bestselling author of How to Resist Amazon and Why and How to Protect Bookstores and Why, offers an expertly-crafted confrontation of Christian nationalist attempts to reshape American culture through ban campaigns targeting schools, libraries, and marginalized identities-in life and in literature.

A charming and accessible collection of poems dedicated to one of the most American of inventions—fast food. “I went back for seconds.” —Dallas Crow, Rain Taxi Review of Books  El Dorado Freddy’s may be the first book of fast-food poetry. In poems like “Olive Garden,” “Culver’s,” “Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen,” “Cracker Barrel,” “Applebee’s (after James Wright),” Danny Caine—owner of the Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas—“reviews” chain restaurants, bringing our attention to a slice of American life we often overlook, even though it’s everywhere. Along the way, he touches on such topics as parenting, the Midwest, politics, and the pitfalls of nostalgia. Caine’s wry, deceptively accomplished poems are paired with Tara Wray’s color-drenched photos. The result is a literary yet goofy homage to American food and identity, set in a midwestern landscape dotted by the light of fast-food restaurants’ glowing signs. Perfect for those readers who love both poetry and Popeye’s.  “Caine’s work has a tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek appeal that is sly enough to fool the people who believe Popeye’s chicken could be considered healthy, and funny enough to make the rest of us laugh, or groan, to ourselves. Wray’s images in El Dorado Freddy’s are understated in their Steven Shore-esque ability to capture the essence of a meal when we’d rather not admit to, but cannot stop from embracing.” —Cary Benbow, F-Stop Magazine