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.\n﻿"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\n"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\n"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

Literature & Fiction

Caine, Danny

Poetry

Harpoon Books

Poetry. CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST, an often-humorous book, explores the effect of mass commercialism on identity, love, religion, and the American landscape. From Kanye West at Waffle House to dead malls to Passover candy, the book questions how branding and celebrity function as filters through which we see the world.

Continental Breakfast

Mason Jar Press

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, compiled this zine about his commitment to fighting Amazon. Includes: the open letter he wrote to Jeff Bezos, examples of successful social media activism, links to other resources, and some sobering words about boycotting.

How to Resist Amazon and Why: The Fight for Local Economics, Data Privacy, Fair Labor, Independent Bookstores, and a People-Powered Future! (Real World)

Business & Money

Business Culture

Microcosm Publishing

"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 personalmoney 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"--

"As bastions of culture, anchors of local retail districts, community gathering places, and the sources of new ideas, inspiration, and delight, bookstores have the capacity to save the world. Therefore, we need to protect them and the critical roles theyfill in our communities. Danny Caine makes a compelling case for the power of small, local businesses in this thoughtful examination of the dynamic world of bookstores"--

How to Protect Bookstores and Why: The Present and Future of Bookselling

Microcosm Pub

50 Ways to Protect Bookstores

El Dorado Freddy's may be the first book of fast food poetry. In "Olive Garden," "Culver's," "Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen," "Cracker Barrel," "Applebee's (after James Wright)" and other poems, Caine "reviews" chain restaurants, taking on topics such as parenting, the Midwest, politics, and chicken fingers along the way. Caine's funny, deceptively accomplished poems are paired with Tara Wray's color-drenched photos. The result is a literary yet goofy book about American food and identity, set in a Midwestern landscape where people eat at chain restaurants, even when they know better.

El Dorado Freddy's: Chain Restaurants in Poems and Photographs

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

Belt Publishing

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Caine, Danny. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Caine, Danny

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Caine, Danny. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Flavortown

Continental Breakfast

How to Resist Amazon and Why: The Fight for Local Economics, Data Privacy, Fair Labor, Independent Bookstores, and a People-Powered Future! (Real World)

How to Resist Amazon and Why: The Fight for Local Economics, Data Privacy, Fair Labor, Independent Bookstores, and a People-Powered Future! (Real World)

How to Protect Bookstores and Why: The Present and Future of Bookselling

50 Ways to Protect Bookstores

El Dorado Freddy's: Chain Restaurants in Poems and Photographs