STARBUCKED is the first book to explore the incredible rise of the Starbucks Corporation and the caffeine-crazy culture that fuelled its success. Part Fast Food Nation, part social history, STARBUCKED combines investigative heft with witty cultural observation. How did Starbucks become an international juggernaut? What made the company so beloved that more than 40 million customers visit every week, yet so loathed that protestors have firebombed its stores? Why did Americans suddenly become willing to pay $4.50 for a cup of coffee? And why did the world follow? Taylor Clark provides an objective, meticulously reported look at how Starbucks manipulates psyches and social habits to snare loyal customers, and why many of the things we think we know about the coffee chain are false.