LITERARY STARBUCKS

If F. Scott Fitzgerald needed a pick-me-up, how would he dazzle the Starbucks baristas with his wit? How many pumpkin lattes would J.K. Rowling drink? Would Frodo order his frappuccino for himself, or would he let Samwise do it? If Cormac McCarthy needs caffeine, which latte would be laconic enough?

LITERARY STARBUCKS, based on the wildly, virally popular tumblr (+90,000 followers and growing) of the same name, explores such pressing matters with humor and erudition. Replete with puns and satirized literary styles, the three authors go darker, stronger and more global than the blog in book format, including acclaimed New Yorker cover artist and illustrator Harry Bliss. LITERARY STARBUCKS is set in a sort of Twilight Zone-esque Starbucks over the course of a single day, spilling over with the kind of humor that will appeal to readers, book people, and New Yorker cartoon aficionados. Willa Cather rubs shoulders with Jack Kerouac. Hannibal Lecter stands in line behind Titus Andronicus. Gatsby and Romeo pine together over their cups of java. And Shakespeare, after getting corrected to “venti” after ordering a large, can only ask, “What’s in a name?” Illustrated by Harry Bliss, famed New Yorker cover artist and illustrator, this incredibly fun book is great to quaff cover to cover, or a sip at a time. Already beloved by the literary community, the blog was singled out as one of the most viral Tumblrs of 2014 (along with Taylor Swift) and has found fans among Neil Gaiman, Daniel Handler and Jodi Picoult, along with write-ups in Vox, Book Riot, and i09. Unapologetically young and fun and hip and groovy, LITERARY STARBUCKS will contain approximately 200 entries in addition to narrative content and +/-50 Harry Bliss illustrations. For millennials reading The Metamorphosis for the first time to the over-55 crowd remembering their high school and university English classes, LITERARY STARBUCKS delivers humor and joy with a side of pat-yourself-on-the-back-for-getting-it pride. Who said great literature can’t be funny? Jill Poskanzer, Wilson Josephson and Nora Katz are current Carleton College students, where they study literature, English, and history, respectively