How to Resist Amazon and Why (Updated and Expanded)

One happy byproduct of Amazon’s unending cartoon villain-like quest for world domination: we get an updated and expanded edition of Danny Caine’s wonderful book! This is the hours-long conversation I wish I could have with every customer about what Amazon's business model means for small businesses, and what small businesses mean for the communities they serve; about the hidden implications of those low, low prices and hyperfast shipping times; about the trajectory we're on as a society and what we can do — as consumers, as workers, as community members — to right our course. Thorough, critical, and heartfelt without ever being preachy, this new edition will give readers plenty to think about, but also plenty to celebrate, with new sections devoted to the artistic, legislative, and worker-led actions Amazon has inspired in recent years. While I’m hopeful for a future in which reissues of this book aren’t needed, I’m grateful for this one now. Recommended By Tove H., Powells.com

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.

Danny Caine is owner of Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas. He is the author of the poetry collections Continental Breakfast, El Dorado Freddy's, and Flavortown, as well as the viral zine How to Resist Amazon & Why. He was named the 2019 Midwest Bookseller of the year and is a passionate advocate, online and off, for independent, brick-and-mortar bookstores. More at dannycaine.com.