Caffeine

Although CAFFEINE took me places I didn’t want to go, most of the journey was fascinating. I too have restrained myself from caffeine, sometimes for years, just to fall back under it’s spell. My denial was for health reasons (migraines) but decided it was not the cause. The results of the sleep studies were the most important reason for not wanting to continue the book, but since I’d had my 2nd cup, I persevered! Enjoyed the book and hearing the author reading it.

the book was a very short overview of some of the history of caffeine without really looking to any depth at all about the implications of using caffeine and its effects on society in the way people think about work and life. I'm sure this could have been a better book but he couldn't be bothered to finish it.

It does sound like a middle schooler wrote this off a wikipedia article. Also the author is so smug about his own profession its hard to listen "being a writer is about condensing down information to the smallest digestable morsels" yeesh get a grip

Great listen. I drink coffee and tea for pleasure, not for a caffeine kick. In fact, even when I have abstained for long periods of time I still don’t feel any boost from it. This book gave a lot of interesting information, and things to think about regarding even imperceptible effects the drug is having on my system. I also really enjoyed the historical context given. Ultimately, a wonderful book. Thank you!

Too many references, and too little of the coffee-story itself. What also annoyed me, is theconstant repetition of "quote", "quote", "quote" for the information that was taken from different sources. It's OK as a freeby, but not really worth buying.

I thought I reviewed this a few weeks ago. It was beautiful. Had a wonderful Balzac quote about coffee. I'm not sure anymore. Social distancing + caffeine is screwing with my memory. Anyway, a good book, just not top-shelf Pollan. This one seemed like it could have been a forgotten (ugly step sister) to the four longish topics in The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World or like he was starting another drug book like How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, but ran out of steam once he stopped taking Caffeine and thus turned it into a short piece for Audible/Amazon. Anyway, as a Mormon who drinks 20 cups of diet Dr. Pepper a-day, I still dug the book and dig the drug. I look back and Yes, I did publish a review back on March 5th. I'm not sure what is up.

I learned so much about coffee in some of the most enjoyable couple of hours spent listening to a book. I am a coffee addict but I have what I consider reasonable willpower and do limit myself to only a morning cupful. This books information has provided insight in regard to that morning cupful and spurred addition research. But most importantly will keep me mindful in regard to the whole issue of coffee drinking. All offered in a delightful listening experience. I highly recommend and will look for more from this author who is also a great narrator.

It's pretty ironic that a book about caffeine made me drowsy.I definitely learned a lot about caffeine that I didn't know before, so I can't say that this was a complete waste. But I just wish they made it somehow more interesting to follow? A lot of times the narration felt like dry passages from a history textbook. The parts where the writer shared his own personal experiences were much better, but I was in too much of a haze after all the other parts to appreciate them properly. If anyone wants to learn about psychoactive drugs, I'm sure there are better books out there.

This is an highly recommendable little book. It's very concise, but seems pretty well researched and provided me with new insight, not only to caffeine and the plants that have it, but also to my own caffeine consumption and its effect to my behaviour.As a result of having listened to this book, I have to reconsider what clearly is a caffeine addiction: do I want to live with this addiction or not? It's not a simple question to answer, because caffeine is a mighty potent drug and a one that I might not be ready to give up. Not as long as life is as pressing as it is.I think the author reads the book himself (?) and does a good job for sure. No real flaws, very listenable.

3.5 stars This was a short and interesting audiobook on the history and impact of caffeine on the world. It was fascinating to learn about the origins of caffeine and its effects on the body. It’s incredible how it has shaped history to become the world's most widely consumed psychoactive drug. The narration by the author was enjoyable and this was a great Audible original listen.

This Audible is awesome! The information just keeps on coming. My favorite line was "caffeine helps us to cope with a world caffeine helped us to create". Quoting philosopher Michele Foucaults leading up to that line is brilliant! Also very well narrated. I can't imagine anyone other than the author himself reading this story out loud. Very well done on all accounts!

This book was an interesting enough read with a focused on facts about coffee woven into a story. I don't think that I would like this pay for this book so 3 stars only.

Deeply researched, yet still suspiciously speculative, this title takes an objective and subjective look at everyone's favorite pick me up. I can't give it full marks due to how sensationalist some of it gets. Overall, a good quick listen as long as you can get it for free.

Pollan centers the book around giving up caffeinetemporarily and the effects he experienced. I've gone on and off caffeine multiple times and his experience simply seemed terribly dramatic compared to any effects I've noticed. The history and info interspersed with his personal experience was mostly thing I'd heard before - nothing that's not well document if you're ever read or watched a YouTube video about caffeine.

This little book contains no info of value.With the many products that contain caffeine I question why the focus was almost exclusively on coffee with a minor mention of tea.

This is a nice little 1-2 hours (depending on your listening speed) you can spend learning about what caffeine is, its botanical roots, its psychoactive effects, and its historic influences. But really, I felt so bad for the writer who quit coffee for several months to write the book. =[

I was turned off by what I called the "old tyme radio drama" of a book early in the originals game. This one os more like a short story. I loved it, almost as much as I love caffeine. Now as I sit here with the after book blues, I find myself thinking about caffeine. Should I be using as much as I am? As a nights worker I say yes. And a bad sleeper I say.... Probably not. This was a great book full of good information and interesting stories. A+

I've never been a regular coffee drinker. I rarely drink it but as I was listening to this audiobook I decided to go ahead and have a cup. As I start to get wired from the coffee I decided to clean out my email, start filtering everything, and unsubscribing from newsletters that I don't read. To my surprise as I am doing this I am on section 16 of the book and the author describes himself doing the EXACT same thing after his first coffee after abstaining from it for a while. I found it hilarious that both of us in our caffeine high decided to do the exact same thing!

Yep, Dark and Black, my friend, that’s exactly how I like it . . . and how this author quit coffee long enough to produce this is beyond incredible to me.But a fun and interesting listen, it is.From the origins of the coffee bean to how insects behave when coffee is added to their diets, you’ll learn how the delectable drink has come to dominate the brain . . . and the world.And although tea also contains caffeine, I have to say its way down the food chain from genuine joe.Fun, informative and short listen, and thank God the author is now back on the java juice 😊.

The absurdity of assigning the coffee bean the control of it's own destiny. Why didn't it skip the prospect of being crushed and ingested. As inventive is it's ability to choose you could think maybe it could have focused on becoming a person that could own a fancy car. Evolution is a myth.

I really liked the book.I wish he would have gone more into the state of mind from coffee and how you can naturally mimic it.also how the context if your environment and maybe background effect your high.

I could have listened to a much longer book on this topic, but enjoyed this quick piece and found that much of it resonated with me as a reluctant coffee drinker.

All of the information it gives you could have been told in an hour or so. Its a lot of fluff with self indulgent storytelling. Mediocre stories at that. If this wasn’t free, I’d want my money back. It you can get it free, get it just for the fun facts about coffee’s rise to power.

The author admitted that he went off caffeine while writing this expose. I'd like to request that he re-write it while caffeinated, maybe it would have more of a jolt. It seemed lethargic, despite some nuggets of interesting history.

I didn't know how much I didn't care about coffee and caffeine until I listened to this book. Good thing it was included with my subscription and I didn't waste money or credits on it.

Enjoyed it.About the right length. Sort of 🍿 for the mind. But it left a lot of questions unanswered, like about the relative amounts of caffeine in different kinds of drinks, whether a cup of tea in the morning would interfere with sleep, etc. Michael is really good reader. Very conversational.

When an author expresses doubts about his work in the opening lines, take notice. Pollan seems to spend more time talking about his own unremarkable experience being caffeinated and decaffeinated than in telling us interesting things about caffeine.

It is not a blockbuster novel, but a well researched and written story about caffeine. And who else to present it than the author. Well done, Michael Pollen.