In a coffee shop, and with her infant daughter snoozing at her elbow, a single mom — recently divorced, and struggling to make ends meet — writes a story about a boy wizard and an enchanted school. She writes in a coffee shop not for inspiration, but because she doesn’t have money enough to heat her apartment. Her story, of course, the book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone; the single mom, JK Rowling. I’m given to understand both mom and daughter are doing rather well, these days.
Rowling wasn’t the first author to take to the local coffee house — whether for warmth, or inspiration. Voltaire was an early coffee house patron, and he’s said to have tossed back between 50 and 72 cups a day (straying closer than most of us would dare to a lethal dose of caffeine) while writing works such as his fittingly frenzied Candide and Merope and his scathing Letters on the English.
It was a coffee house called Tillyard’s that was the unofficial home of The Royal Society — a clubby bunch who lunched and drank coffee and argued about alchemy — and ultimately published the collected works of their chair, one Isaac Newton. And in Austria you may be hard-pressed to find a coffee house that *doesn’t* boast of an author, poet or playwright who sat at that very table.
Given what passes for coffee house culture today, however, it’s remarkable that Rowling was able to pen a paragraph or two, much less a book empire. For all the lofty talk of the Third Place your chances of finding a Great, Good Place to write the Great American Novel are anything *but* great.1
John Scalzi skewered most any remaining romantic notions of coffee house writing in his 250-page epic snark — and one of my favorite reads of the year — You’re Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop. And a clip from an episode of Family Guy making the rounds on YouTube doesn’t offer much hope, either. Still, you can’t keep folks from trying…
Of the countless coffee shops I’ve visited, I could probably count those that offered a viable third place on one hand. Which is a shame… and probably a factor of economics. Hard chairs, small tables and surfaces that echo (echo, echo…) tend to get customers in and out the door quickly. So maybe I’m not going to write my novel in a coffee shop. I can deal with that. But shouldn’t I be able to have a conversation?
What’s coffee house culture like in your corner of the world? Got a Great Good Place to share?
- Yeah, I know… the article talks about coffee shops in Scotland, and I reference the Great American Novel. I’m a fan of cognitive dissonance. [↩]
Hey Doug,
Great blog – I just stumbled across it.
I’ve got a real great, good place for you: the doubleshot coffee company in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’m in the middle of making a documentary on the cappuccino and American coffee house culture, and I found this place while making the film. It is stupendous – the real deal. (You can read about it on my blog: http://cappuccinoreview.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html)
Another one – not a coffee shop – is this ice cream joint in L.A. called Scoops. (on Melrose and Heliotrope, down near LA city college.)
It’s been my observation (and I think Oldenburg says this too) that there are certain qualities that real third places have that are inherently at odds with maximizing profit. Great, good places tend not to be too crowded – you never feel hurried to get your coffee and get out. They also tend not to be all that clean, fancy or spiffy – or maybe they’re not in the most desirable retail location. And when the owner cares way more about making a good product than kissing the customer’s a**, that’s huge. Think about it: when you’re out and about in American society, what are you doing? Usually you’re making a purchase of some kind. And most people’s experience of talking with strangers involves someone selling them something or waiting on them or generally interacting with them in a way that suggests that they are valuable because of the contents of their wallet. So when someone treats you in a way that lets you know that they don’t give a crap if you buy what they’re selling… well, it’s incredibly liberating. I think it makes people feel at home and it makes them more likely to open up and talk to the person standing next to them.
I also think store layout can have a lot to do with creating a good third place. I’m curious to see how the new Intelligentsia in Los Angeles will evolve. They’ve created a coffee bar that’s much more like a BAR bar. There’s a huge, three-sided bar, and the cash registers are flush with the counter and not visible when you walk in. So there’s no obvious flow of traffic or place to stand in line. People mill around in front of the bar and… they wind up talking to each other. And then there’s all that wonderful shared space at the counter… This is SO UNLIKE most people’s experience with coffee shops, which often have very clear signs about where to order, where to pick up your drink, etc. You go to Starbucks, and you feel shuffled through an extremely efficient assembly line. And this has become our idea of what’s “normal” in a coffee shop, so you can see people getting a little confused when they walk into Intelligentsia. But why NOT have your coffee bar be more like the corner pub? We all know how to order a beer at a bar – it’s not that confusing. So why not have a coffee experience that’s similar? I really hope Intelligentsia sticks to its guns.
OK, this turned into a bit of a long rant. Sorry. đ Thanks for reading.
Well this could be taken as shameless self promotion, but in truth, I believe our Roastery and Espresso Bar in Edmonton, Alberta Canada qualifies as one of the great good spaces. We strive to create that environment, and in fact, it was part of the business plan to create the Cheers of the coffee world. There isn’t much in the way of quality coffee in Alberta and we are working hard to not only raise the profile of the specialty coffee reality but also make amazing coffee and know your name. While we don’t know everyone’s name, we probably have 70% down and likely know your drink too. What is so amazing about Transcend is that it is a great good space where people come not only to drink great coffee but to visit and be known. The baristas are encouraged to chat and get to know people and we thankfully don’t have constant line-ups which allow for us to take a bit of time with each one that walks in. So if you are ever in our neck of the woods, drop in and stay a while.
Cheers,
Poul Mark.
Amy –
I’m a somewhat obsessive fan of a well-prepared cappuccino, too… but I’ve never been inspired to make a movie about it! That’s a new flavor of obsession. I approve. đ
I’ll be very interested to see how Intelly’s new LA setup works. I think it could be pretty neat so long as *anybody* behind the bar can take your order or prep your drink… if they have to resort to pointing people “over there” to order or to pay, that’s not a good thing.
But, no movie trailer online?
Poul –
If ever there were a thread that invites self-promotion, this is it! And welcome to it. So that was *you* that snagged one of Hoffman’s tazzas from the WBC? Good on you!
Doug–
The trailer is on its way – hopefully in the next few weeks…
My observation at Intelligentsia was that the barista didn’t have to point the customer toward where to pay because there was usually someone standing right next to the barista who would eagerly jump forward and offer to take the customer’s money. (before the customer even had time to wonder about it…)