reviews
"Prabasi’s story of life as an activist, immigrant, and coffeehouse founder, so intimately related on these pages, offers a model of what 21st century resistance looks like—and in the process helps us reclaim the revolutionary roots of coffeehouse culture.”
— David L. Parsons, author of Dangerous Grounds: Antiwar Coffeehouses and Military Dissent in the Vietnam Era
“Sarina Prabasi’s memoir the coffeehouse resistance is a powerful account of aspirations, hope, and citizenship that shows that every big change happens a little bit at a time, one conversation at a time, one cup of coffee at a time. At Buunni Coffee she and her husband opened their hearts to the local community and created a hub where people gather to write letters to politicians, sign petitions, and escape the sense of isolation at a time when the whole country seems to struggle. Written as an effort to preserve her experiences of the cultures that have nourished her belief in the life of the neighborhood, and a need to stand up for oneself, Prabasi’s book is a heart-felt account of hope that will bring hope to the rest of us.”
— Dr. Carmen Bugan, George Orwell Prize Fellow, author of the critically acclaimed memoir Burying the Typewriter and poet
"The author’s impressionistic account of her travels is poetically thoughtful, and she has a keen eye for granular detail, which she evokes in delicate, vivid language. Also, she offers an inspiring tale of community-based political action . . . A beautifully written memoir."
— KIRKUS
"This transporting, globe-trotting tale filled me with wander-lust. Prabasi describes beautiful, surprising firsts as she travels the planet--from earliest toddler memories, through to adulthood. When she settles in uptown manhattan and brings an international lens to her local business, the book soars with political and personal ferocity, never losing the warmth of neighbors connecting over coffee."
— Quiara Alegría Hudes - Pulitzer prize & Tony award winning playwright & composer (In the Heights, Water by the Spoonful, Miss You Like Hell)
“Sarina Prabasi has found a way to help us navigate today’s questions by looking at her own past experiences. Full of warmth and bristling with urgency, the coffeehouse resistance is compulsively readable and absolutely necessary. Get it now.”
— Maaza Mengiste, author of the widely acclaimed and award-winning novel, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze