{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260417T232332Z","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L2S2Q8F?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"B07L2S2Q8F","authors":["Adam Chandler"],"book_id":"9781250090744","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/drive-thru-dreams-B07L2S2Q8F","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781250090744.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","description":"“This is a book to savor, especially if you’re a fast-food fan.”— Bookpage \"This fun, argumentative, and frequently surprising pop history of American fast food will thrill and educate food lovers of all speeds.\" — Publishers Weekly Most any honest person can own up to harboring at least one fast-food guilty pleasure. In Drive-Thru Dreams, Adam Chandler explores the inseparable link between fast food and American life for the past century. The dark underbelly of the industry’s largest players has long been scrutinized and gutted, characterized as impersonal, greedy, corporate, and worse. But, in unexpected ways, fast food is also deeply personal and emblematic of a larger than life image of America. With wit and nuance, Chandler reveals the complexities of this industry through heartfelt anecdotes and fascinating trivia as well as interviews with fans, executives, and workers. He traces the industry from its roots in Wichita, where White Castle became the first fast food chain in 1921 and successfully branded the hamburger as the official all-American meal, to a teenager's 2017 plea for a year’s supply of Wendy’s chicken nuggets, which united the internet to generate the most viral tweet of all time. Drive-Thru Dreams by Adam Chandler tells an intimate and contemporary story of America—its humble beginning, its innovations and failures, its international charisma, and its regional identities—through its beloved roadside fare.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9781250090744","publication_date":"20210622","publisher":"Flatiron Books","slug":"drive-thru-dreams","subtitle":"A Journey Through the Heart of America's Fast-food Kingdom","title":"Drive-thru Dreams"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"BUS070120","confidence_band":"high","label":"The Food Business","score":0.799,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"BUS070020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Automobile Industry","score":0.7277,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"BUS070010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Agribusiness","score":0.7235,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"BUS070120","confidence_band":"high","label":"The Food Business","score":0.799,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"BUS070020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Automobile Industry","score":0.7277,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"BUS070010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Agribusiness","score":0.7235,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"BIO029000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Food World Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BUS070120","confidence_band":"high","label":"The Food Business","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC055000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Agriculture & Food Systems","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"The Food Business","score":0.799,"slug":"the-food-business"},{"label":"Automobile Industry","score":0.7277,"slug":"automobile-industry"},{"label":"Agribusiness","score":0.7235,"slug":"agribusiness"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy The Food Business","Good for readers who enjoy The Food Business and Automobile Industry.","Strong fit for readers who prefer grounded, real-world context."],"related_lists":[{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-bus070120-food-industry","title":"Food Industry Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-bus070120-food-industry"}],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Lynsi Snyder","Amanda Sanfilippo","Tim Tremaine","Jim Hodson"],"book_id":"9781400242993","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781400242993.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":16.0816,"title":"The Ins-n-outs of In-n-out Burger","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781400242993"},{"authors":["Christopher Leonard"],"book_id":"9781451645835","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781451645835.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":14.3988,"title":"The Meat Racket","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781451645835"},{"authors":["Liz Carlisle"],"book_id":"9781592409563","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781592409563.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":14.3137,"title":"Lentil Underground","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781592409563"},{"authors":["Jan Dutkiewicz","Gabriel N. Rosenberg"],"book_id":"9781541603783","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781541603783.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":14.0966,"title":"Feed the People!","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781541603783"},{"authors":["Mark Bittman"],"book_id":"9780358645528","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780358645528.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":14.0852,"title":"Animal, Vegetable, Junk","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780358645528"},{"authors":["Ted Genoways"],"book_id":"9780062288769","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780062288769.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":14.0056,"title":"The Chain","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780062288769"},{"authors":["Raj Patel"],"book_id":"9781612191270","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781612191270.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":13.9793,"title":"Stuffed and Starved","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781612191270"},{"authors":["Joel Salatin"],"book_id":"9780963810953","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780963810953.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","score":13.9787,"title":"Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780963810953"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:food history"],"label":"History","score":0.9238,"slug":"history"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:american business"],"label":"Business","score":0.134,"slug":"business"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:food history"],"label":"Food","score":0.0481,"slug":"food"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:small business beginnings"],"label":"Small","score":0.045,"slug":"small"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: History, Business, Food.","Reading lane: The Food Business and Automobile Industry.","Publisher: Flatiron Books."]},"llm_signals":null,"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":false,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":224,"goodreads_ratings_count":1019,"goodreads_reviews_count":168,"quality_score":0.9308}}