t h e__h i g h__c h u r c h__o f starbucks - - - - - - - - - - - - - GO AHEAD, PEDDLE A GREAT CUP OF COFFEE AND TAKE OVER THE WORLD, BUT DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO SANCTIMONIOUS ABOUT IT? BY JENNIFER REESE | You know a corporate titan has arrived when he produces a vapid, breezy ghostwritten memoir, full of inspirational advice for managers and free of messy personal insight. In his early 40s, Howard Schultz, CEO and guiding light of the Starbucks Coffee Co., has produced his own 350-page volume, tastefully jacketed in earthy brown paper and featuring a soft-focus photo of his lean, handsome face. "Pour Your Heart Into It" is the title of Schultz's book (written with Dori Jones Yang), and those five words pretty well sum up his philosophy of life and business: "My ultimate aim in writing 'Pour Your Heart Into It,'" he writes, "is to reassure people to have the courage to persevere, to keep following their hearts even when others scoff. Don't be beaten down by naysayers." This approach -- along with a lot of nerve and cunning that go unmentioned in the book -- has certainly worked for Schultz. In 1987, Schultz and a crew of investors bought a small Seattle coffee retailer. A decade later the green-and-white Starbucks logo is loved and loathed from Texas to Tokyo. We all drink lattes now. Yes, Schultz definitely has something to write about. The question is, should anyone read it? That's a hard one to answer, because the literary value of this autobiography, like most of its kind, is nil. And, as a journalist who has written about Starbucks, I would describe the book as both interesting and deceptive. But I'll lay aside my opinion for the moment: Starbucks has become such an iconic fixture on the American scene that it's worthwhile to first take a look at what the man who made it happen has to say for himself. N E X T+P A G E +| Worshipping the bean ILLUSTRATION BY RICHARD DOWNS