A compilation of images, interviews, and essays, Christopher D. Salyers’ Vending Machines: Coined Consumerism provides an engaging survey of a modern-day mechanical phenomenon.

The book profiles vending machines around the world, which dispense a wide range of goods — including beer, gold, underwear, and live cockroaches. It’s a colorful look at the automated apparatuses that interpret, commodify, and deliver according to a population’s needs, as well as its occasionally unusual desires.

Read more about the release, visit the author’s blog, check out Motomachi’s online photo series of a vending machine in Japan, and buy a copy of the book.

Click through below to view a gallery of images from the book.

(Fake) drug vending machines by imbue. (Photo: Louika Avvakoumides)