Rating: 
Summary: Tender Collection
Review: "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere" is a tender, yet eye opening collection of well crafted stories. I enjoyed it immensely. If you enjoyed "The Dogs of Babel" and "My Fractured Life" you should definitely find "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere" fulfilling.
Rating: 
Summary: A new literary star
Review: 'Drinking Coffee Elsewhere' is an absolute knockout. You may or may not have heard of ZZ Packer already [she had a story 'Brownies', in the New Yorker]but if you don't know her, you should.
The eight stories in this collection are all wonderful, but my favorites are 'Drinking Coffee Elsewhere' [about a students alienation at Yale] and 'The Ant of the Self' [about a son having to deal with his problem father]. I cannot say enough good things about ZZ Packer- the early reviews have been great, and rightfully so for this collection. Hard to believe this is her first book. This could be the next great American writer.
Rating: 
Summary: This collection left me unmoved
Review: After reading the other reviews, I guess that tells you more about me than it does about ZZ packer. But I just could not care about any of the people in these stories.The scary part was to think about the education system of Yale, Johns Hopkins, Iowa Writers and other institutional names that were dropped on the jacket blurbs, but no one cared enough to distinguish between Acrostic and acronym or mnemonic, near the bottom of page two.
Rating: 
Summary: Did Friends of the Author Write these?
Review: all these reviews sound like they were written by friends of the author (or maybe even the publists). They don't sound like real people. and even the one long one is a repeat, with just a name change, which slants the 4 star average. Anyway, I like short stories, and sometimes kill time by stopping by the library. I did pick up a copy of this book there to get a taste of it, and I found it too angry to finish. It's well written, but that's not enough for me, so I won't be buying a copy to finish it.
Rating:
Summary: ZZ is in excellent command of the craft of story telling.
Review: As a parent I would highly recommend this novel to be read by (mature) teens as the point of view of the main characters--the majority of whom are mostly adolescents themselves--would expand their own horizons tuning them into the points of view of others around them but unlike them (from the perspective of personal experiences). Many of the topics taken on by her storytelling in this collection are the very types of things (sexuality, sexual orientation, teen age pregnancy, peer-group pressure, race, gender, Christian intolerance, religious dogmatism, broken families, and absentee parents, etc.) parents often wish to but don't have the means or the words to know how to engage with their children and these tales are thought-, emotionally-, and ethically-provoking. Her topics are often sensitive and very wrought with coming of age and coming to individual thought and coming into one's own after having been thought for and treated like one is incapable of one's own thoughts-type of sheltered childhood. There are many young adults and mature teens and some adults whose experiences have been stifled or severely limited or curtailed by the repression of domineering others who will benefit greatly from her excellently wrought stories. BUT many people who have moved to experiences beyond and left behind letting others think for them might feel somewhat frustrated by the narrow strictures that the main characters of each story themselves are frustrated by. I would equate it to the feeling that I sustained thru most of the tales to watching a horror movie where the character runs furiously from the monster that they know is chasing them
Rating:
Summary: BLACK BOOK LOVER TOP 10 of 2004!!
Review: AS THE NEW YEAR IS UPON US, I OFFICIALLY OFFER YOU MY LIST OF THE 10 BEST BOOKS THAT I'VE READ IN 2004. THIS IS OUT OF ABOUT 84 BOOKS THAT I'VE READ THIS YEAR. EVERY SINGLE BOOK ON THIS LIST IS A MASTERPIECE WORTH BUYING. YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED WITH GREAT LITERATURE LIKE THE FOLLOWING:
"THE DARKEST CHILD"--Delores Phillips
The finest, most dramatic debut I've read in years. Top notch and gut-wrenching. This is by far the best book of 2004.
"BRICK LANE"--Monica Ali
Superb entry into a world foreign yet all too familiar. Flawless, beautiful writing.
"HOTTENTOT VENUS"--Barbara Chase Riboud
A True Story. Which makes this book all the more shocking and tragic. By now you've heard of the kidnapped and dehumanized South African woman paraded in the 1800's Europe as a "freak" because of her huge posterior and the apron over her genitals. Chase Riboud chronicles the tale perfectly and makes it far more interesting than just history. The fact that "Sarah" was like a Pop Superstar of her day makes it all the more chilling in my opinion. A definite Must-Read.
"FLESH AND THE DEVIL"--Kola Boof
Totally original, unexpected black love story. Chock full of African history, U.S. black history, fantastic plot twists, pulsating sex, equally dazzling "lovemaking", brilliant observations about race, color and sexism and plenty of risk-taking by the sensational Sudanese-born Kola Boof, truly a NEW STAR in the "epic" sense. Fabulous!
"ERASURE"---Percival Everett
I know. I'm late reading this one. But it's classic, fantastic, the greatest book ever written about being a "black" writer today. SUPERB. 10 Stars.
"A DISTANT SHORE"--Caryl Phillips
Great novel about "human beings" ripped apart in their own world and then thrown together in new equally dreadful surroundings. A black man and a white woman are juxtaposed in England with terribly beautiful insight by the writer. It's a hard book to explain, except that it's about human beings finding their real true minds. Superb!!!! I give this one 10 stars.
"DRINKING COFFEE ELSEWHERE"--Z.Z. Packer
The breakout debut of the new Alice Walker and Toni Morrison rolled into one. Z.Z. Packer is outrageously talented and brilliant. These sparse, witty, intelligent, insightful short stories will bring you to tears, make you laugh and truly astonish you.
"THE KNOWN WORLD"--Edward P. Jones
This book starts off kind of "slow", but once you get into it, it's quite shocking, easily one of the most important stories told in a decade. Jones deserves all the accolades and awards he's received for this masterful masterpiece of the new century.
"LOVE"--Toni Morrison
Still the undisputable greatest writer writing. Toni Morrison offers up one of her very best novels, the most underrated and overlooked novel of the year. Absolutely meszmerizing, a bute.
Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary talent
Review: Believe the hype ... this book exceeds all expectations. ZZ Packer is a phenomenally talented writer. I challenge anyone to find a short story collection that is more intriguing and tantilizing than "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere." It is so poignant, so profound. I simply could not put it down. A must-read for anyone who likes good fiction. From start to finish, a pure masterpiece. There are eight stories - each one is so rich and fully developed, it could have been novels in its own right.
Rating:
Summary: Very good summer read
Review: Drinking Coffee Elsewhere is a collection of short stories about the transition of the human spirit and how the single choices that one makes can effect one's perception of the world. These stories are written with an honest voice about real subjects that are not often discussed. There's "Speaking in Tongues", about a young girl who runs away from her sheltered religious life and is faced head on with the real world. Packer's story illustrates that religion is a choice that is made with the soul and is not afraid to examine what happen when one reaches the "age of accountability". Her characters are vivid, honest, funny and best of all very real. They are all struggling to find their true identities. ZZ Packer has no trouble portraying characters that are completely different than herself. Black or white, young or old, her characters are drawn with honesty and respect. If you're looking for some serious summer fun, trying also reading SKINNY DIP and THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD
Rating:
Summary: Full-bodied, rich, and strong...
Review: Drinking Coffee Elsewhere is a collection of short stories that speaks of growing up black. It is laced with strong characters, a memorable feat when an author only has a few pages to invoke empathy. Few short stories are able to satiate my reading lust. I find myself surprised by their endings and upset that they are over so quickly. I'm usually irritated that the author has invited me into their world, only to leave me hanging. I was not similarly frustrated with this collection. Each story is full-bodied, rich, and strong, just like a great cup of coffee. The stories invigorated me like a shot of espresso. I was satisfied that the characters continued their journeys, even if I wanted to know more about where they ended up. For example, in the Our Lady of Peace, a girl moves to Baltimore to teach in the inner city school system. Frustrated and disgruntled, she struggles to maintain control of her classroom and her urge to move on. She goes through ups and downs, but, in the end, I was certain her journey continued and I was able to formulate my own conclusions about where her destiny led her. I must commend ZZ Packer for such a bold and raw collection. I was mesmerized by her plots, enraptured by her language, and enchanted by her characters. Packer is definitely a fresh author to watch. Reviewed by CandaceK
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Rating:
Summary: Fun Little Collection
Review: DRINKING COFFEE ELSEWHERE is an outstanding collection of off-beat stories along the lines of YOU ARE NOT A STRANGER HERE and MY FRACTURED LIFE. There are also certain tones of SEX, DRUGS, AND COCOA PUFFS (which in and of itself is reminiscent of MY FRACTURED LIFE) and STIFF. A very fun collection.
|
