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.
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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: 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
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Summary: Enlightening short-story collection!
Review: Drinking Coffee Elsewhere is quite a unique and enlightening short-story collection centered on various aspects of being an African American in this day and age. The stories have a combination of earnest humor and tear-jerking poignancy. The stories and their characters make you feel the emotions and messages that they intend to convey. My favorite stories are "Speaking in Tongues," "Brownies," "Our Lady of Peace," "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere," and "Geese." The aforementioned stories are enriching and empowering. I love ZZ Packer's style. Her style is a cross between Zadie Smith and Toni Morrison. I will look for this author's work in the future. I cannot recommend Drinking Coffee Elsewhere enough.
Rating: 
Summary: A blackadelic Flannery O'Connor in the making
Review: I gotta agree with Gregory Baird. These fics are very much hit-and-miss. EVERY TONGUE is a brilliant exercise in empathy. The protagonist is a Christian-fundamentalist creep, but ZZ treated her with a certain amount of respect. Clareese gets redeemed thru another person. (Instead of merely thru Jesus.)
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Summary: LOVE LOVE LOVE this collection
Review: I had previously read a few of ZZ Packer's stories in lit magazines such as ZOETROPE and The New Yorker and I have been anxiously awaiting this collection. I have not been disappointed."Drinking Coffee Elsewhere" is a collection of unique, startling and at times, brutally truthful stories by Packer, a new author. All these stories, in some way, touch upon themes of alienation, the search for truth (whatever that truth is for the characters), of approval, and of identity. Stories range from the title piece, "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere," about a young black woman who enters a ivy league university and must struggle not only with alienation and her identity but the death of her mother, to "Geese," a story about a sister who travels to Tokyo to make loads of money only to find herself destitute and in the company of people just as down and out as she is. What I enjoy the most about these eight stories is that Packer tells stories about black people, but she does so multiculturally, or "realistically". The world isn't full of just black people or just white people. The worlds in Packer's stories travel the globe from Baltimore, to Yale University, to Tokyo. We see a vast array of people and places and situations, and Packer is not afraid to show us all these facets, nor is she afraid to show us the bleakness of reality. Her stories do not end with cotton candy and happily ever afters. Sometimes, life is hard, and Packer portrays these times exquisitely. Anyone who is interested in reading well written stories about the facets of black life, will no doubt enjoy ZZ Packer's debut collection as much as I have. Shon Bacon
Rating:
Summary: Left me hanging...
Review: I'd heard so much about this author, even read an excerpt of "Brownies". Packer is an excellent writer but the characters in these stories are not very well developed and the endings were soft. Each story drew me in but once there I lost interest in the characters because there wasn't enough to hold onto. I kept thinking as I read the stories that I would love to see how this writer develops over the next ten-twenty years. I see great things for her future work. This one didn't quite do it for me.
Taxes, Death & Trouble author CM Miller
Rating:
Summary: Moving and Memorable
Review: People tend to have enough to read, so I rarely foist new things on my friends to add to their pile. But I've made repeated exceptions for ZZ Packer since discovering the title story of this collection several years ago, which sent me scurrying to the library to find whatever else she had written. These emotionally complex and gutwrenching stories showcase a variety of African-American characters struggling to break free of their mental prisons, with realistically mixed results. Like Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, race is a context but "on the lower frequencies" (and not so lower ones) the characters speak for all of us. Plus the stories are simply good reads - events move fast and the tension rarely lets up until the finish. Friends of the extraordinary, give this book a read!
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely perfect
Review: there's nothing to not love in this collection from packer, not a sentence to stumble over, not a story to discount. absolutely brillant.
Rating:
Summary: No need to think twice
Review: When ZZ Packer writes her first novel, I'll be standing in line with my $25 or $26. This work of short story literature was worthy of my time. The first short, Brownies, transported me back into time into the early 70's when I wore my brownie uniform, and went through similar experiences. The Ant of the Self was an extremely moving story about father and son. This story, I wanted to continue. I applaud ZZ Packer's prose! These are stories you will read again and again.
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