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  • Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

  • By: Z. Z. Packer
  • Narrated by: Shirley Jordan
  • Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (5 ratings)

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Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

By: Z. Z. Packer
Narrated by: Shirley Jordan
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Summary

Here is a remarkable debut short-story collection by a fresh and captivating new voice in American literature.

Z. Z. Packer's first collection of short stories is rich with unexpected turns, indelible images, and penetrating insight that belies someone so young. Her stories plunge us into the worlds of people living on the edge and to the flashpoints that make or break them, that shape their worldviews forever.

In "The Stranger", a third-grade girl tries to find her place in the microcosm of summer camp in the larger world during the height of the Atlanta child murders in 1981. The girl's bathroom at camp is the setting for a clash between an all-black and an all-white Brownie troop in "Brownies". And two young women prod the boundaries of friendship and love in "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere".

A highly anticipated debut from an award-winning young writer.
©2002 Z. Z. Packer (P)2003 HighBridge Company
Anthologies Fiction Literary Fiction Short Stories
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Critic reviews

"The clear-voiced humanity of Packer's characters, mostly black teenage girls, resonates unforgettably through the eight stories of this accomplished debut collection." ( Publishers Weekly)
”This is the old-time religion of storytelling, although Packer’s prose supplies plenty of the edge and energy we expect from contemporary fiction.” ( The New York Times Book Review)
”ZZ Packer’s prose is vivid and often comic...Her vision sizzles and fizzes.” (John Updike)

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Mixed bag

I chose this collection because it's very different to what I've listened to before and, as a British listener, felt it could give me some interesting insight. I found all the stories relatable and human, including the fact none of them were neatly resolved, however some of the plots were a little dull. I also felt, although maybe it's my own ignorance, some characters were over the top and came across as almost caricatures.

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