Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

Starred review from December 16, 2002
The clear-voiced humanity of Packer's characters, mostly black teenage girls, resonates unforgettably through the eight stories of this accomplished debut collection. Several tales are set in black communities in the South and explore the identity crises of God-fearing, economically disenfranchised teens and young women. In the riveting "Speaking in Tongues," 14-year-old "church girl" Tia runs away from her overly strict aunt in rural Georgia in search of the mother she hasn't seen in years. She makes it to Atlanta, where, in her long ruffled skirt and obvious desperation, she seems an easy target for a smooth-talking pimp. The title story explores a Yale freshman's wrenching alienation as a black student who, in trying to cope with her new, radically unfamiliar surroundings and the death of her mother, isolates herself completely until another misfit, a white student, comes into her orbit. Other stories feature a young man's last-ditch effort to understand his unreliable father on a trip to the Million Man March and a young woman who sets off for Tokyo to make "a pile of money" and finds herself destitute, living in a house full of other unemployed gaijin. These stories never end neatly or easily. Packer knows how to keep the tone provocative and tense at the close of each tale, doing justice to the complexity and dignity of the characters and their difficult choices. (Mar. 10)Forecast:Packer's stories have been published in
Harper's and
Story, and anthologized in
The Best American Short Stories 2000. This collection has been much anticipated since she was featured in the
New Yorker's Debut Fiction Issue of 2000. BOMC, QPB, Insight Out, Black Expressions,
and InBook alternate selection; author tour.

February 15, 2004
This debut collection of eight short stories features mostly underprivileged African American teenage girls trying to make it in a white world. In one story, Brownies work up their courage to confront a white girl from another troop who has used the "n" word. In another, a studious black teenager coerced into attending the "Million Man March" with his alcoholic father tries to sell a collection of tropical birds stolen from the father's girlfriend. In "Speaking in Tongues," perhaps the most poignant tale, a 14-year-old girl from rural Georgia runs away from her overly strict and religious aunt to find her mother, who had left years before. Most of the pieces end unhappily but provide learning experiences for the characters as they move toward adulthood. Packer writes with energy and gritty realism but also with humor. Shirley Jordan's narration captures the young voices, full of irreverence and sass. The auditory quality is excellent. Recommended for older teens and audiences who enjoy compelling short stories. Suitable for all public libraries.-Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 2, 2003
The book form of this debut short story collection is getting the highest of accolades from the New York Times, Harper's, the New Yorker
and most every other branch of the literary criticism tree. Likewise, the praise for the audio version of the book should be as lofty. Jordan, who, in addition to being a television and stage actor, works as an acting and dialogue coach, would be wise to use her superb performance here to advertise her business. Packer's stories deal with black men and women, mostly young and urban. Her carefully engineered narratives treat listeners to the richness of highly developed characters and lead them to some intriguing scenarios, like a troop of black Brownies spending their time at summer camp plotting against a troop of what they initially see as haughty white girls; and the deadbeat dad who talks his son into driving him across the country to the Million Man March, not to participate, but to sell parrots to African-Americans. As the reader, Jordan submerges herself completely into her characters, portraying Packer's superbly fleshed out cast with a dazzling versatility and an intuitive sense of delivery. Whether singing Brownie songs or making palpable a character's resounding disappointments, Jordan's delivery is as whip-smart as Packer's text is fiery and precise. Simultaneous release with the Riverhead hardcover (Forecasts, Dec. 16, 2002).