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.

September 1, 2003
Adult/High School-The characters in these stories are mainly African American, but that is where their similarity ends. From the young Brownie troop member in the opening tale to the teen in the pre-civil rights South closing story, each one has a unique voice. The strong role of the church is evident, but the characters range from the very religious to the very doubtful. Sexuality is problematic-from the older virgin who is more interested in preaching the gospel to the 14-year-old virgin runaway who has also been preaching the gospel but can't help continuing a dalliance with a man she suspects may be a pimp and a drug dealer. The settings are Baltimore, Washington during the Million Man March, and, in a particularly bleak story, Japan. Each selection is strong, but "Brownies" may be the strongest. It's full of dark humor and unseen plot twists, reminiscent in tone of a Flannery O' Connor tale. All of the selections appeared previously in various literary magazines. Older teens will find much to enjoy in this collection. For those studying the short story as a literary format, it would make an excellent companion to more classic tales.-Jamie Watson, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore

Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 15, 2003
Though they rarely appear on best sellers lists, short story collections can be the ultimate in fiction-the freshest voices, the most distilled prose, the most exciting trends. Newcomer Packer's debut is that kind of collection. Lauded by The New Yorker in its 2000 "Debut Fiction" issue and published in other magazines since, she fills her first book with some distinctive entries. In "Geese," a young black woman from Baltimore upends her life to seek her fortune in Japan but ends up living in a tiny apartment with a number of bitter, unemployed foreigners. In "Our Lady of Peace," a new college graduate signs up for an accelerated teacher certification program but self-destructs in the hard neighborhood in which she finds herself. In "Doris Is Coming," a young woman from a fundamentalist family yearns to join the lunch counter sit-ins in 1961 and visits the Lithuanian appliance store owner to watch television when she wants to escape from her family. Bright, sharp, promising, and recommended.-Ann H. Fisher, Radford P.L., VA

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2003
Packer's debut collection of short stories is full of challenges to its youthful, predominantly African American cast of characters. Often they have everything all figured out when a "Challenging Person" comes barging in, such as in the book's title story, in which Dina and her ramen noodles are walled up in self-imposed dorm room exile until moon-faced Heidi from Vancouver demands her company and, perhaps, her heart. In another, God himself--speaking through an amputee blues musician once known as Delta Sweetmeat--infiltrates the already supposedly holier-than-thou life of Sister Clareese. Sometimes, the challenge is from a hopeful situation turned frustrating and desperate: a group of once-idealistic expatriates starving in a one-room apartment in Japan, for example, or a young city schoolteacher snapping on her drive home. These challenges don't tend to have happy endings, but they are learning experiences for the characters and moving reading for us. Packer's prose suggests university writing-workshop fiction at its insightful best, full of youthful angst and irreverence, yet polished, professional, and captivating.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)