Thursday, October 9, 2008

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

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Title: Drinking Coffee Elsewhere
Author: ZZ Packer
Pages: 265
Yearly count b: 64
Awards: The book was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, a New York Times Notable Book, and personally selected by John Updike for the Today Show Book Club.

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere is a book of short stories that are vivid and full of depth. Her style is innovative while touching on old fashioned charm. Each short story speaks of relationships, race, and perseverance, knit together with beautiful narratives and smart characters.

I loved each story in Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, while "Brownies" was my absolute favourite. Which I just found out won the Bellingham Review Award, for the short story. It tells the story of a girl scout troop of African American girls who go away to camp and learn of differences and how to work them out. It is a super interesting portrayal!

Each story seems to bring out the best and the worst in the characters, creating an honest picture for the reader. I have said it so many times already, but really when characters are honest, and down-to-earth that is what really draws me in close.

I loved Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, a book of short stories, I found them so concise and to the point, while still very full of details and character development. I loved Interpreter of Maladies as well. Do you like short stories? What short story book is your favourite?

Did you read and review this book, give me your link, I'll put it right here :)

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9 comments:

Yasmin said...

I love this book it's one of my favorites!

bethany (dreadlock girl) said...

yasmin- have you reviewed it, I would love to link to someone else's review. :)

Karen Harrington said...

I read this book in college and loved it. I always try and get the best of short story collection each year. And recently, I read Will Allison's What You Have Left, which reads a bit like a collection of short stories. Allison is known for his short stories and this short novel really shows why. Great post!

Anonymous said...

I've had this in my TBR pile for months! I really should get round to reading it...

Darlene said...

I've never read this but I do love the title. I'm making a list of short stories since there have been so many reviewed lately. I don't read short stories so one of these days I'm going to try one of these great recommendations I've been getting.

Anonymous said...

This is definitly going to be in the to-br-read list :-)

Lovely review there :-)

Anonymous said...

Hey you removed March's review. I wanted to tell you that I had read about it... and thats the reason I never picked it up. :-)

ood review :)

bethany (dreadlock girl) said...

karen harrington- I loved this book too. I will have to find Will Allison's short stories!! Thanks for the heads up.:) I really love finding new and amazing authors.

bart's bookshelf- you must! :) Let me know when you do, I'd love to read your thoughts and link to them!

Dar- I bought it at Powell's...I am lucky enough to live an 90 min. away. I liked the title too....that is why I picked it up, and then I saw all the awards she had earned, so I bought it. I hardly ever buy books, but I am super glad I bought this one :)

Veens- yay!! I am happy you are interested!! Make sure you give me your link when you review it, I'd love to link to your thoughts as well :)

Veens- Have you read it yet?? What did you think? I gotta know.

Anna said...

I'm always looking for a good short story collection. I'm not a big fan, but I enjoy them here and there. Thanks for the recommendation.

--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric