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Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

by Zz Packer

Stories about belonging and the edges of community

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AlbakiReads Editorial

Stories about belonging and the edges of community

Across its short stories, Drinking Coffee Elsewhere places characters in situations where identity and allegiance come into focus. A troop of Black girls encounters a white troop; a young man attends the Million Man March with his father and weighs where his loyalties lie. Other stories move among unemployed drifters in Japan and a Baltimore girl imagining a wider world through a television-store window. Together, these different settings connect questions of belonging with the limits and possibilities surrounding each character’s hopes, work, and relationships.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in short-story collections centered on characters navigating identity and belonging.
  • Readers drawn to fiction spanning varied communities and settings, including Baltimore and Japan.

Themes

Belonging and communityIdentity and allegianceWork and economic hardshipDreams and possibility

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

The acclaimed debut short story collection that introduced the world to an arresting and unforgettable new voice in fiction, from multi-award winning author ZZ Packer

Her impressive range and talent are abundantly evident: Packer dazzles with her command of language, surprising and delighting us with unexpected turns and indelible images, as she takes us into the lives of characters on the periphery, unsure of where they belong. We meet a Brownie troop of black girls who are confronted with a troop of white girls; a young man who goes with his father to the Million Man March and must decide where his allegiance lies; an international group of drifters in Japan, who are starving, unable to find work; a girl in a Baltimore ghetto who has dreams of the larger world she has seen only on the screens in the television store nearby, where the Lithuanian shopkeeper holds out hope for attaining his own American Dream.

With penetrating insight, ZZ Packer helps us see the world with a clearer vision. Fresh, versatile, and captivating, Drinking Coffee Elsewhere is a striking and unforgettable collection, sure to stand out among the contemporary canon of fiction.

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Customer reviews

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Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

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Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

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Olivia

Smooth.