Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

In the chapter entitled “Brownies” in ZZ Packer’s book: Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, I was brought back to a place of adolescence, but with a bit of a twist from the childhood that I remember of course because I didn’t grow up in what I am presuming was the early ‘60s. The work is heavy with dialogue, in the first person, among the young girls away at brownie camp which aids in bringing my train of thought and understanding back to the way I processed information when I was in elementary school. This effort to include anecdotes that show more than tell, if very effective in putting me right in the middle of the action and emotion of the story.

Packer did a great job of setting the scene with choice details that allowed me to really “see” where this story occurred, but from a child’s perspective. There wasn’t too much elaboration which helped avoid painting an overly mature setting, suitable for a story about young girls. Some of the most vivid descriptions that caught my attention were “The sun was setting behind the trees, and their leafy tops formed a canopy of black lace for the flame of the sun to pass through.” I also found a few of the metaphors used very effective in injecting humor and a greater depth of scene understanding. I thought the passage comparing some of Troop 909’s girls to Stevie Wonder to be hilarious and painted a clear picture of their movements.

Towards the end of the story I began to see that the comparatively trivial conflicts between the children were really a part of what lead to and allowed them to understand the realities of prejudice and oppression of their time. I think this technique, juxtaposing an innocent childhood conflict next to such a large societal conflict, really creates strong emotional connection with readers.

Overall, I think Packer’s story telling style is very approachable and applicable. It can bring its readers into the story without making them feel out of place and without connection.

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