Blog 7 – Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

There was two Z.Z Packer stories I found interesting, one was called Drinking Coffee Elsewhere and the other was Brownies. I liked the stories based on the descriptive phrases and examples provided by the writer.

For example the sentences in Drinking Coffee:

"A few seemed to be lolling their heads in slow circles, half purposefully, as if exercising the muscles of their necks, half ecstatically, like Stevie Wonder" P. 7

( I pictured Stevie Wonder, trying to do his famous head turn, but was unable to do so.)

"The stars sprinkled the sky like spilled salt." P. 19

(You can just imagine when you was back in science camp in elementary)

And in Brownies..

"Her hair was a shade of blonde I'd seen only onPlayboy covers..." P. 105

(stereotypically, Playboy only produces front cover female blonds)

"Lettuce and crackers and soup would be bullied into a pulp in the bowl of some bored anorexic..." P. 114

(I will leave it up to your imagination on this one) haha

Ms. Packer, is an outstanding storyteller. Her ability to canvas an image in the readers head with amazing detail is just remarkable. The vivid descriptions, and the strategically placing of words is why its so fascinating. I love the transitions that made every sentence seem so smooth. I look forward to looking at more of her stories, so i can apply it to my writing.