Blog #7 – Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

I chose to read the story “Brownies” from the Z.Z. Packer’s book “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere.” The story starts out as a group of young girls on a camping trip but really ends up being a story about racism, and a statement about the nature of racism.

One thing that stands out to me is her use of vibrant language and similes. They way she writes and incorporates these elements make the story very vivid and give the reader the ability to easily picture the girls running around the campsite and the trails they are traveling along.

The narrator, Laurel, tells us about the group leader who “holds the microphone like a banana” and Mrs. Hedy who “waves her finger like windshield wipers.” I also loved the quote describing Mrs. Margolin who is the “mother duck” of the girls, leading them along the trails that Packer describes. “Mrs Margolin even looked like a mother duck- she had hair cropped close to a small ball of a head, almost no neck and huge, miraculous breasts." Packer’s use of language gives us the ability to “see” Mrs. Margolin as the girls do.

The story ends with Laurel having a realization that there is just something in the world that is cruel and cannot be changed. They way Packer has led the reader through the story allows your too practically feel the disappointment and sadness in her realization.