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Elbow Room
A beautiful collection of short stories that explores blacks and whites today, Elbow Room is alive with warmth and humor. Bold and very real, these twelve stories examine a world we all know but find difficult to define.
Whether a story dashes the bravado of young street toughs or pierces through the self-deception of a failed preacher, challenges the audacity of a killer or explodes the jealousy of two lovers, James Alan McPherson has created an array of haunting images and memorable characters in an unsurpassed collection of honest, masterful fiction.
Whether a story dashes the bravado of young street toughs or pierces through the self-deception of a failed preacher, challenges the audacity of a killer or explodes the jealousy of two lovers, James Alan McPherson has created an array of haunting images and memorable characters in an unsurpassed collection of honest, masterful fiction.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 12, 1977
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About the author
James Alan McPherson
32 books96 followersJames Alan McPherson was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American short story writer and essayist. He spent his early career writing short stories and essays, almost without exception, for The Atlantic. At the age of 35, McPherson received a Pulitzer Prize for his collection of stories, Elbow Room (1978). He is also the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1973) and the MacArthur Foundation Award (the so-called "Genius Award"; 1981) and was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995. He is perhaps most often quoted for propounding this philosophy of American citizenship: "I believe that if one can experience diversity, touch a variety of its people, laugh at its craziness, distill wisdom from its tragedies, and attempt to synthesize all this inside oneself without going crazy, one will have earned the right to call oneself 'citizen of the United States.'"
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews
February 1, 2021
Great collection of short stories about being black in America in the 70s, still relevant today during this period of Black Lives Matter. The stories demonstrate a variety of levels of economic status and lots of different situations. My favorite was probably "A Loaf Of Bread" but they were all so fun and thought-provoking. Definitely understand how it was selected in 1978 for the Pulitzer, the first awarded to a black male author.
My rating of all the Pulitzer Winners: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
My rating of all the Pulitzer Winners: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
April 24, 2016
A lifetime ago I attended the University of Virginia and took a creative writing class from James Alan McPherson. He was a profoundly intelligent as he was drastically shy. He did not seem comfortable at all in acting as teacher, and though the class went perfectly well I don't recall a lot of laughter; from anyone. His most recent book at that point was Elbow Room; it was a few years old by then and he seemed to have stopped writing altogether, despite the acclaim the book had received (along with a Pulitzer Prize). He was soon to be award a MacArthur Fellowship; apparently the hope was that the prize would inspire him to get back to writing fiction. No such luck. He went several years more before publishing another book, and at that point he was writing nonfiction. And at that point too he had long since left the University of Virginia. In fact, I think he left the year after I took his class. Rumor had it that he was fatigued with the Old South FFV culture that dominated at UVA; he even hated the famously neo-classical architecture of the place.
Being a dumb undergraduate, it didn't occur to me then that I should read what my teachers had written, so I didn't go near Elbow Room the semester I took McPherson's class. Some years later, though, having graduated and entered the working world, I found Elbow Room as a remainder in a DC area bookstore. I bought it--at that point very curious to read this famous book by my former teacher with the compellingly odd mannerisms and deep silences--but I promptly left it in the movie theatre I headed to next. When I went back for it the next day it was nowhere to be found. Something seemed to be keeping me from reading this book! Oh well, I said, I definitely will get to it soon enough, as soon as I get ahold of another copy.
But I didn't. Finally, reading a reference to the book recently in an essay by Charles Baxter--many many years after I lost it in that movie theatre--I decided about a month ago that the time had come to right my longstanding. I ordered the book off Amazon and have since read it with pleasure. It's exactly what one should expect from a smart, gifted, and profoundly silent man like McPherson. All the stories are amazingly subtle, and a few, especially the latter ones, are pure adventures for the head. "A Sense of the Story," for instance, depicts a judge reading a court transcript to prepare for a decision he must render in a murder case. The bulk of the story is the transcript itself, from which the reader is expected to draw his own conclusions. (Kind of the way the audience must in Ayn Rand's play The Night of January 16th.) For the judge, apparently, the answer is obvious, but the reader should not and does not trust the judge's judgment. The story seems to be pointing the reader to buried truths in the testimony, and it's a challenge to draw them out. The title story, meanwhile, is a crafty and challenging metafiction that features a first person narrator writer-character given to opaque philosophical speculation about racial identites in America as well as an "editor" who makes comments on the narrator's story throughout, questioning the narrator's claims and pushing him to more clarity. How is never certain is whether the editor is truly an editor or merely the writer character criticizing himself.
Most of the remaining stories are narrated in more conventional style; many are memorable; a few are classics; and most feature a similar sort of character as the narrator or lead protagonist: a deeply intelligent black man who can be rather clumsy in his perceptions of other people, who can, in fact, be his own worst enemy. This is to say that McPherson and his stories are often smarter than the narrators who tell them. Some of my favorites are "I Am an American"--the most comic story in the book--depicting the ridiculous attempts by an American visitor to England to help two Chinese whose hotel room may or may not have been robbed. (The "robbery" may have been a faulty conclusion drawn by the profoundly judgmental American). "Loaf of Bread" depicts a war between an embattled grocery store owner and the local black population that believes--rightly--that he charges them unfairly for his goods. The story does not end the way you would expect. Then there's the subtle criticism unleased upon the protagonist in "Widows and Orphans." In this story, a Chicago-based professor visiting LA attends an award banquet organized and mc'd by the professor's ex-girlfiend, who also happens to be his former student. To make matters even more awkward, the professor, upon seeing his former girlfirend, is struck by how more poised and beautiful she now seems, while trying at the same time to negotiate the gentle criticisms lobbed at him by the ex-girlfriend's mother, who is also in attendance, radiantly proud of her daughter, the woman he let get away. And there's "Why I Like Country Music," perhaps the most obvious story in the book, a charming tale of first love rendered by a very McPherson-like, socially awkward, even retrograde, narrator.
Some of the stories are more subtle than others, but they are all quite subtle. Very quiet in their effect. This exact quality is what makes McPherson a master storyteller; but it also means the stories might not sink in for readers looking for immediately obvious meanings, and for more simple entertainment. I think they are beautifully told and demonstrate a decidedly insider viewpoint on African-American culture, useful for non-African-Americans to be exposed to. McPherson is a profoundly human writer, who lampoons no one, at least not severely, and seems to be able to read all the many refinements of character within a single individual. This is to say that he writes of complex people. It's no suprise, however, that he has migrated to nonfiction. While the stories of Elbow Room are most certainly stories, not essays, it's not hard for a reader to feel that behind the collection is the history of African-Americans in the United States. McPherson, through his stories, can't help but comment--sometimes wryly, sometimes tragically--on that history. Which is amazing given that there are actually very few white characters in the book. Even so, the variant histories of black and whites in this country is always there; one can't ever get away from it, no matter what color you are, but especially if you are black.
Being a dumb undergraduate, it didn't occur to me then that I should read what my teachers had written, so I didn't go near Elbow Room the semester I took McPherson's class. Some years later, though, having graduated and entered the working world, I found Elbow Room as a remainder in a DC area bookstore. I bought it--at that point very curious to read this famous book by my former teacher with the compellingly odd mannerisms and deep silences--but I promptly left it in the movie theatre I headed to next. When I went back for it the next day it was nowhere to be found. Something seemed to be keeping me from reading this book! Oh well, I said, I definitely will get to it soon enough, as soon as I get ahold of another copy.
But I didn't. Finally, reading a reference to the book recently in an essay by Charles Baxter--many many years after I lost it in that movie theatre--I decided about a month ago that the time had come to right my longstanding. I ordered the book off Amazon and have since read it with pleasure. It's exactly what one should expect from a smart, gifted, and profoundly silent man like McPherson. All the stories are amazingly subtle, and a few, especially the latter ones, are pure adventures for the head. "A Sense of the Story," for instance, depicts a judge reading a court transcript to prepare for a decision he must render in a murder case. The bulk of the story is the transcript itself, from which the reader is expected to draw his own conclusions. (Kind of the way the audience must in Ayn Rand's play The Night of January 16th.) For the judge, apparently, the answer is obvious, but the reader should not and does not trust the judge's judgment. The story seems to be pointing the reader to buried truths in the testimony, and it's a challenge to draw them out. The title story, meanwhile, is a crafty and challenging metafiction that features a first person narrator writer-character given to opaque philosophical speculation about racial identites in America as well as an "editor" who makes comments on the narrator's story throughout, questioning the narrator's claims and pushing him to more clarity. How is never certain is whether the editor is truly an editor or merely the writer character criticizing himself.
Most of the remaining stories are narrated in more conventional style; many are memorable; a few are classics; and most feature a similar sort of character as the narrator or lead protagonist: a deeply intelligent black man who can be rather clumsy in his perceptions of other people, who can, in fact, be his own worst enemy. This is to say that McPherson and his stories are often smarter than the narrators who tell them. Some of my favorites are "I Am an American"--the most comic story in the book--depicting the ridiculous attempts by an American visitor to England to help two Chinese whose hotel room may or may not have been robbed. (The "robbery" may have been a faulty conclusion drawn by the profoundly judgmental American). "Loaf of Bread" depicts a war between an embattled grocery store owner and the local black population that believes--rightly--that he charges them unfairly for his goods. The story does not end the way you would expect. Then there's the subtle criticism unleased upon the protagonist in "Widows and Orphans." In this story, a Chicago-based professor visiting LA attends an award banquet organized and mc'd by the professor's ex-girlfiend, who also happens to be his former student. To make matters even more awkward, the professor, upon seeing his former girlfirend, is struck by how more poised and beautiful she now seems, while trying at the same time to negotiate the gentle criticisms lobbed at him by the ex-girlfriend's mother, who is also in attendance, radiantly proud of her daughter, the woman he let get away. And there's "Why I Like Country Music," perhaps the most obvious story in the book, a charming tale of first love rendered by a very McPherson-like, socially awkward, even retrograde, narrator.
Some of the stories are more subtle than others, but they are all quite subtle. Very quiet in their effect. This exact quality is what makes McPherson a master storyteller; but it also means the stories might not sink in for readers looking for immediately obvious meanings, and for more simple entertainment. I think they are beautifully told and demonstrate a decidedly insider viewpoint on African-American culture, useful for non-African-Americans to be exposed to. McPherson is a profoundly human writer, who lampoons no one, at least not severely, and seems to be able to read all the many refinements of character within a single individual. This is to say that he writes of complex people. It's no suprise, however, that he has migrated to nonfiction. While the stories of Elbow Room are most certainly stories, not essays, it's not hard for a reader to feel that behind the collection is the history of African-Americans in the United States. McPherson, through his stories, can't help but comment--sometimes wryly, sometimes tragically--on that history. Which is amazing given that there are actually very few white characters in the book. Even so, the variant histories of black and whites in this country is always there; one can't ever get away from it, no matter what color you are, but especially if you are black.
January 6, 2022
I had not heard of James Alan McPherson prior to reading this excellent collection of short stories. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1978 and a finalist for the National Book Award in the same year, the collection is very much worthy of these accolades. My first impression was that the prose was simple, clear, easy to consume in big bites. The other thing I noticed is that while the protagonists and other characters in almost all of the stories are black, this is not readily apparent, and it often doesn’t feel like the stories are about issues or challenges specific to blacks in America.
Not all of the stories follow the same paradigm though. Just Enough for the City is about all the religious affiliations a black man encounters in the city in which he lives, both proselytes that come to his door and those he meets in the businesses he frequents. While this was my least favorite story, I could not help but admire its structure and how ideas were presented. The last and title story, Elbow Room, was very unique in structure but also very enjoyable. I’ll admit I was lost at the beginning of this one, but completely bought in by the end.
In terms of fiction, McPherson’s output was limited to two collections of short stories. Halfway through this one, I purchased a copy of the other collection—to be saved for future enjoyment.
Not all of the stories follow the same paradigm though. Just Enough for the City is about all the religious affiliations a black man encounters in the city in which he lives, both proselytes that come to his door and those he meets in the businesses he frequents. While this was my least favorite story, I could not help but admire its structure and how ideas were presented. The last and title story, Elbow Room, was very unique in structure but also very enjoyable. I’ll admit I was lost at the beginning of this one, but completely bought in by the end.
In terms of fiction, McPherson’s output was limited to two collections of short stories. Halfway through this one, I purchased a copy of the other collection—to be saved for future enjoyment.
October 22, 2007
This book includes one of my favorite quotations ever.
"I think that love must be the ability to suspend one's intelligence for the sake of something. At the basis of love therefore must live imagination."
This is a really amazing collection of short stories, highly recommended.
"I think that love must be the ability to suspend one's intelligence for the sake of something. At the basis of love therefore must live imagination."
This is a really amazing collection of short stories, highly recommended.
June 25, 2020
I wanted to mark the halfway point in my challenge to read a Pulitzer Prize winner every month with an "older" winner, but I was also trying to read more work by black authors in an effort to improve my understanding of racial disparity. James Alan McPherson's 1978 collection, Elbow Room, ended up being an excellent choice because it allowed me a window into the black experience in America that you won't find on many of the "must-read" lists circulating these days. What's more, these stories offer a complexity and nuance that really hit the spot in a time where an international conversation about race is afoot.
The collection doesn't start strong, but after moving through the first story I was taken with McPherson's writing and range. These stories cut across a wide swath of the socioeconomic divide and McPherson handles each with skill and style. The Story of a Dead Man recounts a the life of a gangster and his many exploits as narrated by his cousin prior to a family supper. Meanwhile, I am an American places a black man in the UK navigating a robbery at his hotel, and A Sense of Story presents an open-and-shut murder case as more than it first appears. These twelve stories veer and swerve into different lanes, but each one manages to hit hard. Though the writing is continuously solid, the voice changes throughout these stories and is brought to life by pitch-perfect dialogue.
What I appreciated most about these stories are their ambiguity and refusal to offer easy answers to the reader. One of the beauties of the short story, in my opinion, is that they can leave the reader hanging in mid-air at the end of their telling. McPherson manages to straddle that line between narrative and thematic resolution. Each story poses a question by its end about human nature, black life in the US, religion, or romance in a fashion that kept me thinking about what I'd read long after I'd finished the story. This is never done in a way that needles the reader with overt virtue signalling, but instead invites internal conflict and reflection.
Despite a few stories that didn't land with me, this is a pretty excellent collection. Perhaps it was the pocket paperback, but I felt like each story asked me to think about what I was reading like I was back at school. For me, it made for stories that feel realistic but have massive symbolic and metaphorical grounding. It's the type of book that makes me want to think, discuss, and eventually revisit. For now, I'm going to pack this one up and send it by mail to a friend, but I hope you check it out too.
This the sixth book of my 2020 Pulitzer Challenge
The collection doesn't start strong, but after moving through the first story I was taken with McPherson's writing and range. These stories cut across a wide swath of the socioeconomic divide and McPherson handles each with skill and style. The Story of a Dead Man recounts a the life of a gangster and his many exploits as narrated by his cousin prior to a family supper. Meanwhile, I am an American places a black man in the UK navigating a robbery at his hotel, and A Sense of Story presents an open-and-shut murder case as more than it first appears. These twelve stories veer and swerve into different lanes, but each one manages to hit hard. Though the writing is continuously solid, the voice changes throughout these stories and is brought to life by pitch-perfect dialogue.
What I appreciated most about these stories are their ambiguity and refusal to offer easy answers to the reader. One of the beauties of the short story, in my opinion, is that they can leave the reader hanging in mid-air at the end of their telling. McPherson manages to straddle that line between narrative and thematic resolution. Each story poses a question by its end about human nature, black life in the US, religion, or romance in a fashion that kept me thinking about what I'd read long after I'd finished the story. This is never done in a way that needles the reader with overt virtue signalling, but instead invites internal conflict and reflection.
Despite a few stories that didn't land with me, this is a pretty excellent collection. Perhaps it was the pocket paperback, but I felt like each story asked me to think about what I was reading like I was back at school. For me, it made for stories that feel realistic but have massive symbolic and metaphorical grounding. It's the type of book that makes me want to think, discuss, and eventually revisit. For now, I'm going to pack this one up and send it by mail to a friend, but I hope you check it out too.
This the sixth book of my 2020 Pulitzer Challenge
October 5, 2021
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER: 1978
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4.5 rounded down
If I truly went with the average of these stories, this would be a lower rating, but I was too impressed with the writing here and the collection overall to rate it lower. Super smart writing, and each short story is perfectly paced and displays a keen insight into the various characters. Even when I didn't particularly enjoy the stories, I appreciated them. There were a number that I didn't quite get, but I think that's a me issue.
Why I Like Country Music: 5 stars
A man thinking back to his youth and a crush he had on a girl in his class with whom he was able to square dance with on May Day. Lovely and poignant and the perfect length.
The Story of a Dead Man: 4 stars
A man from the South who makes his way to Chicago and "moves up in the world" as compared with his shiftless cousin who had a different path. A less compelling story for me personally, but brilliantly rendered.
The Silver Bullet: 3.5 stars
Boy tries to join a gang and finds the whole process more difficult than imagined. Appreciated the point and themes, and the writing was fabulous, but so far the least engaging.
The Faithful: 3 stars
An old preacher and a barber who cannot change with the times. Part of why I didn't enjoy this one is because the writing is so good that he really brought this stubborn man vividly to life and I found him so damn frustrating! Which is a credit to the prose, but I was annoyed the whole time.
Problems of Art: 4 stars
Story of a white lawyer assigned to represent a Black woman at risk of losing her license due to a alleged drunk driving incident. Interesting story and loved the ending.
The Story of a Scar: 3.5 stars
Woman in a doctor's waiting room tells the story of how she got a facial scar to a fellow patient. A bit depressing.
I Am an American: 3 stars
A couple abroad in London witness a robbery and are stood up by a friend of a friend. Didn't really much see the point to this one.
Widows and Orphans: 2.5 stars
Man watching an awards ceremony for his former lover/university student. Not sure I got this one...
A Loaf of Bread: 4 stars
Grocer caught charging Black neighborhood higher prices than in white neighborhoods and picketed until his wife convinces him to take a day to give away all his merchandise. Interesting concept, not totally sure I *got* it.
Just Enough for the City: 2 stars
Well written and I could tell that it was clever but it went RIGHT over my head...
A Sense of Story: 3 stars
Judge reviewing the transcript of a court case after the defendant admits to murder in the courtroom. Another one that I just don't think I ~got~.
Elbow Room: 5 stars
My favorite of the bunch, and I can see why this is the title story! A Black narrator and collector of stories tells a piece of the story of a white man and a Black woman's relationship. The style here was super unique and the writing blew me away.
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4.5 rounded down
If I truly went with the average of these stories, this would be a lower rating, but I was too impressed with the writing here and the collection overall to rate it lower. Super smart writing, and each short story is perfectly paced and displays a keen insight into the various characters. Even when I didn't particularly enjoy the stories, I appreciated them. There were a number that I didn't quite get, but I think that's a me issue.
Why I Like Country Music: 5 stars
A man thinking back to his youth and a crush he had on a girl in his class with whom he was able to square dance with on May Day. Lovely and poignant and the perfect length.
The Story of a Dead Man: 4 stars
A man from the South who makes his way to Chicago and "moves up in the world" as compared with his shiftless cousin who had a different path. A less compelling story for me personally, but brilliantly rendered.
The Silver Bullet: 3.5 stars
Boy tries to join a gang and finds the whole process more difficult than imagined. Appreciated the point and themes, and the writing was fabulous, but so far the least engaging.
The Faithful: 3 stars
An old preacher and a barber who cannot change with the times. Part of why I didn't enjoy this one is because the writing is so good that he really brought this stubborn man vividly to life and I found him so damn frustrating! Which is a credit to the prose, but I was annoyed the whole time.
Problems of Art: 4 stars
Story of a white lawyer assigned to represent a Black woman at risk of losing her license due to a alleged drunk driving incident. Interesting story and loved the ending.
The Story of a Scar: 3.5 stars
Woman in a doctor's waiting room tells the story of how she got a facial scar to a fellow patient. A bit depressing.
I Am an American: 3 stars
A couple abroad in London witness a robbery and are stood up by a friend of a friend. Didn't really much see the point to this one.
Widows and Orphans: 2.5 stars
Man watching an awards ceremony for his former lover/university student. Not sure I got this one...
A Loaf of Bread: 4 stars
Grocer caught charging Black neighborhood higher prices than in white neighborhoods and picketed until his wife convinces him to take a day to give away all his merchandise. Interesting concept, not totally sure I *got* it.
Just Enough for the City: 2 stars
Well written and I could tell that it was clever but it went RIGHT over my head...
A Sense of Story: 3 stars
Judge reviewing the transcript of a court case after the defendant admits to murder in the courtroom. Another one that I just don't think I ~got~.
Elbow Room: 5 stars
My favorite of the bunch, and I can see why this is the title story! A Black narrator and collector of stories tells a piece of the story of a white man and a Black woman's relationship. The style here was super unique and the writing blew me away.
July 11, 2014
This collection of stories won the Pulitzer Prize, yet James Alan McPherson doesn't get nearly the attention he deserves. The stories in Elbow Room are as relevant today as when the collection was first published in the early 1970's. McPherson is one of the few writers whose stories depict black and white characters intersecting and interacting--the world of his stories is not the world of the dominant culture, nor is it racially segregated.... his stories take place in the intersections between white and black, and the writer often waits until well into the story to reveal to the reader the racial background of individual characters. The stories are about, for one thing, the power of stories--the stories we tell each other, and the stories we tell ourselves. The final story in the collection, "Elbow Room," seems purposefully oblique--but it is not. This was my favorite story in the collection, because I thought it told the truth about relationships, and about the realization of one character of his place in the world. In the story, a white character married to a black woman, goes through a slow awakening as he realizes his own whiteness, his own place in the dominant culture. And McPherson creates an unusual device in this story: he has two voices, a narrator and an editor. I haven't figured it all out, still thinking about it, but I think this has to do with a comment in the story about how we see the world with two eyes. The stories in this collection deserve reading and rereading, and you will probably find they linger in your mind long after you finish readin.
March 13, 2018
This falls in the pleasant surprise category, for sure. I haven't knocked out a Pulitzer for a shamefully long time, and theoretically I do not like short stories, so I was just going to work on this, expectations very low. And it was mostly fabulous! The title story and one or two others were kind of duds, but the majority were so vivid and engaging that I felt as invested as a novel. They're pretty old, but they felt very fresh, and many had a subtle ingenuity that made them very poignant. A big win for the Pulitzer project. I just wish short stories were easier to discuss. Already, I've forgotten all the specifics and don't know how to best set this up for our group--and I forgot all the titles, and my copy is returned. This is why I theoretically hate short stories.
May 14, 2025
4.5 stars. A collection of twelve varying short stories about the black experience in the USA in the 1960s and 1970s. The stories are very well written, with a degree of subtlety, having good characterization and interesting scenarios.
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‘The Story of a Dead Man’ is about Billy Renfro, who finds himself doing something illegal. The narrator, Billy’s cousin, describes Billy as a wild gallivanting shyster, a spinner of yarns, the son of an alcoholic and an invalid. Billy comes out of a seven year prison term to be shot in the eye whilst tracking down negroes who have defaulted on their car payments.
In ‘The silver Bullet’ a young boy who hopes to join the Henry Street gang, must prove his metal by robbing a local Bar and Grill.
‘The Faithful’ involves a stubborn old barber who is also a fiery preacher. He refuses to change with the times.
‘In ‘Problems of Art’, Mrs Mary Farragot is a poor widow who has been charged with driving under the influence.
‘The Story of a Scar’ is about a woman with a scarred face telling her story about a romantic dispute that suddenly turned violent.
In ‘I am an American’, a black couple traveling from Paris to London encounter Japanese students who have been robbed in a hotel.
‘Widows and Orphans’ is about Louis Clayton, a teacher, who reflects on his failed romance with a beautiful, independent student named Clair.
‘A Loaf of Bread’ finds a white grocer named Harold Green caught raising prices at one of his three stores in a black community. Harold faces street protests and news coverage.
In ‘A Sense of Story’, a black defendant is charged with the murder of his auto shop boss of over ten years. The judge in making his deliberations goes through the court case transcript.
‘Elbow Room’ is about a narrator describing the issues of an interracial couple.
This book was first published in 1977 and won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
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‘The Story of a Dead Man’ is about Billy Renfro, who finds himself doing something illegal. The narrator, Billy’s cousin, describes Billy as a wild gallivanting shyster, a spinner of yarns, the son of an alcoholic and an invalid. Billy comes out of a seven year prison term to be shot in the eye whilst tracking down negroes who have defaulted on their car payments.
In ‘The silver Bullet’ a young boy who hopes to join the Henry Street gang, must prove his metal by robbing a local Bar and Grill.
‘The Faithful’ involves a stubborn old barber who is also a fiery preacher. He refuses to change with the times.
‘In ‘Problems of Art’, Mrs Mary Farragot is a poor widow who has been charged with driving under the influence.
‘The Story of a Scar’ is about a woman with a scarred face telling her story about a romantic dispute that suddenly turned violent.
In ‘I am an American’, a black couple traveling from Paris to London encounter Japanese students who have been robbed in a hotel.
‘Widows and Orphans’ is about Louis Clayton, a teacher, who reflects on his failed romance with a beautiful, independent student named Clair.
‘A Loaf of Bread’ finds a white grocer named Harold Green caught raising prices at one of his three stores in a black community. Harold faces street protests and news coverage.
In ‘A Sense of Story’, a black defendant is charged with the murder of his auto shop boss of over ten years. The judge in making his deliberations goes through the court case transcript.
‘Elbow Room’ is about a narrator describing the issues of an interracial couple.
This book was first published in 1977 and won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
August 15, 2007
This was the first book I ever picked up by James Alan McPherson. Now, I've marked all of his other stuff "to read." Oh, and, more specifically, I recall being struck by the barber shop in "The Faithful" (can still see it now) and "Just Enough for the City" overall. Others too... but my mind is going...
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August 26, 2016Beautifully written. Some stories really touched my soul.
June 2, 2018
This book written by James Alan McPherson won the Pulitzer Prize in 1978. The book is a collection of short stories that explore America from an African American perspective. I give this book 4 stars.
February 18, 2017
Another short story collection and this time I wasn't bored to tears. For February I read James Alan McPherson's Elbow Room, it seemed like an appropriate read for Black History Month. McPherson won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for this collection of twelve short stories that explore the everyday lives of a eclectic group of people connected to the black community.
What I loved about this collection is that it felt so natural, each of McPherson's stories was about events or interactions that you, I, or anyone else could have. From talking to a stranger at the doctors office to being witness to a theft in a foreign country, the situations are not unto themselves exclusively black experiences. What McPherson does is beautifully take these interactions and experiences and retells them from the perspective of the black community. McPherson is a true master story teller, his stories are unique, they are engaging, thought provoking, and full of empathy. I can't imagine someone not liking this collection of short stories.
Some of my favourite stories in the collection were:
- The Silver Bullet - a comical tale of one man's attempt to join a street gang. If there was one man who was not meant to be part of any gang it is Willis Davis.
- Problems of Art - a pro-bono lawyer named Corliss Milford is set to represent Mrs. Farragot against charges of drunk driving, except the truth seems just out of reach.
- I Am An American - Leroy and Eunice are on vacation in London when they find themselves embroiled in a case of theft, where Leroy is the witness. The issue, the indivduals' who were robbed are Japanese tourists who speak very little english. Anyone who has travelled to foreign countries knows that somehow you will always end up as translator at some point in your travels.
- A Loaf of Bread - A store owner is accused of raising his prices in a predominantly black low-income community. The story is told from the perspective of the store owner and the leader of the protest group. This short story is a humbling look at human nature and greed (but not in the way you imagine).
If you are a fan of short stories I highly recommend this book, it was an easy read and always interesting. Or, if you are just looking for a good book to read for Black History Month then look no further, this is a great choice.
Happy reading everyone!
What I loved about this collection is that it felt so natural, each of McPherson's stories was about events or interactions that you, I, or anyone else could have. From talking to a stranger at the doctors office to being witness to a theft in a foreign country, the situations are not unto themselves exclusively black experiences. What McPherson does is beautifully take these interactions and experiences and retells them from the perspective of the black community. McPherson is a true master story teller, his stories are unique, they are engaging, thought provoking, and full of empathy. I can't imagine someone not liking this collection of short stories.
Some of my favourite stories in the collection were:
- The Silver Bullet - a comical tale of one man's attempt to join a street gang. If there was one man who was not meant to be part of any gang it is Willis Davis.
- Problems of Art - a pro-bono lawyer named Corliss Milford is set to represent Mrs. Farragot against charges of drunk driving, except the truth seems just out of reach.
- I Am An American - Leroy and Eunice are on vacation in London when they find themselves embroiled in a case of theft, where Leroy is the witness. The issue, the indivduals' who were robbed are Japanese tourists who speak very little english. Anyone who has travelled to foreign countries knows that somehow you will always end up as translator at some point in your travels.
- A Loaf of Bread - A store owner is accused of raising his prices in a predominantly black low-income community. The story is told from the perspective of the store owner and the leader of the protest group. This short story is a humbling look at human nature and greed (but not in the way you imagine).
If you are a fan of short stories I highly recommend this book, it was an easy read and always interesting. Or, if you are just looking for a good book to read for Black History Month then look no further, this is a great choice.
Happy reading everyone!
May 28, 2010
Extremely well written, but very traditional. I guess I just wasn't in the mood for something so straightforward. The first story was lovely, but over the course of the collection I became bored. Which is really a shame, because the language is pretty masterful. But it has that sort of Updike-y, New Yorker-y feel, just no surprises at all. The final story pushed things forward a bit, so I appreciated that one, but by that time I was ready to be done.
August 17, 2025
Personal faves were "A Loaf of Bread" and the title story "Elbow Room"
June 7, 2018
Pulitzer-prize winning short story collection from 1977. Like many short story collections, they vary significantly, from slice-of-life stories about the african-american community (mostly involving southern immigrants to Chicago) to more philosophical and experimental stories. The stories were probably ground-breaking in 1977, less so now in my opinion, although still enjoyable, and the better ones stand the test of time.
One beef I had with this edition: there is no information on publishing history. I have to believe that some if not all of the stories were previously published.
Finall, why is this volume (and his other short story collection Hue and Cry) not available for Kindle? These are exactly the kind of backlist books that the Kindle is meant to save.
One beef I had with this edition: there is no information on publishing history. I have to believe that some if not all of the stories were previously published.
Finall, why is this volume (and his other short story collection Hue and Cry) not available for Kindle? These are exactly the kind of backlist books that the Kindle is meant to save.
December 23, 2025
After story #3, I put the book down and declared it a DNF, but then months later, I picked it back up, and story #4-#9 were fantastic.
"The Faithful," "Problems of Art," " Widows and Orphans," and "The Story of a Scar" are 5 stars.
I will re-read some of these stories because they will grow in impact with every read.
"The Faithful," "Problems of Art," " Widows and Orphans," and "The Story of a Scar" are 5 stars.
I will re-read some of these stories because they will grow in impact with every read.
February 10, 2017
Enjoyable, well-crafted stories, though generally running a bit too long, revolving mostly around black Americans, many of whom have left the South for parts more prosperous and taken on the guise of immigrants, in the ~60s-70s. The telling of stories, or the construction of a narrative out of life's parts, and the passing of news, or gossip, figure prominently in several of these stories: In "Why I Like Country Music" a man recalls the root of his love of white folks' in a school performance alongside the first girl he loved; a man tries to set the story straight regarding a disastrous dinner with his fiancee's family and his ne'er-do-well cousin in "The Story of a Dead Man"; early love and violence are recalled in a doctor's waiting room by a woman in "The Story of a Scar"; "A Sense Of Story" finds a judge reviewing courtroom transcripts, arranging facts and trying to determine the reasoning, the story, of a man's murdering his boss; and in the title story the outside voice of an editor interjects into, comments on, the narrative to ask questions, guide and shape, and demand clarity of the speaker.
Also great (along with "The Story of a Dead Man" perhaps the best in the collection): A barber and preacher finds his business failing because of his refusal to cut hair in new styles and his flock fleeing for a more modern, showier church in "The Faithful"; a man vacationing in London works around the language barrier to help Japanese tourists who have been robbed in "I Am An American"; and a man recalls the tempestuous relationship with a woman and the ties of family while attending an awards banquet in her honor in "Widows And Orphans."
Also great (along with "The Story of a Dead Man" perhaps the best in the collection): A barber and preacher finds his business failing because of his refusal to cut hair in new styles and his flock fleeing for a more modern, showier church in "The Faithful"; a man vacationing in London works around the language barrier to help Japanese tourists who have been robbed in "I Am An American"; and a man recalls the tempestuous relationship with a woman and the ties of family while attending an awards banquet in her honor in "Widows And Orphans."
October 29, 2023
Loved this collection! I haven't read any of James Alan McPherson's work before and I'm kind of upset I never got to read some of his stories in school.
The following is going to sound like a backhanded compliment, but it is sincere. I have come to expect short stories to contain five times as much subtext as story, authors working so hard to stuff buckets of significance into as few words as possible. (Cough, The New Yorker cough.) The reader, then, is compelled to work very hard to decode the author's intent, all the while feeling insecure that something important has been missed due to the reader's own obtuseness. Most of McPherson's stories are not like that. Certainly not everything is explicit, show-don't-tell is certainly in effect here, but as far as I can tell, the author is not attempting to make his readers stretch and contort their brains to decipher a story's meaning. It is so much more relaxing to read a story about characters than about symbols. Aside from the more challenging final story, "Elbow Room," the stories in this collection are comparatively simple--but not simpleminded--each focusing on one or two individual characters, giving the reader an opportunity to think about what sort of experiences might have shaped such an individual rather than ponder the reason the author made one character's clothing a certain color.
Of course, there's a possibility that I am so obtuse that I missed all of McPherson's extremely subtle subtext.
The following is going to sound like a backhanded compliment, but it is sincere. I have come to expect short stories to contain five times as much subtext as story, authors working so hard to stuff buckets of significance into as few words as possible. (Cough, The New Yorker cough.) The reader, then, is compelled to work very hard to decode the author's intent, all the while feeling insecure that something important has been missed due to the reader's own obtuseness. Most of McPherson's stories are not like that. Certainly not everything is explicit, show-don't-tell is certainly in effect here, but as far as I can tell, the author is not attempting to make his readers stretch and contort their brains to decipher a story's meaning. It is so much more relaxing to read a story about characters than about symbols. Aside from the more challenging final story, "Elbow Room," the stories in this collection are comparatively simple--but not simpleminded--each focusing on one or two individual characters, giving the reader an opportunity to think about what sort of experiences might have shaped such an individual rather than ponder the reason the author made one character's clothing a certain color.
Of course, there's a possibility that I am so obtuse that I missed all of McPherson's extremely subtle subtext.
April 9, 2023
This may be the most cohesive collection of short stories I’ve ever read, culminating with the extraordinary title story. Published in 1977, a strange moment nestled between the turmoil and optimism of the Civil Rights Era and the decay and new racism of the eighties, Elbow Room captures a moment of profound uncertainty with compassion, levity and a deep respect for the sanctity of the individual.
But to characterize this collection merely as a set of tales focused on race or the Black experience shortchanges the depth of the characters’ individuality, the stalwart ways in which they confound the expectations of those around them. McPherson manages to challenge identity politics even as he advances the essential backdrop of history, imploring the reader to substitute the particular for the collective and to suspend judgments. Numerous characters are made to seem foolish for their assumptions, and in recognizing this foolishness are redeemed.
This book, nearly half a century old and mostly forgotten, is the most instructive and compelling treatise on the conundrum of race in America I can remember reading. It is a master class in struggling with the paradox of treating individuals as such without ignoring the entrenched differences in the experiences of whites and Blacks.
But to characterize this collection merely as a set of tales focused on race or the Black experience shortchanges the depth of the characters’ individuality, the stalwart ways in which they confound the expectations of those around them. McPherson manages to challenge identity politics even as he advances the essential backdrop of history, imploring the reader to substitute the particular for the collective and to suspend judgments. Numerous characters are made to seem foolish for their assumptions, and in recognizing this foolishness are redeemed.
This book, nearly half a century old and mostly forgotten, is the most instructive and compelling treatise on the conundrum of race in America I can remember reading. It is a master class in struggling with the paradox of treating individuals as such without ignoring the entrenched differences in the experiences of whites and Blacks.
November 15, 2017
"Elbow Room" explores the notion of “Who you will be is based on who you marry and where you live.” This story also touches on the idea of family. That is, both families want their children to “come home,” and live out their lives according to their wishes. Paul and Virginia are two individuals who are challenging the beliefs of their parents, and of some American stereotypes concerning mixed marriages. Both characters just want to communicate a message of hope and freedom to others. As the narrator pointed out about this interracial couple: “They were the most democratic people I have ever seen. They simply allow people to present themselves.” Virginia and Paul had opened their home to people of all races. It was in their nature to bring freedom to themselves and those around them. As stated by the narrator, to be a “nigger” means an “expression of the highest form of freedom.” In the end, this is why it was the couple’s desire that their child would be a “classic kind of nigger.” In his finale, the narrator seemed to know that the boy’s life story would be one of strength and freedom. These characteristics he would inherit from Paul and Virginia.
November 3, 2014
Collections of short stories by James Alan McPherson - some humorous, some serious and very realistic.
I really like the following stories:
"Why I Like Country Music" - everyone has a childhood story like this!
"Silver Bullet" - generational differences
"The Faithful" - about the neighborhood barbershop and changing times
"Problems of Art" - about an old widow and a car accident, had to read the ending twice to get it - but worth it!
"The Story of a Scar" - meeting a victim of domestic abuse in a doctor's office
"A Loaf of Bread" - about pride/community respect versus the corner store
"A Sense of Story" - court case
"Widows and Orphans"
"I am an American" - being a black American traveling through Europe.
I really like the following stories:
"Why I Like Country Music" - everyone has a childhood story like this!
"Silver Bullet" - generational differences
"The Faithful" - about the neighborhood barbershop and changing times
"Problems of Art" - about an old widow and a car accident, had to read the ending twice to get it - but worth it!
"The Story of a Scar" - meeting a victim of domestic abuse in a doctor's office
"A Loaf of Bread" - about pride/community respect versus the corner store
"A Sense of Story" - court case
"Widows and Orphans"
"I am an American" - being a black American traveling through Europe.
October 22, 2020
This is a brilliant little book, though I didn't realize how brilliant until I reached the final story of the collection which illuminated the theme of What its like to be Black in America.
Published in 1978, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, James Alan McPherson's collection of twelve stories starts out with a gentle, almost sweet story about a black man who likes country music because it reminds him of the girl he had a crush on in grade school who was from the "South Carolina section of Brooklyn." The stories get deeper and more serious, culminating in "Elbow Room," the titular story.
ELBOW ROOM is rife with humor, truth, and pain. This is a book that would undoubtedly get better with subsequent readings.
FIVE colorful STARS
Published in 1978, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, James Alan McPherson's collection of twelve stories starts out with a gentle, almost sweet story about a black man who likes country music because it reminds him of the girl he had a crush on in grade school who was from the "South Carolina section of Brooklyn." The stories get deeper and more serious, culminating in "Elbow Room," the titular story.
ELBOW ROOM is rife with humor, truth, and pain. This is a book that would undoubtedly get better with subsequent readings.
FIVE colorful STARS
November 10, 2016
This was written in the 1970s. I had reserved it at the library when I read about the author's death and his awards. The cover of the library's copy is blank so I did not know Elbow Room was a collection of short stories. The first ones in the book were brilliant, I thought. Some of the others were a little weird and the weirdest of all was the title story, "Elbow Room." I would definitely say this was worth reading if you appreciate skilled craftsmanship with story telling. I think I read that McPherson taught creative writing at a major university.
January 31, 2015
I first read Elbow Room in 1989. I found it while I was working at a bookstore in 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. I skimmed through it during my lunch break and it intrigued me, so I bought it that same day. I am so glad I did. Elbow Room is pure brilliance. James Alan McPherson is a master of the written word and the art of short fiction.
Highly recommended to anyone who loves a good short story or who writes short fiction.
Highly recommended to anyone who loves a good short story or who writes short fiction.
March 11, 2017
Collection of 12 short stories about Black lives in the seventies. The title story about interracial marriage would be fitting today. These are stories that makes you think about how much has changed and how much that has not.
March 18, 2019
Interesting stories told from a black perspective which I believe we must recognize before we can be a united people.
May 12, 2019
I round up as a rule, but the Goodreads overall average (3.7) is unusual in seeming to me exactly the right valuation.
December 26, 2019
Lyrical, understated, eloquent short story collection from this criminally neglected author.
August 4, 2023
A great collection of short stories from a writer at the peak of his powers. All the stories are good, most are great, a select few are astonishing. A book to be savoured.
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