Some People, Some Other Place

by J. California Cooper

J. California Cooper returns with a sweeping novel about love and heartbreak, perseverance and luck, telling her tale with an insight and grace that reaffirms Alice Walker’s words of praise for her previous works: “Her style is deceptively simple and direct and the vale of tears in which her characters reside is never so deep that a rich chuckle at a person’s foolishness cannot be heard.”

In her acclaimed novels and short stories, J. California Cooper has created moving portraits of people striving to make their way in a hard, often unjust world. Whether it explores the blatant racial and class biases of nineteenth-century America or the more subtle forms of discrimination that exist today, “It is the universality of her themes that has made Ms. Cooper’s work popular,” as the Dallas Morning News has written.

Some People, Some Other Place is Cooper’s biggest, most far-reaching novel to date. A multigenerational tale, it is set in a town called “Place,” on a street named “Dream Street.” In the words of the novel’s narrator, “the block surely had about it a feeling of long accumulation of history, of life, of many lives intertwined.” As she chronicles the interlocking lives of the residents of Dream Street, Cooper places the stories of the individuals and their families within the wider context of America’s social and economic history. We meet the narrator’s great grandparents, who left the poverty of the Deep South in 1895 and made their way to a farm in Oklahoma; her grandparents, who continued the northward journey with their eyes on the promised jobs of the industrial Midwest but were forced to settle without reaching their goal; and her mother, who finishes the journey and discovers that life at 903 Dream Street carries new burdens as well as rewards. The neighbors on the block are people of all colors, all striving to overcome personal troubles and disappointments, and all holding fast to their dreams of a better life.

Genres: African American, Fiction, Short Stories, Historical Fiction, Contemporary, Black Literature

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

J. California Cooper first found acclaim as a playwright. The author of seventeen plays, she was named Black Playwright of the Year in 1978. It was through her work in the theater that she caught the attention of acclaimed poet and novelist Alice Walker. Encouraged by Walker to turn her popular storytelling skills to fiction, Cooper wrote her first collection of short stories, A Piece of Mine, in 1984. Called "rich in wisdom and insight" and "a book that's worth reading," A Piece of Mine introduced Cooper's trademark style: her intimate and energetic narration, sympathetic yet sometimes troubled characters, and the profound moral messages that underlie seemingly simple stories. Two more story collections followed on the heels of A Piece of Mine. In 1986 came Homemade Love, winner of an American Book Award, and, in 1987, Some Soul to Keep.

Reviews

[Khristopher J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 347-pager is a tale of a black family struggling to make it to the big city and fulfill big-city objectives after leaving Oklahoma City after emanicipation. Most of the story takes place during the Great Depression, so that adds an extra vintage style to the tale. I really liked this book, and anyone who just enjoys a good story will too. I promise. It's not a NYT best-seller or a Pulitzer prize winning book, but it's solid and sweet. On the 325th page, the author develops her characters really well, I think. At page 37, she picks an interesting and refreshing approach to narrating the story in a way that there are two main characters. Her imagery was on point, especially beginning at page 67. Her foreshadowing was on point. And her command of the language is top-notch. It's one of those books that you want to hear the rest of the story even after it ends.

[Wilhelmina Jenkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know that I am in the minority, but J. California Cooper is not one of my favorites. I wanted to like this book; it was a selection for my church book club. We have read collections of her short stories in the past and, while they wouldn't be at the top of my short story list, her stories can be enjoyable and amusing. They always remind me of sitting on the front porch of the neighborhood gossip as she points to passers-by and says, "You see that girl across the street over there? Well, Honey, let me tell you...."

Of course, this approach doesn't work in a long form. The story is completely unbelievable, the characters are inconsistent and peculiar, and I really did not like the style of the book at all. The narrator is someone waiting to be born, which didn't work for me. Little mini-sermons are sprinkled everywhere unnecessarily. She inserts long sections which are very similar to her short stories to give background on minor characters in a very awkward manner. And, I suppose this complaint should, in fairness, go to her editor, but the grammar was dreadful and very distracting, from improper use of commas to unclear antecedents. My 12th grade English teacher would have failed me in a heartbeat if I had turned in a paper with so many errors.

J. California Cooper is a very good storyteller, but I really hope that she stays away from novels.

[Gina C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished this book...bossman is out so i had a chance to indulge myself in this book! :)

It took me about 2 weeks to read. I thought it would be a quick read, but Cooper's use of words in telling each character's story allows you to slow down and capture the details of each individuals struggles in life.

Some People, Some Other Place takes place during the time of the Depression, racism between white and "colored" people is prevalent, and life is generally hard...on everyone.

The book starts off with "something/someone" looking down on Earth and deciding whether to live amongst humans who are engulfed in greed, violence, sex, and other such corruption. This "someone" is the foundation of the storytelling. It empahsizes on God's love and the tempations Satan brings upon humans and their sense of good and evil here on Earth. It does not matter whether you are wealthy or poor; if you have the desire to live and have in God, He provides although Satan does has his way of sneaking in here and there.

I don't want to spoil it, so I will end this portion here.

There are many interesting charaters in the book, but the main ones are Eula Too and Madame aka Elizabeth.

Eula Too comes from a poor family with 9 brothers and sisters...maybe it was 14, can't remember the exact number.
Her parents strived to make it to the city of Chicago to
raise their family with more opportunities of work for the husband but the money and food were scarce so they eventually settled in a small town 60 miles away from Chicago.

At age 15, Eula Too ran away from home with a stranger that came around town to do business between Chicago and this small town. As hard as her life was helping her mother take care of many siblings, her childhood ended with a horrendous rape. The stranger she trusted had brought a "friend" whom violated her innocence and her dreams and hopes to make it in Chicago.

Madame, too has baggage that affects who she is and has become over the years. She is what we can call...a "SHE-PIMP". She ran a house of high-class whores, 4 to be exact, Rita, Viola, Melba, and Lana to the delight and pleasure of wealthy educated men.

Madame found Eula Too on the side of a dirt road and took her in. Eula Too had a baby girl, Jewel in result of the rape.

The need for one another, Eula Too & Madame is a lot to consume. At the start of their relationship, I feel like their need was an even exchange to fulfill their needs..different to each woman, but needs. Eula Too depended on Madame for survival needs, such as clothing, food, housing, and money. Madame needed Eula Too for emotional support. She had found someone whom she can train to learn all the things Madame needs.

Throughout the book, each character struggles to pursue their true happiness and passion in life. "Some people" have found it through by making the most and best of life and having faith in God. Families have been reunited, open wounds of hurt healed, and friendships strengthened. "Some people" continue to search desperately to find happiness, unbeknownst to them, with no faith in the good human race, despite the color of your skin. In the end, all the main characters find strive to settle their happiness in "Place".

I enjoyed reading this book. It's funny how we can relate the "recession"/economy/Iraq war/Satan's corruption on this Earth with Cooper's time during the Depression. My friend and I believe she was way ahead of her time and such a forward thinking author!

I can't wait to read her other books!

[R.C. Waller · Rating 5 out of 5]

J. California Cooper is marvelous.

This story is a history of the lives of several people and families that live in a place called "Place," narrated by a child who is waiting to be born. She tells the stories of several people from their individual beginnings up to the time of her birth. Interspersed throughout the tales are insights about spiritual realities, as well as political-historical facts and how these things affect people's lives. Horrific events occur in the lives of these characters and Cooper's writing style is so inviting that you really want to know what happens to them.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good story of friendship and dependence. I like Eula Too once she found her voice and realized that she desired more in life. Her little sister was good for her because I don't think she would've realized that if not for her. Madame was holding Eula back but Eula stood up for herself. All the characters were interesting however, I was not fond of the narrator. That could have been because I didn't really think it was needed. I was so caught up in the story that the narrator seemed pointless.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book sometimes frightened me: I was afraid that the misfortunes of life we all face would lead to some horrific, nightmarish consequence for Eula Too and Lamont and Madame. But Cooper writes like she always does, telling life as it really is from the inside view. We all have evil thoughts and hateful feelings in our hearts. We all have bad luck with love, money and other people. Cooper is able to express the pain of those feelings and that luck, without destroying our view of and love for her characters.

[Denise Billings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had Shonda Rhimes-type emotional abuse from this story! There was a rain shower scene that I'm sure Shonda must have read. And the bath tub scene...omg...I needed to smoke a cigarette afterward! As Cooper described the life of the character Ha, who was born and raised in China, she took on that country's style of speech. I felt I was in China, this section was pleasingly well researched. A beautiful, heart-warming love story. Even the final paragraph of the acknowledgements got me a little weepy. That's how good she is. I'm sorry she's gone.

[Shannon Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book I read by Cooper, and I instantly fell in love with her writing style. I have since read all her work, but this is by far my favorite.

[Addie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written for grad class:
Summary
The story of Eula Too’s life is told through the voice of her unborn child. J. California Cooper tells us the stories of many people struggling to find happiness and a better life. Eula Too’s grandparents, sharecroppers in the South, are the first to find disillusionment in searching out their dreams for a better future. Her parent’s story is then quickly told and then a great deal of time and detail is paid to developing the bulk of the story around Eula Too. In trying to find a good future for herself she winds up raped and discarded but taken in by a Madame on the outskirts of Chicago. Eula Too is treated as a companion, rather than another whore, and educated and valued by the mistress of the house. While Eula Too sees how lucky she is to have these advantages she also is unhappy as it is not truly her own life she lives. At the age of 35 she decides it is time to become her own person and begins to take steps to make herself happy. In so doing, she meets an entire neighborhood of unhappy people and does what she can to bring happiness to their lives.

Appeal Factors
The most compelling appeal factor of this book is the depth to which the reader gets to know the various characters. Time is taken to explore the hopes and dreams of many of the characters and also to see their internal flaws and the paths they have walked to bring them to their unhappiness. Many, though not all, of the characters are very likeable and you wish to see them make their dreams come true. In reality the bulk of the characters are fighting extreme poverty and the reader know for most they are lucky to be in the mediocre circumstance they have found, nothing much better awaits them.

The book has a problem of balance. I began this book excited and expecting to enjoy it. Reviews and descriptions talked of a block of people living on Dream Street, each to be introduced in the story. I enjoy novels that are sort of a variety of short stories strung together to make a larger whole and this is what I anticipated here. In some ways it was what I got, but the reader is beyond half way through the novel before they ever arrive at Dream Street. The story was far more focused on one character and her life for the first half of the book and then the flow seemed to shift suddenly to introduce the reader to a myriad of other characters. It felt forced and disjointed. I was disappointed. It led me to thinking more about my inability to abandon books. I needed to finish this book and see it through for the course and to write this, but I need to accept that I will not like everything I pick up and come to terms with the fact that it is okay to abandon a book I have begun.

This book was certainly representative of multicultural writing. The focus character was an African American woman working for a white woman who became wealthy by the luck of falling in love with the right man. The white woman grew up on a street of diversity, where she returns to her ill mother and we are introduced to the neighbors who include more African American characters as well as Jews, Irish, and Chinese Americans. That being said, the diversity of this street seemed rather unrealistic for the first half of the 20thcentury where the bulk of this story is told.

[A.j. Byrd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bad writing and entirely too preachy for my taste. I'm beyond surprise by the glowing reviews. It reads as if a high schooler wrote it. The worst part is that there were plenty of chances for this to be a good read but the writer doesn't pull it off. One of Amazon's questions is to describe the plot. What plot? It reads as if the author just committed to writing a certain word count a day and whatever came to her that's what landed on the pages. no road map. No outline. The way that the author built up Eula Too's special education, I thought that she was going to transform into some great marvel for a black girl of her time. No. She's just at it's core a paid companion and pet. Even when she does attend Madame's dinners, she really didn't contribute any thing. I was ready for her to wow us with her incredible mind: no. I would have liked to actually see her transform sort of like Audrey Hepburn in my fair lady. And then to see this beautiful black woman travel the world among the elite. Alas, we get nothing remotely interesting like that. The idea of men paying $1500 a night for a lady of the evening in the 40's doesn't ring true either. These women would have been insanely rich at a time when things costs very little by today's standards. Each woman could have had 3 and 4 houses. I highly doubt Madame's house would have sold a half a million dollars in the 60's in Chicago. That's an unGodly amount of money for the time. And Burnette's name would change to Bartnett at weirdest times. All in all, there are good elements for a good story here, it's just not executed well.

[Bridget Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

First let me say I really wanted to like this book. I read J. California Cooper short stories years ago and loved them. However, that same love did not translate over to this novel. A lot of something's were missing from the storyline. Several times I found myself looking at the book saying, "Come on now." Some of the characters were interesting to read about, but others you didn't really care about. However, everybody's story had to be told. There seemed to be a lot of build up that never really went anywhere. And some behavior was never explained. Some parts held my interest, and others did not. Maybe she should have kept the short story format and told their lives in a novella. The cohesiveness of a full length novel was missing, for me. In the end I was sorry I didn't care for it. Some of her earlier work was much better.

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

From a multiple awards-winning author comes this masterpiece about love, life, perseverance and hope.
The story is told through the voice of an unborn soul who is waiting to enter a human body. She will be living on Dream Street
in a town named Place. The houses on Dream Street speak to her and reveal the inhabitants therein.
Dream Street is multi-cultural, so the way that each person found his way to Dream Street is different.
This is a lesson in life, teaching us that everyone has problems, regardless of ethnic background or financial holdings.

[Melinda Carter]

wow!! I could not stop thinking about this book

[Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best books that I've read by J.California Cooper. If you love reading her books, you will love this one....guaranteed!!

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

J. California Cooper is amazing. She writes through the voice of a yet born child, and captivates the reader. Eula Two the soon to be mother of this future child,suffers but not only survives...helps those she loves to survive and flourish. This book reminds me that I need to read more from Ms. Cooper.

[Toshia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was redundant and preachy. I liked it in the beginning, but then it just became too much. The story felt rushed in an effort to teach a lesson and bible thump. It felt like a conversation/cautionary tale with an overly religious grandmother. I only read to the end because I was invested in the main character.

[Stirling · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst written thing I have read in a very long time! All the characters spoke/thought like a third rate sociologist. Nothing was emotionally convincing (or even likely.) Read Zora Neale Hurston instead.

[Tawana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and it is still one of my favorite love stories. Cooper vividly describes each character. As the book moves from person to person telling different stories along the way, her writing style paints a perfect picture for the reader.

[Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me an instant fan of Cooper. At times a very tragic tale, I found myself rooting for the main character time and time again. This book was a testament to the payoff endurance and kindness to others has to offer.

[Kia · Rating 4 out of 5]

loooved it. I got chills reading the last few pages. I didn't want it to end. I got a little irritated that the author had to tell each characters story in detail but it came together so beautifully. the sex details and the booger stuff could've been left off but I soo enjoyed the story.

[Essence Woodard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first time reading a J. California Cooper novel, and I must say I am now a fan! Right from the beginning of the story I was immediately pulled in. I liked the way she tells a story, so descriptive. It made me connect to the characters, I didn't want the book to be over!

[Felecia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love J. California Cooper characters and the way that their stories and lives become intertwined. She takes the simplest characters and uses them to teach a lesson or prove a point in ways that you wouldn't expect.

[Beverlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story! I love the messages in the characters' stories. Forgiveness, love, overcoming obstacles...it's what makes life worth living. Everyone has a story & there is something to be learned from all. Whether or not one chooses to listen is another matter.

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

I absolutly hated it..the story was ludicrous and interminable...the writing and grammar sophmoric..ugh..

[Booklyn Zoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love j. california cooper. this book was pretty good...just not that exciting...definitely kind of boring at times.

[Lanetta Dickens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think most of J. California Cooper's novels have some type of wisdom in it that i like alot, especially this one.

[Jenny Yates · Rating 2 out of 5]

My favorite part of this novel was the opening paragraph. It's told from the viewpoint of a child, not yet conceived, and this paragraph introduces the child, who is about to give an eyewitness account to the life of its mother, scene by scene.

And the mother, Eula Two, has a hard life. She’s a young Black girl, born into dire poverty, who takes a notion to go to the big city. On the way, she’s brutally raped and left by the roadside. She’s rescued by the madame of a house of prostitution, who takes her in, educates her, and employs her as her assistant. The rest of the novel recounts the ins and outs of living with this benevolent but controlling older woman, first in Chicago, and then in a country town called Place. Eventually Eula Two meets and falls in love with the narrator’s father, and the novel ends with the narrator being conceived.

The plot by itself is interesting, but unfortunately, the novel is quite preachy, and the writing tends to be clunky. Most of its characters depict moral lessons of one kind or another. Sometimes the author forgets to preach, and just lets the story carry its characters along, and this is when it works best. Still, I wouldn’t recommend it.

[⭐️MidnightSun⭐️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some People, Some Other Place had all of the elements you expect from a J. California Cooper work but this was a slow moving novel for me but i continued to read. There is always wisdom to be taken away from her works. Some People, Some Other Place was about family. The family you are born into and the family you create out of love. Through this story J. California Cooper expresses to the read how people really do need one another. We need each other friendship, help, kindness and love. No on needs to be alone that can be a dangerous place for the human spirit. I encourage everyone to read her works they will teach you the real meaning of life. I believe that a 3 star rating is to low so I'll give it a 3.75. Happy Reading❤

[Melinda Rachlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this novel. It was a bit preachy and I felt like I was reading something from the Victorian era like Thomas Hardy or George Eliot. On the other hand, once I got past that, I found the story engaging and grew to care about all the characters. I guess the ultimate message was good and bad happens to everyone and it's up to you to make your way in life. And that's not such a bad message for any novel.

[Hadiyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

J. California Cooper is a masterful storyteller. She did an amazing job of weaving the lives together of so many different people who all had similar needs. I love her writing and will search for more. We often hear "we have more in common as humans than difference" this story illustrates this adage with a grace that leaves you wanting to know more about the lives of the characters.