Contents:

1. About the Author
2. Suggested Reading Group Questions
3. Works by J. California Cooper Available from Anchor Books
4. Supplemental Reading List

About the Author

"I was telling stories before I could write. I like to tell stories, and I like to talk to things. If you've read fairy tales, you know that everything can talk, from trees to chairs to tables to brooms. So I grew up thinking that, and I turned it into stories."

--J. California Cooper

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.

In 1991 J. California Cooper wrote her first novel, Family. Family offers a unique portrait of slavery as seen through the eyes of the ghost-like narrator Clora. While illustrating the horrors of slavery with wide eyes and a firm sense of its tragic magnitude, Family also recognizes the power and resilience of human nature. As the San Francisco Chronicle noted in one of Family's many positive reviews from across the country, Cooper's words "envelop and transcend time, offering hope and renewal at the same time they chronicle desolation and death."

Since the publication of Family, J. California Cooper has presented readers with a diverse and -- as always -- moving and heartfelt body of work. In The Matter Is Life Cooper returned to her traditional short-story format, with exuberant language, distinctly personal narration and a memorable group of characters struggling to make the right choices in a difficult world. In 1994, Cooper again turned her prodigious talents to novel-writing with In Search of Satisfaction. Weaving together an elaborate epic about the lives of three families in a small town called Yoville, Cooper created a "hypnotic tale" that is a "deep and lucid exploration of good and evil, free will, truth, duty, and the nature of honor" (Atlanta Constitution). In Search of Satisfaction combines Cooper's trademark narrative style with a deeply moral sensibility, a focus on religion and the Ten Commandments, and an unabashedly sharp sense of humor.

Most recently J. California Cooper has returned to her beloved short story with Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime. Yet again Cooper offers her readers an unforgettable group of characters joined together by struggles for love, happiness, and wisdom. In just over ten years, through her novels and her stories, J. California Cooper has become recognized as one of America's premier storytellers.

Suggested Reading Group Questions

1. J. California Cooper dedicates A Piece of Mine to her "female ancestors," women who have "struggled to survive, which is the only reason I am here." In what ways do the women in her writing struggle to survive, and what gives them the strength needed for that struggle? What do you know about your own female ancestors, and the struggles they may have gone through? Have those struggles impacted your life in any way?

2. Cooper has been praised throughout her career for her unique style. How would you define that narrative style? Do the narrators in each story adopt a common tone and/or speak from a common situation, or are there significant differences between her narrators? What are the strengths of this style, and what might be its shortcomings? Which characters do you feel tell their stories most effectively? Can you think of other writers who use the same kind of narrative device?

3. The Bible and religion figure prominently in Cooper's writing. What roles do the Bible and religion play in her stories and in her novels? What effect does the Bible have on the lives of Cooper's characters? Do you think that certain stories and/or novels have a particularly strong religious undertone? Which ones? Is there a difference in the way men and women in Cooper's writing relate to the Bible and to religion?

4. Cooper has said that the short stories she wrote prior to Family were all part of the journey toward the novel. How are her short stories similar in style and approach to Family? To In Search of Satisfaction? Are there similarities in narrative style? In the themes, character development, and/or language? Do you also notice significant differences in the author's approach? What are they?

5. Family recognizes the tragedies and extreme hardships of the horror that was slavery, but also includes elements of joy, humor, and happiness. Do you think such an approach does justice to the experience of blacks under slavery's oppressive regime? Does the book, by refusing to dwell solely on the evil elements of slavery, somehow let white slaveowners and white America "off the hook"? Or does Cooper's work present what you think is a fair and honest portrayal of what was probably the true slave experience?

6. J. California Cooper has said that Family "wasn't really just about the last slavery. I'm trying to say that every time you make a slave out of somebody, anybody, you do a wrong." How does she present this theme in the novel? Are the black characters the only slaves in the book, or are there some whites who are, in a sense, enslaved by the cruelty of the very system they have created? How does this theme reappear in Cooper's other writing? Using this definition are there common, everyday ways in which people enslave each other today? What are they?

7. "Do not depend on anyone else for your happiness," Cooper writes at the beginning of In Search of Satisfaction. "Make your own happiness inside yourself, and when you have enough to share, find someone to share it with." As you read the novel, consider the relationship between the themes of happiness, independence, loneliness, and sharing. Which characters experience the greatest success in their search for satisfaction, and why? Does this theme appear in any of Cooper's other work?

8. In In Search of Satisfaction, Cooper refers to Yoville as "a small, legal township founded by the very rich for their own personal use." This, along with an insistent focus on wealth and luxury, makes greed a central theme in the novel. Consider the figures of Carlene, Yinyang, and Ruth and Joel. How does each character's desire for money and/or comfort end up affecting their lives, and the lives of those around them? Is it pure greed that motivates these characters, or something else? Finally, is there any correlation at all between wealth and true happiness, or is the actual connection one between greed and loneliness?

9. In the final pages of In Search of Satisfaction, as Yin and Hosanna discuss the lessons and meaning of their lives, Hosanna says, "Girl, life ain't something you grab, life is something you accept and make grow." Is this the secret of satisfaction in life -- accepting who one is, and trying to achieve happiness from that point on? Have you been able to reach this state of comfort and satisfaction with your own life? What do you think it would take to find the final perspective and peace of mind that Hosanna represents?

10. In the author's note in Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime, Cooper writes about the relationship between love and suffering, and suggests that while "Love is beautiful and feels good," certain people can turn love into a painful experience. Consider this theme in light of the individual stories in this collection and in her earlier writing. In its purest form, is love generally presented as beautiful and good? What kind of people in the stories spoil the natural beauty of love, causing it to become painful? Have love and pain ever seemed closely tied together in your own life, and who can cause more pain -- those who are strangers to you, or those whom you love?

11. While J. California Cooper has never advocated on behalf of specific women's issues, much of her writing looks at the role of women and society. Consider the following stories from Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime -- "Femme Fatale," "Do-It-Yourself Rainbows," and "Living Without a Life." Are Darlin' and LaMarie role-models because they actively work toward want they want? What is there about the passive Audrey that nonetheless makes her a role-model as well? And if Darlin' and LaMarie deserve respect for their willingness to go after their dreams, how did you feel about the fact that their quests for happiness always involved finding a man? What other characters in Cooper's earlier work are similar? Are different?

12. In describing the writing of J. California Cooper, the San Francisco Chronicle said that she "knows how to `talk' her stories to us, as though each of them is told by a kindly and concerned friend." How do you think Cooper achieves this narrative effect? Finally, have each member of your reading group choose a favorite passage from one of the stories in this collection, and read it aloud. Do you agree with the Chronicle that the sound of the story is "lovely, memorable, [and] haunting"? What adjectives would you add to this description?

13. In Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime, the character of MLee in "Yellow House Road" is an independent, determined and "wide-awake, go-getter woman." What impact do these characteristics have on the life of MLee? On the lives of her husband Alec, and on MLee's children? What other characters in Cooper's writing are like this? Do you think that J. California Cooper is conveying some kind of message to her readers through these characters? Have you found that sheer determination and will-power allow you to achieve successes and accomplish your goals? Why or why not?

14. Throughout her stories, the theme of loneliness and a search for love is often present. What is it that makes certain characters lonely -- is it bad luck, the death of a loved one, an inherent need for companionship? Is it combination of these factors? How do these characters banish their loneliness? Can you think of other ways to dispense with feelings of loneliness?

Works by J. California Cooper:

The Wake of the Wind (1998)
Homemade Love (1998)

Some Soul To Keep ( 1998)
Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime (1995)

In Search of Satisfaction (1994)
Family (1991)

The Matter Is Life (1991)

A Piece of Mine (1984)

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