Milk in my Coffee

Dickey's third novel takes on the personal politics associated with interracial romance, as a chance encounter in a Manhattan taxi brings together Jordan Greene, a young black urban professional, and Kimberly Chavers, a white painter. Dickey gets far beyond the stereotypes, infusing all his characters with complex emotional lives, and while Jordan dominates the story, the multiple first-person narration shows just how deep Dickey's willing to get inside "all" his characters' heads. Milk in My Coffee is a story about two people coming to terms with the attitudes that shape their identities, where hearts and minds learn painful lessons about getting beyond what the eye can see. --Ron Hogan