[Because] McPherson has never taken the color of his skin as an excuse for not learning the craft of fiction, his tales ultimately become not so much about the black condition as the human condition. He writes of difficult struggles for survival, yet his sense of humor allows him to dwell on moments which otherwise might prove unbearable….

[The stories in Elbow Room] are structured upon visible conflicts: North versus South, rich versus poor, respectable versus unrespectable, educated versus ignorant, hardheads versus progressives. All come to play in one marvelous story, "The Faithful," concerning an old-fashioned black barber who refuses to cut the new Afro styles. These conflicts are also at the heart of "A Loaf of Bread," perhaps the book's best story, concerning a small ghetto shopkeeper and his strife with the changing community….

There is only one misfire—"Widows and Orphans," a slow revelation of a...