"Exuberant. With her soul-stirring cry, Cooper urges readers to seize and savor every drop of life."
--San Francisco Chronicle

"These stories are jazzy, clubby, folksy, small towny, populist, perky, and if you don't like them, you must be in an absolutely unshakeable bad mood...Halfway between gossip and fairy tales, brimming with faith and high spirits, The Matter is Life clues us in on the lives of black women. Buy it. I loved it."
--Carolyn See, Los Angeles Times