Fan's Notes

The day has come. After a very long hiatus, we are back, with a brand new episode in tow. Isaac Butler joins us (at the 35 minute mark) to discuss Murdoch's style, her debt to Shakespeare, and the confounding-but-brilliant way she handled structure and perspective in her novels. An hour later, we switch over to the NBA, with a look at whether any of the early-season trends will have staying power this year. We are deeply grateful to Isaac for coming on the pod—buy his book, people!—to help us kick off this new era of the pod. We're not sure exactly when we'll return with episode 102, or what we'll be reading when we do, but stay tuned!

It is time, on this the 100th and final Fans Notes, to talk about THE GOAT, by which we mean of course THE WHALE. That's right, folks; we decided to enter the belly of the leviathan alongside Ahab, Melville, Queequeg and his husband Ishmael, and all the other presences--mortal, demonic or spermacetaceous-- that may be stowed away on board the Pequod. It's a wild ride. Then, at the 1:25 mark, we called upon our old friends Charles Chace and Lynwood Robinson one last time for an exhaustive and divagating preview of the various playoff series that will lead us, inexorably, to the 2021 NBA Finals. It should come as no surprise that, after only a single weekend of playoff basketball, our predictions have already begun to be proven dumb and wrong. Some things never change! Lastly, we'd like to sincerely thank everyone who enjoyed (or at least listened to) the podcast over the past five years. We especially appreciate all those people who suggested books for us to discuss or who appeared on the pod to talk about them with us, or who supported our Patreon. We could not have done this without you, and we look forward to talking books and basketball with you all again someday down the line. As ever: See'ya!

In our penultimate episode (for now, at least!), we celebrate the work of this master of American comic voice who died early last year. Here's an hour of us giggling and gasping and quoting at length from the five novels he published in his life, and I think it's fair to say that listeners will find the experience to be either joyful or tedious, and perhaps each in turn. As mentioned above, our next episode--number 100--will be our last. The podcast is going on hiatus. To send you off right, we'll be delivering a final mega-pod on that literary leviathan itself: MOBY-DICK. You won't want to miss it!

In this (formerly) subscribers-only episode, we discuss LP Hartley's great... maybe not great, but pretty darn good 1953 novel, The Go-Between.

We're delighted to welcome Elisa Gabbert back to the pod, and grateful that she was willing to come on and talk with us about this odd, hilarious and unforgettable book. Around the one hour mark, we discuss the current state of the NBA MVP race. Join us next time, when we take a look at L.P. Hartley's THE GO-BETWEEN.

On this hateful, hate-fueled pod, we discuss novels and authors that occupy a special place in our personal circles of book hell. And after that, a discussion of James Harden to the now very hateable Brooklyn Nets!

We regret to inform you that, in the course of our discussion of TRAIN DREAMS, we got waylaid in a STONER-shaped ditch. We spend a good deal of time fruitlessly comparing the two books, while trying to pin down what exactly Johnson is up to in this novella. At the 40 minute mark, we praise the Hawks and Suns for choosing a direction for their respective franchises and sailing toward it, regardless of draft whiffs and failed playoffs run they may have left in their wake. Next time, we hope to have Elisa Gabbert back on to discuss Jane Bowles' TWO SERIOUS LADIES with us. And while you're at it, why not join our Patreon, where you'll get instant access to additional episodes.

We discuss John Le Carre's CALL FOR THE DEAD, the first of the Smiley books. Why is George Smiley such an indelible character, and what was it about the Cold War and East Germany that played to Le Carre's strengths? Then a brief discussion of the Giannis supermax, James Harden, and coolness as a cultural value.

Our mileage varies on STONER, which is either movingly muted or grayly inert, depending on which of us you ask. We interrogate the book's tone for clues as to whether it valorizes or deplores its main character's incurable passivity. At the 50 minute mark, we debrief on the distressed asset trade the Rockets and Wizards made, swapping Russell Westbrook and John Wall, and whether it actually changes the landscape of the NBA at all. Next up, a return to the work of Denis Johnson, with a look at his 2011 novella TRAIN DREAMS. Join us!

On this (possibly not) long-awaited pod, we sift back through five years of NBA Draft episodes. What did we get right, what did we get not so right, and how might we adjust our draft philosophy in the future? And, most importantly, who picked Zhou Qi as a top-five prospect? Join us on a special trip down Hot Take lane!

It's feast and famine on today's pod, beginning with the peculiar delicacy that is James Hamilton-Paterson's acridly farcical 2004 novel COOKING WITH FERNET BRANCA. Whether it adds up to anything more than a collection of delectable jokes is not clear, but it sure tastes good on the way down. Alas, at the 28 minute mark, we turn our attention to the upcoming NBA Draft, as bereft of top-end talent as any since 2013. It's also our most divergent list ever, with disagreements at the top and precious little overlap among our choices. (That said: set aside some time to get know Serbian phenom Aleksej Pokuševski, who landed smack in the 7th slot on both our draft boards.) And if you find yourself wanting more of our bad draft opinions, look no further than our Patreon. On the upcoming installment, we'll be holding ourselves accountable, at long last, for all our whiffs from the first four years of Fan's Notes draft prognostications. Next time, on the pod proper, we'll take on John Williams' STONER, which has been sitting in our to-read pile for far too long. Join us!

On this episode, we discuss the books and authors that have shaped us as writers and readers. Never before, probably, have Roald Dahl, Gore Vidal, Joan Didion, and Elmore Leonard (and many others) been featured in the same conversation!

In this episode, we discuss Jan Morris's delightful imaginary travelogue HAV, as well as the fact that with the election looming, we may not quite be in the mood for delightful imaginary travelogues. After that, we recap an NBA Playoffs that, unlike most things in 2020, was not soul-destroyingly awful. Next up James Hamilton-Paterson's COOKING WITH FERNET BRANCA

In this formerly subscribers-only episode, we discuss AJ Finn/Dan Mallory's execrable/nefariously brilliant 2018 thriller THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, which has since been turned into a splashy and terrible Netflix movie. What do we look for in commercial thrillers? And how does this very bad book succeed where better-written versions fail?

It's time to discuss Ernest Hemingway. How did he become online enemy number one? Is he underrated at this point? And have we actually read any of his books? Plus: a preview of the Lakers-Heat NBA Finals!

We're delighted to welcome Elisa Gabbert onto the pod to talk about her brilliant essay collection The Unreality of Memory, which was published in August. (Buy it! It is certain to be one of the best books you read this year.) Elisa also joined us for a discussion of Heinrich von Kleist's the supremely odd and wonderful nineteenth century novella Michael Kohlhaas. A hearty thank you goes out to Sebastian Castillo for requesting it. At the hour mark, we turn our attention to the NBA playoffs, with a look back at the first two rounds and a look ahead at what could be in store for the conference finals and finals. Lastly, we have decided to dip our toes into the placid waters of Patreon. If you wish to hear more book and basketball blather from us with even less preparation, do consider signing up. Subscribers will receive an additional episode each month. (Sorry, early adopters, but we haven't recorded our first one yet!) Pester Adam on Twitter for more details. Next time, on the pod proper, we'll read and discuss Jan Morris' Hav. Grab a copy and join us!

We're extremely grateful to Sandra Newman for taking the time to talk with us about her wonderful 2019 novel THE HEAVENS. (It's so good! Buy it already! https://bookshop.org/books/the-heavens/9780802147974) After our conversation with Sandra, at about the fifty minute mark, we turn our attention to the NBA restart. We marvel at the remarkable success of the bubble to date and the high quality of play, and we preview nearly all of the playoff matchups. (Sorry, fans of Miami and Indiana, we...

We're extremely grateful to Sandra Newman for taking the time to talk about her 2019 novel THE HEAVENS with us. It's a moving and wondrous book, and one that we highly recommend people read. After our conversation with Sandra, at about the fifty minute mark, we turn our attention to the NBA restart. We marvel at the remarkable success of the bubble to date and the high quality of play, and we preview most of the playoff matchups. (Sorry, fans of Miami and Indiana, we somehow forgot about that series.) Next time, we'll get into Heinrich von Kleist's early nineteenth century oddity MICHAEL KOHLHAAS with the brilliant Elisa Gabbert, whose stunning collection of essays THE MEMORY OF UNREALITY is out now! Literally stop whatever it is you're doing at this moment and buy it and read it!

We spent so much time arguing (productively!) about whether or not the ending of this book is any good that we almost didn't leave ourselves time to discuss the rest of the book, which we agree is exceptionally good! For our next episode, we'll be reading Sandra Newman's most recent novel, THE HEAVENS.

In this episode we discuss Sally Rooney's debut novel, with frequent tootling interruptions from a nearby Carolina wren. Next up: THE TOPEKA SCHOOL by Ben Lerner, whose first novel, LEAVING THE ATOCHA STATION, we discussed way back in episode 23. And please consider donating to organizations at work to end police brutality and white supremacy in its myriad forms. A list can be found here: https://nymag.com/strategist/article/where-to-donate-for-black-lives-matter.html