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 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!