Fan's Notes

While the year is still young we thought we'd celebrate youth and all its triumphs, disappointments and naiveté. To that end we read Elif Batuman's delightful novel The Idiot, and chatted about the generally impressive crop of NBA rookies that have entered the league. Tune in to find out which NBA team Adam compared to The Big Bang Theory! And join us in two weeks for a discussion of George Saunders' novel Lincoln In The Bardo.

We're back after a short hiatus to talk about Martin Amis' scandalously funny novel Money, as well as things that we think we know after one month of the NBA season. Next up, we'll be reading Elif Batuman's highly acclaimed 2017 novel The Idiot. Pick up a copy and join us in a few weeks for that discussion!

We discuss Paul Beatty's Booker Prize-winning satire The Sellout for the first 45 minutes, then Lynwood Robinson drops back by to help preview the new NBA season. For next week, track down a copy of John Updike's story "Snowing in Greenwich Village" in time for our next installment of The Short Corner.

We kept it short this week in honor of the brilliant concision of Lydia Davis's fiction. After 30 minutes on Davis, we spend 15 minutes listing a few of the things we're most looking forward to in the upcoming NBA season. We'll go more in-depth on the NBA next week with a return appearance from Lynwood Robinson, at which time we'll also discuss Paul Beatty's The Sellout.

Come along with us as we enter Frank Bascombe's beguiling and irreconciled Existence Period, which plays out over 450 pages in Richard Ford's Independence Day. Then, at the hour mark, we chat about the trade that sent Carmelo Anthony from the Knicks to the OKC Thunder, and how that changes the landscape of the Western Conference. Join us next week as we talk Lydia Davis and get excited for the fast-approaching start of the NBA season.

A basketball-free discussion of Don DeLillo's White Noise. We read it! If you haven't, why not just listen and pretend you already have. And then read Richard Ford's Independence Day, so you can be on point for our discussion of it in two weeks' time.

In this episode we discuss Walker Percy's wonderfully vexing novel The Moviegoer, before switching over around the 50 minute mark to talk about the then-still-pending Kyrie for Isaiah Thomas and assorted other assets trade between Cleveland and Boston. Join us in two weeks for a chat about Don DeLillo's vexing-in-its-own-way book White Noise.

This week we at long last delve into the Bard of Contempt herself, Flannery O'Connor, and her punishingly dark and comic worldview. At the 50 minute mark, we switch over to the teams that had the least inspired offseasons. Join us in two weeks for a discussion of Walker Percy's The Moviegoer.

This week, we read and discuss "Testimony of Pilot," from Airships, Barry Hannah's enduring book of short stories. We celebrate his electric, otherworldly prose and lament the needless and careless racist language that corrodes the collection. We're sticking in the south next week, when we turn to Flannery O'Connor's famous story "A Good Man is Hard to Find." Find it online (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/goodman.html) and join us!

This week we discuss several stories from Joshua Ferris' new collection The Dinner Party, beginning with one called "In The Heart of the Dead." We keep it short and sweet on the basketball side, since this was the first slow week we've had in a while. Join us next week when we focus in on the great Barry Hannah; grab a copy of Airships and dig into "Testimony of Pilot."