Fan's Notes Episode 8: Slouching Towards Bethlehem / L.A. Lakers

"I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind's door at 4 a.m. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends." That is Joan Didion, from her essay "On Keeping a Notebook,' from her classic collection Slouching Towards Bethlehem. We chose this book because we thought it might shine some light on the plight of the Lakers--things fall apart; the centre cannot hold--but in point of fact all it did was make us think of other Didion lines. "We tell ourselves stories in order to live." "We are here on this island in the middle of the Pacific in lieu of filing for divorce." "Innocence ends when one is stripped of the delusion that one likes oneself." Chock full of some of the greatest essays ever committed to paper, Slouching Toward Bethlehem begs to be read and read again. Our apologies if our discussion of the anemic 2016-2017 Los Angeles Lakers roster pales when placed alongside it. (NB: we discuss the Didion collection until around the 38 minute mark, then dive into our low expectations for the upcoming Lakers season. Also, stay tuned for our emergency pod with the novelist J. Robert Lennon on whether or not sports and literature have anything to say to one another. The answer may surprise you!)

"I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind's door at 4 a.m. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends." That is Joan Didion, from her essay "On Keeping a Notebook,' from her classic collection Slouching Towards Bethlehem. We chose this book because we thought it might shine some light on the plight of the Lakers--things fall apart; the centre cannot hold--but in point of fact all it did was make us think of other Didion lines. "We tell ourselves stories in order to live." "We are here on this island in the middle of the Pacific in lieu of filing for divorce." "Innocence ends when one is stripped of the delusion that one likes oneself." Chock full of some of the greatest essays ever committed to paper, Slouching Toward Bethlehem begs to be read and read again. Our apologies if our discussion of the anemic 2016-2017 Los Angeles Lakers roster pales when placed alongside it. (NB: we discuss the Didion collection until around the 38 minute mark, then dive into our low expectations for the upcoming Lakers season. Also, stay tuned for our emergency pod with the novelist J. Robert Lennon on whether or not sports and literature have anything to say to one another. The answer may surprise you!)