“Shooting around in the dark under the garage light…I always felt an intoxicating selfishness in knowing that I might wake the neighbors, but oh well, the ball was calling to me. It was the only thing that could quell my restlessness, time and time again. ” – Mac Crane
Dear writers, have you ever abandoned a project? A novel, a story, a poetry project that just wasn’t working? I personally hate abandoning something. I will stretch and edit as much as possible before calling a project toast. There are two novels I have left in the gutter after putting in serious time: one, a juvenile vigilante crime novel I started when I was 18 that was total trash (although I could probably dust off and pitch as a script in today’s John Wick/Nobody/Monkey Man/Novocaine-addled Hollywood). Two, a basketball novel that i ultimately decided I couldn’t write, having not actually played, coached, or reported on high school basketball. My question, dear writers, is how to you feel when you see someone else pull off something you failed at doing?
What I’ve Been Reading This Week:
A book that made me say “finally! Thank you! A basketball novel with a poet’s touch.” A book that I absolutely could not put down. A book brought me a ton of joy. A book that, despite all that, still doesn’t unseat this writer’s first novel as my favorite of theirs—which says far more about that first novel than this one. No sophomore slump here. I’m talking, of course, about A Sharp Endless Need by Mac Crane.
This novel follows Mack Morris, a star point guard entering her senior year at a Pennsylvania high school. Recruiting calls and college commitment deadlines loom. Mack’s world shatters when, at her dad’s funeral, she meets Liv—a fellow D1 recruit and new starting wing. Mack in instantly in love, and the very first thing Liv does is carefully examine Mack’s hands. After the funeral reception, Liv drives Mack out to her favorite courts, where they drink beer and shoot hoops. The rest of the novel is part He Got Game, part Love & Basketball, part Call Me By Your Name (I have not read that book or seen the movie, but the chapters feel like the trailer, if that makes sense?), and part The Basketball Diaries (I have also not seen or read that, but there is casual drug use among high school athletes). This is suburban Pennsylvania during the W Bush admin—the WNBA is not yet 10 years old, and being queer is not accepted as simply a matter of course in women’s sports. Mack even hints strongly at being non-binary, but without the language to understand what she’s getting at. It’s a lot for a 17-year-old, you can understand the booze and drugs.
Mac (Crane, not the protagonist), as I said last week, is all-world at writing desire. The longing, the insecurity, the subtle hints of others’ bigotry and the resulting fear, and the persistence of love—that’s all here, plus basketball games. As someone who speaks basketball, I wasn’t bothered by those passages. If you’re not someone who speaks basketball? Do what I do when I read sci-fi and just power through it. There’s enough on the page, there’s enough of these characters, that you’ll stay caught up with the story. Back to that story—it’s gorgeous. It’s not a linear love story like you’d see in a rom-com, but it is an incredibly well-rendered lesbian will they/won’t they, and a phenomenal depiction of what senior year in high school feels like. Even if you, like me, were not a D1 recruit. Hey, the AAU passages certainly seemed familiar.
Mack’s favorite player, for the record, is Allen Iverson. Idk if Mack has AI’s effortless cool, but she has his fearlessness, impulsiveness, and deep love for the game. Liv’s favorite player is Tracy McGrady. In true McGrady fashion, Liv is a character who can absolutely light up a box score, but leaves you screaming for just a smidge more commitment, please. This paragraph is my way of saying that from a 2000s basketball standpoint, this is a perfect novel. From any other possible standpoint? Yeah, still a perfect novel. Read it.
LINKS!
Something to listen to while you browse? Maybe you want to listen to the new Lazy & Entitled Podcast, with delightful guest Dr. Han VanderHart (Apple | Spotty | SoundCloud). We talk the LA protests and ICE’s war against USian people, there’s a little Pride history, soem Diane di Prima, and how to contribute to a writing community. If you want some music? Look, between Tosin Abasi doing his thing and Polyphia “making rap music with guitars,” it was only a matter of time before some sharp young lad, lady, or la-nonbinary was going to come out as both a rapper and a sick guitar player. Obviously, this dude’s been around for a minute, but. New to me. May I present, as YouTube’s algo literally just did for me, “DASH OUT” by Ando San:
- There’s no way to address this without the posts quickly becoming out of date, but there are lots of protests happening right now. It is important to remember that 99% of the time, it’s cops or ICE who starts the violence. It’s also important, if you’re the kind of person who fetishizes non-violence, to remember that nonviolent protest takes mountains of training and discipline. What happened in LA, Chicago, and elsewhere last weekend and into this week? That is not trained, organized protest. That is people defending their friends and neighbors. How do some of my neighbors in Chicago feel about what the fascist federal government is doing? According to Noah Asimow at Block Club, people in Pilsen not only feel scared, they feel siloed in their own city. Supposedly a sanctuary city. So listen: do not give into the media portrayal of these protests as violent. Cops and ICE start violence. Protesters protect people and stand for what’s right.
- Hey, how about some poetry? Here’s “You know some people never make it out of this scene” by E.B. Schnepp in beestung
- Appreciated Israel Daramola in Defector talking about how we don’t really make cool athletes anymore. I’ve called Shai Gilgeous-Alexander “The Second Coming of Penny Hardaway” before, but it has come to my attention that most people don’t consider him “cool.” So Israel leading off with the story of the creation of Lil Penny felt instructive. A pull quote, because Defector is subscription-based (but worth it!): “…while I don’t think we’d be well-served returning to a world where coolness is dictated by marketing execs tricking us out of our paychecks, something has to give with this phony concept of relatability and other internet cringe.”
- Hey, how about a short story? Here’s “There Must Be Good Honest Sins” by Kit McGuire in beestung
- Some love to my neighborhood—I was fully planning on being at this one, but life got in the way. Shoutout to all my north side neighbors who showed out at the Edgewater Branch of Chicago’s Public Library in favor a drag story time (Noah Asimow at Block Club with the story). Being a frequenter of the Edgewater branch and having recently chaperoned a field trip of first graders there, I can confirm it is a wonderful place, deserving of a good drag story time.
What’re you still doing here? Won’t you join Bob Sykora, Adrian Sobol, Sandra Marchetti, Micah Mabey, Brendan Johnson, and me for an evening of poems and music this Monday? 1259 W Devon Ave in Rogers Park. Take the red line to Loyola, take the 36, 147, 151, 155, or hell, even the 22 bus if you want.
If you work in the service industry, may you clean up in tips this weekend. Pack a bowl in the 711 parking lot if you need, but please do not drive drunk after a pickup basketball game. Or at all, please do not drive drunk. Or at all, please do not drive.
Sorry you got an email,
Chris