EPISODE · Jan 21, 2023 · 1H 34M
60. Fascinated to Presume: Zadie Smith's Powerful Essay on Fiction
from Real Ballers Read
“I have closed novels and stared at their back covers for a long moment and felt known in a way I cannot honestly say I have felt known by many real-life interactions with human beings, or even by myself.” ~ Zadie Smith On this week’s episode of Real Ballers Read, we dive into one of the most thought-provoking essays by the brilliant Zadie Smith, “Fascinated to Presume: In Defense of Fiction”. Here’s a fun contribution to the conversation started by @booksarepopculture on Black bookstagram’s preference for fiction or nonfiction. What’s your go-to genre?? The bros got a whole *concept map* of all the connections we made to Zadie Smith’s essay. This was a fun conversation that somehow covered bell hooks, Toni Morrison, Captain Underpants and the new culture wars in the same episode. Tune in wherever you listen to podcasts. . . . 2:57 The Story Behind this episode 7:42 The first paragraph of “Fascinated to Presume” 9:24 Having fluid or “inconsistent” personalities 10:56 Ways we’ve felt more secure 12:26 Relating to fictional characters 13:34 To Kill A Mockingbird 16:05 Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine 19:36 Feeling seen by people vs. books 21:52 What happens to people when the news cameras leave? 23:47 The Dance of Human Interaction and its absence in reading 26:27 Trick Mirror 28:16 The Potential for Radical Change 32:44 American Dirt 38:02 Is it irresponsible to write from someone else’s point of view? 42:10 What does harm mean in a literary sense? 46:41 Trigger warnings at the start of books? 47:31 Sisters of the Yam by bell hooks 52:18 Stanley Crouch 54:16 John Howard Griffin and Black Like Me 55:45 Limits of empathy 57:38 The illusion of the self 59:30 Reading as a writer vs. as a casual reader 1:01 Consumerism as an identity 1:06 The Reader decides to believe or not 1:07 What we want from good fiction 1:14 Difference between acting and writing 1:16 Cultural Appropriation as a verbal container 1:23 Does this essay convince us to read more classics? 1:31 Hector Abad quote --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/realballersread/support
What this episode covers
“I have closed novels and stared at their back covers for a long moment and felt known in a way I cannot honestly say I have felt known by many real-life interactions with human beings, or even by myself.” ~ Zadie Smith On this week’s episode of Real Ballers Read, we dive into one of the most thought-provoking essays by the brilliant Zadie Smith, “Fascinated to Presume: In Defense of Fiction”. Here’s a fun contribution to the conversation started by @booksarepopculture on Black bookstagram’s preference for fiction or nonfiction. What’s your go-to genre?? The bros got a whole *concept map* of all the connections we made to Zadie Smith’s essay. This was a fun conversation that somehow covered bell hooks, Toni Morrison, Captain Underpants and the new culture wars in the same episode. Tune in wherever you listen to podcasts. . . . 2:57 The Story Behind this episode 7:42 The first paragraph of “Fascinated to Presume” 9:24 Having fluid or “inconsistent” personalities 10:56 Ways we’ve felt more secure 12:26 Relating to fictional characters 13:34 To Kill A Mockingbird 16:05 Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine 19:36 Feeling seen by people vs. books 21:52 What happens to people when the news cameras leave? 23:47 The Dance of Human Interaction and its absence in reading 26:27 Trick Mirror 28:16 The Potential for Radical Change 32:44 American Dirt 38:02 Is it irresponsible to write from someone else’s point of view? 42:10 What does harm mean in a literary sense? 46:41 Trigger warnings at the start of books? 47:31 Sisters of the Yam by bell hooks 52:18 Stanley Crouch 54:16 John Howard Griffin and Black Like Me 55:45 Limits of empathy 57:38 The illusion of the self 59:30 Reading as a writer vs. as a casual reader 1:01 Consumerism as an identity 1:06 The Reader decides to believe or not 1:07 What we want from good fiction 1:14 Difference between acting and writing 1:16 Cultural Appropriation as a verbal container 1:23 Does this essay convince us to read more classics? 1:31 Hector Abad quote --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/realballersread/support
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60. Fascinated to Presume: Zadie Smith's Powerful Essay on Fiction
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