September 20, 2021
In this memorable debut, poet and sportswriter Shane shapes his favorite basketball team’s philosophies into a novel outlook on his own life. He relates how he went from being a “jobless recent divorcé” in 2010 who obsessively followed the Golden State Warriors and was in need of a major life overhaul to deciding to use the one constant in his world to begin living with purpose. He did so by adopting the four guiding mantras—“joy, mindfulness, compassion, and competition”—that Steve Kerr used to lead the Warriors to an NBA championship in 2015. Structured chronologically, Shane’s lyrical narrative links each mantra to events in his life, such as discovering joy in a promising new relationship, or reconnecting with his mother—whose experience with homelessness teaches him “joy is not a noun. It’s in the verb”—and having compassion for a stranger whose partner died in the 2016 Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland, Calif. In detailing his yearslong effort to improve his life and mental health, Anderson’s passionate fandom shines through as he parallels the Warriors’ victories and defeats alongside his own, making this a particularly enjoyable tale for anyone who has followed the team’s remarkable rise over the past decade. This evocative story deserves a wide audience.