Word: fannings
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...NATURE, Fred Exley is a fan. His first book. A Fan's Notes, is a portrait of his life as an outsider and a wanderer whose only solace comes from cheering on his personal hero. The Fiff (Frank Gifford of the N.Y. Giants), every Sunday afternoon. His fate is to "sit in the stands with most men and exalt the exploits of others...
From one standpoint. A Fan's Notes is a chronicle of personal failure--Exley is a middle-aged alcoholic who tries to make ends meet by teaching writing and literature to college kids. He has been in and out of an insane asylum, gone through two marriages, and now he spends most days hovering over a drink. His life, by his own admission, is a waste. With one exception: Exley can write about his problems, failures and feeling of inadequacy with honesty...
...with a six-foot woman gymnastics teacher. But Exley also makes more "ordinary" encounters memorable. And the web of brawls begun over football arguments, debauched weekends, overnight stays on couches and endless journeys are held together by forceful personal insights, culminating in the realization of his destiny as a fan. Even when Exley offers nothing new--he learns from his first term at the State Hospital that you stay longer if you tell the doctors the truth--his story--telling carries him through. There is always one anecdote, one character or one revelation in the episode that makes it worthwhile...
...been an avid professional basketball fan all my life," points out Politician Larry O'Brien, 57, newest commissioner of the National Basketball Association. "It came naturally to me because I was born in Springfield, Mass., home of the invention of basketball." O'Brien, a former Postmaster General and ex-chairman of the Democratic National Committee, flopped as a high school forward, however, and admits that his playing time was limited to the local Y.M.C.A. courts. None of this mattered to N.B.A. team owners, who last week gave him a three-year contract and a more than...
...Sure they did!" admits Globe editor Tom Winship, who calls himself a fan of the Real Paper and Phoenix. "We've been scooped many times by both of them. They're both good, lively, feisty publications that keep us on our toes...