Part I . . . Notes, References, and Shoutouts (Chapters 1-5)
(BbU Supplement #1)
Chapter 1. The Unbearable Lightness of the B List
With apologies, of course, to the great Franco-Czech writer Milan Kundera. (The Unbearable Lightness of Being, English translation first published in 1984 by Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.)
Quoted from James Joyce, Ulysses, The Corrected Text. Hans Walter Gabler (ed.) with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior, New York: Vintage Books. A Division of Random House, 1986. Excerpt: Chapter 13, pp. 288-289.
Chapter 3. Priests and Offensive Linemen
Thanks to the various Birman breed publications relating the legend, as well as the Encyclopedia of American Cat Breeds, by Meredith Wilson, TFH Publications, 1978. For the Birman breed standard, see: Cat Fanciers Association, Birman breed standard
Chapter 4. The Blessed Sanctuary of Deuce
The sanctuary of shades — As it was, every time a point would end the cameraman hunched down in front of our box would jerk up and train his camera at us. Thank God for the sanctuary of shades. Nervous and anxious for Michael, I continually fiddled with mine, taking them off, running my fingers under my eyes to wipe away the sweat, putting them back on.
A play on the old tennis saying,"the blessed sanctuary of deuce," and thus the chapter title.
“Back to what an old-time tennis player once deemed ‘the blessed sanctuary of deuce,’ Borg got the advantage with a first serve wide to the backhand that Tanner returned inches long.” Washington Post, 1979.
Chapter 5. Broken Dreams of Big Men
Cross court or down the line? And other choices that we make . . .
Top image: Photograph by J. Weigley