美国国家公共电台 NPR--'The Sense of Wonder' combines the author's love of basketball and Korean dramas

'The Sense of Wonder' combines the author's love of basketball and Korean dramas

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Korean-American author Matthew Salesses about his new novel which draws from his own experience of trying to fit in, while feeling like an outsider.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Korean American writer Matthew Salesses has turned his love of basketball and Korean dramas into a novel. It's called "The Sense Of Wonder," with his protagonist², Won Lee, being dubbed³ The Wonder when he goes on a winning streak⁴ for the New York Knicks. Won Lee is the only Asian American in the NBA. Salesses told me he was partly inspired by the Taiwanese American Jeremy Lin, who captivated audiences back in 2012 when he played for the Knicks.

MATTHEW SALESSES: I, as a kid, wanted to be an NBA basketball player, and so it was a really huge moment for me. And it seemed, for maybe a week and a half, that the world was kind of on Lin's side. And - but the whole time, everybody was kind of holding their breaths and some wondering how long this could go on before the backlash happened. And as soon as he lost that first game, there was a racist⁵ headline on ESPN and a lot of racist comments, both on TV and on social media, that it seemed almost like people were saving up. And so this happens to Won, too, and he has to kind of deal with the fact that - both that he was living in this kind of bubble of media attention for a short period of time, and then also that the bubble has burst.

FADEL: A lot of this book has Won struggling with the burden of the, quote, "model minority" stereotype⁶ and his struggle of when to call out the racism⁷ he's dealing⁸ with from his coach, from the industry, from the media, versus⁹ when to play that role of I'm just happy to be here. I'm a team player. If you could just talk about writing that tension and what you were trying to portray¹⁰.

SALESSES: That's something that fascinates me about the NBA in general, is there's a sort of language that players have when they speak to the media, which is a very different language than they have when they're talking to each other. And then there's - they're constantly code switching. But in the NBA, that power is always on display. And you kind of forget sometimes - though I'm sure the players don't forget, right? - that this is a business and it's their jobs, actually. And so they have to both protect their work selves while also trying to be true to who they are. And I think that's a really interesting tension, especially when there's so much on the table and when the dynamic can be so racially charged.

FADEL: Another character in the book is an ESPN writer, Robert Sung. He has a connection with Won Lee and also a jealousy¹¹. They're both Korean American. Sung is adopted by white parents; Won Lee is not. They both were college and high school basketball players with aspirations¹² to be in the NBA, but Lee makes it as the only Asian American in the league, and Sung doesn't make it. If you could talk about that really fraught¹³ relationship and the way they're linked almost no matter what.

SALESSES: Yeah, so they've had similar circumstances. They both played the same superstar, Powerball, who was Sung's high school teammate. Sung was the - you know, the second-best player on that team and eventually ended his career. But he still, you know, is in that world of basketball, and this dream is still alive for him. So he ends up becoming a sportswriter. And in this kind of interesting twist of fate, he ends up being the beat writer for the Knicks. And his job is basically to write about Powerball. Enter into that Won, who now is playing with Powerball and then, for this kind of brief period, rises to stardom and becomes everything that Robert Sung and Won both kind of dreamed that somebody could become. And so there's a lot of jealousy there.

But I also - I'm adopted from Korea, and I've often felt like that dynamic in the Asian American community is kind of a strange and sometimes uncomfortable one. But I kind of feel as if I'm within the community, and I gain a lot of support from the community, but also sometimes feel on the outside because I haven't grown up with the same cultural touchstones. And so Sung is an insider in certain ways, but also an outsider in other ways - right? - even with basketball, but also with his identity.

FADEL: You have three sort of distinct stories going on at the same time - the story of Won, which we discussed at length; the story of his girlfriend, Carrie, the TV producer who's obsessed¹⁴ with K-drama and is trying to bring it to an American audience; and then the story of K-drama itself. Why did you decide to incorporate K-drama as a character in the book?

SALESSES: So the K-drama - K-drama is one of my other great loves.

FADEL: Yeah.

SALESSES: And at some point I thought, I'm going to write this book so that I can say that the things that I'm doing - that I already do and like - are research, so that I can watch basketball and watch K-drama and no one can say I'm not actually writing in some way. But the K-drama then started to be a way that I could see for introducing to readers unfamiliar¹⁵ with this kind of story, a story more driven by fate and a story surrounding a love story and hitting on certain tropes that I wanted to tell. And I thought that if I put these K-dramas in there, that they would help readers understand the frame of reference for the book.

FADEL: I love that, where you're like, I love basketball. I love K-drama. That's going to be the main...

(LAUGHTER)

FADEL: ...The main parts of the book.

SALESSES: Sometimes you just got to, like, keep yourself happy and...

FADEL: Yeah.

SALESSES: It's a long process.

FADEL: Yeah. So I don't know if this is giving stuff away, but your last line just made me laugh - sarcastically¹⁶, probably. But you end this book with this line, this is our story's frame of reference. Now go back and read the book again. Just tell me why you ended the book like that. I just loved it.

SALESSES: Thank you. I'm glad you liked it. I think that on second read, knowing the frame of reference that people might get different things from the book. Sometimes I think we finish a book and we think, now I'm done with it, right? Like, wipe your hands. Move on with your life. But the way that we understand a book is only possible once you've read the entire book. And so I hope that people will think about the things that happen in the story that I was telling now with the frame of reference of understanding the entire story.

FADEL: Matthew Salesses' new book is called "The Sense Of Wonder." Thank you so much.

SALESSES: Thank you so much. This was so wonderful.

(SOUNDBITE OF OJ SON'S "ACCADE DE BALI")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！

3 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

5 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

6 stereotype   

n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框

参考例句：

• He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
• There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。

7 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

10 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

11 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

12 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

13 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

14 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

15 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

16 sarcastically   

adv.挖苦地，讽刺地

参考例句：

• 'What a surprise!' Caroline murmured sarcastically.“太神奇了!”卡罗琳轻声挖苦道。
• Pierce mocked her and bowed sarcastically. 皮尔斯嘲笑她，讽刺地鞠了一躬。