\n<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wanted to write a more muscular book,\u201d Akbar says, placing a hand on Orange\u2019s shoulder, \u201cuntil you remembered that the heart, too, is a muscle.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s day three of the tour, and they\u2019re sitting in the car outside Sacramento\u2019s Underground Books, launched in the early 2000s by a nonprofit founded by ex-NBA player Kevin Johnson,<\/strong> who sought to open the store following the closure of the neighborhood\u2019s only library.<\/p>\n \u2018Wandering Stars\u2019 by Tommy Orange<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe talked about trading pages weekly as like, this is the band,<\/em>\u201d Akbar explains from the passenger seat between bites of a Bavarian pretzel. \u201cThe idea was that writers don\u2019t get to play music together like musicians do, and this is a version of that. So what does the band do? They go on tour.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like we have solo albums,\u201d Orange elaborates from the back, \u201cbut we do something totally different when we\u2019re together.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re like the Traveling Wilburys right now,\u201d Akbar agrees. I reference the Blues Brothers, and he nods. \u201cI\u2019m the [John] Belushi\u2014the silly Billy\u2014and Tommy\u2019s the straight man, [Dan] Aykroyd.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n That seems about right. I wouldn\u2019t describe either as reserved, exactly, but Akbar\u2019s speech tends to tumble out peppered with humor, whereas Orange has a more serious tone even when he\u2019s joking.<\/p>\n \u201cWe played basketball yesterday in Point Reyes,\u201d Akbar says when I ask if they\u2019ve had time to enjoy themselves between all the bouncing from place to place. \u201cThat didn\u2019t feel like bouncing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe ball was bouncing,\u201d Orange says.<\/p>\n \u201cThis fucking guy!\u201d Akbar exclaims. \u201cMost of what we\u2019re doing is hanging out. The parts where we\u2019re talking into microphones in front of groups of people are rewarding and gratifying in a very different way, but I just love being around Tommy and getting to ride around with him and listen to music and talk about what\u2019s on the playlist.\u201d<\/p>\n The playlist\u2014titled \u201cBand on the Run\u201d\u2014is eclectic, spanning Souls of Mischief, Dirty Art Club, Gilla Band, Vince Staples,<\/strong> INXS, Liars, Hieroglyphics, T. Rex, Alice Coltrane, Hank Williams, and beyond. Music is a frequent topic over the course of our several days of conversation, as is basketball. If the two authors are a \u201cband,\u201d then they are also a team. At the end of the tour, they will see their respective favorite teams face off: the Milwaukee Bucks (Akbar) versus the Golden State Warriors (Orange).<\/p>\n