In Conversation: Joan LeMay and Alex Pappademas, Authors of ‘Quantum Criminals’
The Steely Dan renaissance (aka the Danaissance) shows no sign of abating in 2023, with good reason: it is clear now that history is the slow process of discovering that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker have always been several steps ahead of the rest of us. This is a band that gave us memes before memes were a thing; a band whose tracks are recognizable to hip hop heads, jazz bros, and eminent hipsters across all cohorts; a band whose music is still capable of taking center stage in what we know refer to as "discourse," just because someone of some consequence decided to vent.
Not content to settle on letting Steely Dan be a mood, Joan LeMay and Alex Pappademas decided to plunge into the Daniverse through the fascinating characters that haunt the songs. Their new book, Quantum Criminals, is an entirely new way of looking at the band's catalog. Armed with curiosity, imagination, and a thick file of obscure facts and Dan trivia, Alex and Joan bring these characters to life in ways that will surprise and delight even the most hardened and jaded Dan fans.
Join us as we talk about this thrilling new book, but first, mind if we make a pitstop on Sunset? Never you mind what it's for, I promise it'll just be a minute.
Alex Pappademas
Joan LeMay
Quantum Criminals
Ramblers, Wild Gamblers,
and Other Sole Survivors
from the Songs of Steely Dan
