Fans: A Journey into the Psychology of Belonging

In this buoyant report, science writer Bond (From Here to There) attends a Beatles convention in Liverpool; observes Bath, England’s annual Jane Austen Festival; and scrolls through online furry (“people who feel a strong affection for anthropomorphic animals”) forums to explore what it means to be a fan. Bond contends that humans have a fundamental need for “a social identity [that] gives us a sense of ourselves in relation to others,” pointing to studies that found participants readily favored others who shared even superficial similarities with them. This desire for connection undergirds the one-sided relationships fans form with celebrities and fictional characters, according to Bond, who details how a young woman with Asperger’s syndrome found refuge from bullying in the Potterworld community. Investigating fan fiction’s appeal and mind-boggling variety (one quoted piece involves a romance between Donald Trump and Shrek), Bond suggests that such narratives allow authors to “explore their own identity through the eyes of others.” He also sheds light on darker corners of fandom, asserting that those who valorize the perpetrators of the 1999 Columbine massacre identify with how they believe the shooters were mistreated by classmates. Bond is empathetic toward his subjects, capturing the idiosyncratic qualities of fandom while refraining from gawking or mockery. This should earn Bond some new fans of his own. Agent: Bill Hamilton, A.M. Heath. (May)