Trash Talk

by: Robert Gussin

Published by: Oceanview Publishing

Reviewed by Debra Kiefat

The Sarasota Chapter is hosting the Annual Environmentalist Meeting for the first time since 1957. Arne Schwartz has been given the responsibility to set up a weeklong conference and decide on discussion topics for the breakout sessions and workshops. Arne's committee chooses the theme "Trash Talk" because of the proliferation of garbage on the earth.

Basketball Commissioner David Kress is looking for a way to improve communication between warring athletes who rely on fists and trash talk. He develops an initiative instructing that all basketball athletes must attend a conference of their choice that is considered continuing education on culture and courtesy. This idea is so provocative that other sports commissioners, baseball, hockey, and football, have jumped on this in plan and are enforcing this directive to the athletes of their sport. And so the great miscommunication begins.

Trash Talk does not live up to its promise. There were so many opportunities for the author to develop the characters and the story. Instead it seems it became an opportunity to use multiple 'mother @*!%`^'s and other expletives to drive the point to ad nauseam, the athletes are boys with bad attitudes and thug behavior.

I think much more could have been done with this story line to make it more appealing to a wider audience.

Armchair Interviews says: Heed this reviewer's comments about content and story line.