Trash Talk

Robert Gussin
Oceanview Publishing (2006)
ISBN 193351504X 
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (8/06)


Author Robert Gussin manages to successfully combine his two passions into one book.  His love of science and his love of sports created “Trash Talk.”  To jocks, “trash talk” is defined as athletes “insulting each other by swearing and saying bad things and insulting people on the other team so they get upset and angry and it screws up their game.”   It is considered an art form.  To environmentalists, “trash talk” is a topic involving garbage and its negative impact on the environment.

Athletes are getting a bad image because of their poor behavior and foul language at the games.  The commissioners from a variety of sports decide to order them to take courses that help them to improve their image. The athletes are not happy about this.  When they hear that there is a conference in Florida that is titled “Trash Talk” they get excited and sign up for it.  They feel they can meet this new requirement and improve on their art of trash talk. 

Actually it is a conference put on by the Sarasota Environmentalist Society (SES).  The people at SES are thrilled to see that they have a huge turnout for this conference.  When the jocks become incensed upon realizing they are at an environmentalist conference, the SES people jump on the ball and add some new topics to be covered to meet the jocks needs. 

In addition to topics such as, “Trash the World Over – Let’s Recycle, Reduce and Reuse It,” they added “Trash Talk, Its Origins, Practice and Environmental Impact.” Issues to be discussed under that topic included the question of whether or not trash talk leads to inappropriate urination and defecation.  They also covered, “The Superbowl and Excremental Overload:  The Local Environmental Impact.”  If you increase beer and hotdog sales, you increase sewage output at the games.

On a positive note, the athletes start to take notice about environmental issues that they hadn’t considered prior to attending this conference.  The sessions are also much livelier than expected because the environmentalists are catching on to “trash talk” and having a blast.  On a negative note, the environmentalists are catching on to “trash talk” and not behaving as appropriately as one would expect.

This makes for a hilarious time! “Trash Talk” is a blast for everyone to read.
Environmentalists who don’t take themselves too seriously or don’t mind being portrayed as nerds, will love it.  Athletic fans will also love it because the sports characters are hysterical.  Gussin does a fantastic job of developing the characters in such a way that they are quirky and fun, and that you like them.  This is a fun, light read that manages to put a light hearted spin on two serious issues that we are facing today: the environment and the negative behavior of athletes.  Don’t miss this one!

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