Trash Talk
The Only Book About Destroying Your Rivals That Isn't Total Garbage
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
Men's Health, notable nonfiction book of 2023
“You’re mad at me, but I am killing you.”—NBA star Gary Payton
“Find the hate.”—NFL star Warren Sapp
“Why can’t you be more like Rafi Kohan?”—your mom, probably
Whether in basketball, football, or MMA, athletes talk trash to each other—and sometimes to fans—like it’s their job. And in some ways, it is: sports only matter if we decide to care about them. And insulting your opponent, or playing the heel, is probably the fastest route to making someone care. Talking smack is as old as the bible; it’s perhaps the original sport.
But until now, there’s never been a book about it.
In this lively, often hilarious history, Rafi Kohan interviews some of the world’s top competitors—on the petty rivalries and mind games that fuel them. He talks to point guards and soccer strikers, cricketers and insult comedians, forming a theory along the way about the surprising and influential role that name-calling plays in our world.
Brilliantly original and wide-ranging, Trash Talk is a book for sports fans, culture mavens, or anyone looking to get an edge.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this rollicking survey, sports writer Kohan (The Arena) examines how trash talk, which he calls "a specific form of incivility" that "allows people to communicate when they're going head-to-head," functions in sports, the military, stand-up comedy, and politics. Though athletes usually trash-talk their opponents "in hopes of interfering with their concentration or otherwise diminishing their performance," Kohan notes that L.A. Lakers star Kobe Bryant "used verbal and physical challenges to feel out guys in his own locker room," believing he could rely on those who bantered back to give their all on the court. Studying incivility in politics, Kohan contends that the insults Donald Trump throws at his political adversaries create an us-versus-them dynamic that strengthens his base's identification with him. Elsewhere, Kohan discusses how the U.S. Army prepares soldiers for possible capture with drills that involve shouting personalized invective at them and how comedians negotiate going "too far" when roasting each other. Kohan's nuanced inquiry highlights trash talk's surprisingly diverse applications, and he's never less than entertaining ("To call it dark humor would be a disservice to Pantone charts everywhere," Kohan writes of the withering insults at a comedy roast). This is a blast.