Talk Talk

Talk, talk, that is what happened when the deaf got together, a direct translation into English – they talked a lot, talked all the time, talked the way Bridger was talking now, only with their hands. When deaf get together talk talk all the time. Communication, the universal need. Information. Access. Escape from the prison of silence. Talk, talk, talk. (p 195-6)

Dana is deaf, an educator, and she is in the middle of everyone’s nightmare in TC Boyle’s Talk Talk.  She is rushing to a dentist appointment and rolls through a STOP sign. She is arrested and is either the victim of Identity theft or mistaken identity. It is Friday and she might get out by Monday. Her boyfriend, Bridger, is helpless. What a way to start April, the Humor Month.  

The nightmare is what’s his name. He has been so many people, has a couple of families with a couple of daughters and can use the system so well he can acquire any one’s identity in a week. This is scary and makes me think real hard about my own credit and identity.  Dana and Bridger are taking a week to find what’s his name while what’s his name is taking a week to move on.

Dana and Bridger head out to recover their identities from this thief, this sociopath. He passes all the tests Ron Silver set out in his The Psychopath Test. He is running from them and they are chasing him. He is indignant that Dana and Bridger are pursuing him, have found him, and are bothering him. He is acting as if he were the victim.  He is arrogant, too. Perhaps he wants to get caught, to be stopped.

Don’t forget your toothbrush.