Writing Trash and Hunting Buffalo

The author Jay Williams knows how to spin a story that will grow into an epic tale. The main characters Bart Bremmer, Valarie (June) Harding, Stan Rivers, and Paul Westfield make the story come alive. Stan Rivers notices that Bart is not his usual self and calls him into his office to meet with him about his upcoming appearance on a talk show. Bart hard-edged, but truthful articles took a dog to the top. He was personally responsible for making a small-time rag into a million circulation giant. When Bart meets up with the new writer June Harding the story really starts to ignite into a romantic twist. There are many different emotions that are presented for the reader to experience before the story ends. Bart Bremmer changes after finding out that his wealthy uncle who raised him had passed away. Some of my favorite lines from the story. “To a writer, a bar is the most important place in his life- after the desk his typewriter sits on.” Another one, “I’m saying that most Americans are victims of their eyes. They believe, or fall for, what the see on the tube or in print. They don’t reason. They don’t, oh, they don’t question.” Some of my thoughts while reading this story: War is a terrible experience for anyone who has survived one. The story reflects that in the characters of Paul and Bart. Another line that I liked. “We can easily find flaws in others, and it’s because we ARE human.” The plight of the buffalo and the Indians in the story reminds the reader of the early history of the United States. Bart finds like many others often too late the value of relationships. His uncle who raised him after Bart’s parents died. Really did love him. The author Jay Williams is able to show the reader many of the emotions and flaws that his characters possess. A few more lines I enjoyed. “Redundant words are not good for writers. But they reinforce a statement.” I found there to be a deepness to this story that you won’t want to miss. It is a read that will have you thinking about the story long after you finish reading it. Well written and a pleasure to read. I have rated this story a solid 5 stars. I would love to read more by this very talented author. His characters, story plot, and word usage are excellent.

Reviewed by Joel R. Dennstedt for Readers' Favorite Writing Trash and Hunting Buffalo by Jay Williams contains a great paragraph about the reality of war, including these two sentences: “But that’s what war is. It’s not something you brag about or glorify in poems, because it’s horrible.” These words resonate well with the plot of this book, which follows the rapid dissolution of Bart Bremmer - a war vet/Hollywood-trash-writer country boy from midland America. Bremmer hates the superficial gloss of Hollywood, and even more the people who profit from it, not to mention the other misfit crazies inhabiting California. He vents his aggressive hatred by writing exposé articles to deflate the mighty egos of L.A.’s vapid stars, and the quality of his writing is the reason for his magazine’s great popularity and success. Bremmer himself, as he often reminds his friends and associates, is still just a good old country boy, unchanged by success or his life inside enemy territory. When that begins to change, his life unravels. In his novel Writing Trash and Hunting Buffalo, Jay Williams displays a keen knack for writing about the wars of human interaction, which keeps his plot moving briskly and at times explosively. The dynamics of his story certainly keep the reader well engaged and interested. This can be difficult when a main character challenges one’s empathy and capacity for compassion, but like Bart’s main love interest, June, and his closest friends, Stan and Paul, the reader is inclined to give this man the benefit of the doubt. Whether this is warranted or not is the book’s final point to answer. All in all, an engaging read.