Buzz Kill

When Lund’s Plastics Division hits the skids, it turns to its newly hired Chinese research and development director, Dr. Chen, who―despite his best intentions―struggles with both the English language and American corporate policies. When he’s told to hire a new scientist, Chen advertises for a young Chinese male who is preferably single. (He isn’t sure what religion would be best.) Chen’s innocent faux pas leads to mandatory sensitivity training, an experience so brutal, even Dick Cheney would call it torture. He builds a new R&D team, featuring Dr. Miao, a Chinese transplant who favors Red Man chewing tobacco and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon. Chen and Miao are joined by the sultry VP of finance, B’linda Mae “Trophy” Jones, whose best parts are nicknamed Bonnie and Clyde; Monique D’Estaing, a tall, black, Harley-riding Cajun lesbian; and sales director Bob Davis, a good ol’ boy who specializes in strip clubs as customer entertainment. To save the day, his team pulls out all the stops―like celebrity dress-up rollerblade scavenger hunts in Miami Beach―but their antics attract unfavorable attention from corporate human resources. Can Chen’s company survive his help? Written for anyone who’s ever worked in a large company, suffered through sensitivity training, or wondered if Thanksgiving is an anti-turkey display of Eurocentric imperialism, Buzz Kill is an uproariously twisted tale of America’s corporate culture.