Customer Reviews

Baggage Claim

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Renowned playwright, David E. Talbert makes a grand entrance into the publishing arena with debut release, Baggage Claim. Talbert's quick-witted dialogue and zany characters provide front row entertainment for an otherwise preposterous romance.

According to the women in Montana Moore's family, you are not a lady until you marry and not a woman until you have birthed at least two children. At thirty-five years of age, flight attendant Montana Moore is neither and with meager prospects. Baby sister, Sheree, announces her engagement to a promising physician and this sends our protagonist on a thirty-thousand mile expedition, with thirty days to charm a potential suitor into her fiancé. With the aid of cronies, Sam and Gail , Montana is whisked off to the Big Apple for an overdue makeover and begins her search high in the friendly skies from New York to California in search of prince charming.

Whom will she choose? Damon Diesel, a P. Diddy wanna-be; Reverend Curtis P. Merewether and his colorful wardrobe; pompous Councilman, Langston Jefferson Battle III; or Quinton Jamison, brandishing trinkets and a trip around the world. The clock is ticking as Montana finds her prospects are as wacky as her plan and true love could possibly be worth waiting for.

Outrageously funny...witty and charming, Baggage Claim is a must read. From the onset, Talbert lured me in with the prologue and captured me with chapter one. Talbert's debut reminds me of the adage, "never judge a book by its cover." I highly recommend Baggage Claim. Chick lit does not get any better than this!

Reviewed by Nicki Lancaster
APOOO BookClub

Wickedly funny and wonderfully told, BAGGAGE CLAIM is a divine debut into the literary world by playwright David E. Talbert. Montana Moore is not only a flight attendant, but she's carrying enough baggage for two or three other people: baggage in her personal life and also in her family life. She is 35 years old and on a mission to find her a husband in 30 days or less using her connections to fly the friendly skies.

The women in Montana's family are obsessed with the idea of marriage and have come up with a ridiculous tradition of putting pressure on any woman nearing thirty who remains unmarried. Montana's the only one left and the noose around her neck starts to tighten as her mother just finalized her fourth marriage and her sister unexpectedly announces her engagement. Montana loses all sane thoughts, dismantles her theory of men and their similarity to various pieces of baggage, and gathers her flying buddies Sam and Gail for a master plan.

Sam and Gail have major work to do, but manage to reinvent Montana and get her ready for the flight of her life, as they go through her address book selecting men who will make marriage material for her. After checking the airline schedules, they are able to find out when the men will be taking flights for the holidays and in order to make the project work, Montana is set up to "accidentally" bump into them. Imagine it. Five different men, in five different cities across the United States; all with a history. From an imitation P.Diddy to a spineless minister, to a wealthy millionare and an attorney, she hopes to find "the one" who will help her break the "Moore Family Curse" and arrive at her sister's engagement party with an announcement of her own.

Getting from point A to point B in BAGGAGE CLAIM is outright hilarious. The dialogue of the characters intertwined with the proposterous plan of finding a fiance' by flying through the friendly skies will keep you reading this book from cover to cover. Talbert has a knack for bringing these characters to life and what a great transformation it was. I fell in love with some of the protagonists and felt a sense of loss as the story ended. He did a wonderful job of showing the reader that sometimes traditions are not always what they're cracked up to be and that they should not always determine how you run your life.

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Her mom is a serial spouse always married though her number of husbands requires a data base to keep score. Her thirty five year old daughter airline stewardess Montana Moore has never been married though she is beautiful and perky. Unlike her mother who finds positive qualities in any man, Montana classifies men in accordance with types of luggage.

Her best friend William and flight buds Rabelaisian and Sam thinks Montana needs to drop her genre system and find a man in time to show off a fiancé at her youngest sister's engagement party. Montana has several potential mates to consider: a successful realtor; a hip hop record producer; a fiery preacher; an attorney, and zillionaire older guy. All carry excess baggage in Montana's mind so she claims none as a possible spouse. However, the right bag is closer to home than she realizes if she can only see.

Fans of lighthearted romantic romps will appreciate the amusing BAGGAGE CLAIM that is at its best satirizing other novels. The story line is fun, but inane as Montana soars the friendly skies seeking a life mate. Her helpers and her family are even more absurd than her. Readers needing some escapist fluff will enjoy David Talbert's lighter than air novel.

Harriet Klausner

Montana Moore, 35 yr. old flight attendent in her prime - pressured to arrive at her sister's Christmas Eve party with her future husband.

Mr. Talbert (playwright author) in his debut novel has given us a hilarious story about Montana's quest before Christmas Eve. She has several candidates that she's considering - Quinton Jamison (a sugar daddy multimillionaire who's twenty years older; Reverend Curtis P. Merewether (a Holy Ghost Pastor); Langston Jefferson Battle III (city councilman); Damon Diesel, (a Puff Daddy wannabe); - but will any of these fit the bill???? Or is there someone who Montana just hasn't considered as a prospect?

The pressure is on - Montana has "one" month and thousands of air miles to solve her problem, with a constant reminder from her sisters and mother that females should be married by age thirty.

The humor and laughs in the story is outrageous! It was enjoyment to read this tale.

Montana Christina Moore is a flight attendant looking for her man. She has the men in categories:

1. Overnight Bag kind of man

2. Garment Bag kind of man

3. Briefcase man

4. Duffel Bag kind of man

5. Trunk kind of man.

Montana believes that having a husband is a sense of "you're not a lady until you're married and you're not a woman until you have at least two children. Of course her mother is the Queens of weddings, having been married since Montana's father passed away. The whole time that Montana is looking for her special guy she had no idea the guy of her dreams has been in her life all along. This book will make you laugh out loud. There is the smell money vixen Gail, and there is sky Goddess Sam Benson. He liked to dress in drag, and he and Gail would argue, and argue, and argue some more. Some of the disses they traded back and forth will have you wiping the tears from your eyes because you will laugh so hard. I know some of what happened in the book is far fetched, but it's the work of fiction, so you should know not to take certain things to seriously.

When Montana finds out her younger sister is engaged, she is feeling the pressure, and decides she will find a man and become engaged in 30 days. So after a makeover, and some studying of the flight schedule, Montana is on her way to a hilarious adventure. Guy #1 is Damon, Music Exec who is a kept man. Guy #2 is Reverend Curtis Mereweather who would love to have Montana in his life, but Montana would have to change too much for her own taste to satisfy the other ladies in the church. She would have to transform herself into Shirley Ceasar. Guy #3 Langston Battle who is running for congress. He compares women to his dog. Langston is stuck up and Montana remembers why she lost interest in him.

No matter what happens to Montana, William is always right there to help her pick up the pieces. I wanted to reach into the pages, and shake Montana. She knew she liked William. How else could she explain her behavior if he mentioned seeing other women or not answering his phone right away?

Guy #5 is Quinton Jamison, 55, and not trying to get married. Montana wants the proposal. Montana is forced to face herself, and stand up to her family. She lets them know what is important to her and that she will marry when she is good and ready. By the end of the book Montana finally realizes the man of her dreams is someone who has loved her and will love her unconditionally.

This book will make you realize what is important in life, how you can't let the pressure of not being married get to you. This is a good fun book to read.

This book was so funny. I found myself laughing out loud and looking around to see who heard or saw me, because I was truly into the story and forgot where I was. The characters were written so vividly. I could see this as a movie.

As a flight attendant I just could not enjoy this book because so much was so wrong!! The author obviously doesn't know anything about being a flight attendant. The main character hooks up with a guy by closing his arm in the door of an aircraft, and she isn't aware of it until he tells her! If this were ever to happen it would gross negligence on the part of the flight attendant. The captain makes an anouncement in flight for the flight attendants to prepare doors for landing, which is ridiculous, doors are armed and disarmed on the ground. There are so many mistakes like this that it distracted me from the story. This book is so full of cliches it's maddening.

I was horrible and knew it would be so someone please tell me why i bought this. Man i'm upset

I loved the story. The way she went back and found out those men were the same and worse. She was going nowhere fast. But luckly she came to her senses and seen u can't go back to the men who did u u wrong. They didn't change if u c them years later they only going to get worse

David E. Talbert has branched off to a new medium in being a famed author and with this his first book, I know that he is destined for greater success!! "Baggage Claim" is an outstanding book and it will make you laugh as well. David has brought his skills of play writing to paper in this novel and I am looking forward to seeing this book on the big screen! David is truly a pioneer and inspiration to us all!!