The new book, American BeheMouth, highlights ethical dilemmas in modern American sports, including doping, financial chaos, and asterisked world records.

Through the fishing story of an egocentric fisheries hobbyist who raises the world record bass, the author, Jason Covington, points out problems with world records and performance-enhancing drugs in American sports, including baseball.

The book chronicles how a world-record 27-pound bass was raised and caught in a private lake, following several short cuts, including chemically spraying the lake. The book contains the actual formula for how the fish was raised and can be duplicated. Covington calls out the biggest problem in American sports—that we passed up the pleasure of the sport for the economics, allowing financial considerations to supersede the reason we love the sport. The competitive desire to be bigger and better has morphed into something grotesque.

Some of the broader themes in the book include the real value and financial feasibility of some of these sports endeavours, including stadiums, which may turn out to be like other economic bubbles in the American economy. The “build it (at any cost) and they will come” theme in this “Lake of Dreams” is similar to themes found in the film “Field of Dreams” with a twist. Through the protagonist, Covington shows how men’s egos in American sports have taken us off balance in our goals and values. In some cases, we have been looking up to cheaters as our heroes.

The author warns that we have fallen out of balance in pursuing “the American dream,” resulting in disintegrating families, credit card debt, and compulsive behavior. “American BeheMouth” shows conflicting values of Americans struggling to do it all while trying to stay balanced. How do we innovate and achieve great things without becoming despicable cheats or taking questionable short cuts in life?

Read the blog on Doping in American Sports

For a review copy of the book or for more information, contact jason_cov@msn.com