John Waters is putting his life on the line. Armed with wit, a pencil-thin mustache, and a cardboard sign that reads 'I'm Not Psycho', he hitchhikes across America from Baltimore to San Francisco, braving lonely roads and treacherous drivers. But who should we be more worried about, the delicate film director with genteel manners or the unsuspecting travelers transporting the Pope of Trash? Along the way, Waters fantasises about the best and worst possible scenarios: a friendly drug dealer hands over piles of cash to finance films with no questions asked, a demolition-derby driver makes a filthy sexual request in the middle of a race, a gun-toting drunk terrorizes and holds him hostage, and a Kansas vice squad entraps and throws him in jail. So what really happens when this cult legend sticks out his thumb and faces the open road? Laced with subversive humour and warm intelligence, Carsick is …
John Waters is putting his life on the line. Armed with wit, a pencil-thin mustache, and a cardboard sign that reads 'I'm Not Psycho', he hitchhikes across America from Baltimore to San Francisco, braving lonely roads and treacherous drivers. But who should we be more worried about, the delicate film director with genteel manners or the unsuspecting travelers transporting the Pope of Trash? Along the way, Waters fantasises about the best and worst possible scenarios: a friendly drug dealer hands over piles of cash to finance films with no questions asked, a demolition-derby driver makes a filthy sexual request in the middle of a race, a gun-toting drunk terrorizes and holds him hostage, and a Kansas vice squad entraps and throws him in jail. So what really happens when this cult legend sticks out his thumb and faces the open road? Laced with subversive humour and warm intelligence, Carsick is an unforgettable vacation with a wickedly funny companion - and a celebration of America's weird, astonishing, and generous citizens.
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. 2/3 of this is fictional versions of a good journey and a terrible journey. They were outrageous and over the top (in a John Waters' film way) but also fell a bit flat for me. They felt a bit like filler, since not enough happened on the actual hitchhiking journey, but apparently they were written before he left.
The account of the real journey was was probably a lot like the actual journey, sweet in a few places surrounded by long periods of fear, anxiety, and not being able to get a ride (and probably a fair amount of boredom). Certainly not the best travel book I've ever read but it is an interesting twist on the genre from an unusual character.
I didn't get the fact that the first two parts of this book were complete fiction until after a few rides into the first part; that's all what Waters wanted his trip to be, the second part is what Waters imagined how the trip would be if it were as horrible as possible, and the third part is - according to Waters - the trip as it really happened.
Yes, the third part is the most interesting. Like Chuck Palahniuk, Waters managed to gross me out in his first part (not at the start) and the second part just bored me, but the third part, where his escaped his storytelling and actually started telling the story as it happened, is far and beyond the most interesting part to me, where boredom and other persons' stories are included.
So, why is Waters going on a hitchhike and writing a book about …
I didn't get the fact that the first two parts of this book were complete fiction until after a few rides into the first part; that's all what Waters wanted his trip to be, the second part is what Waters imagined how the trip would be if it were as horrible as possible, and the third part is - according to Waters - the trip as it really happened.
Yes, the third part is the most interesting. Like Chuck Palahniuk, Waters managed to gross me out in his first part (not at the start) and the second part just bored me, but the third part, where his escaped his storytelling and actually started telling the story as it happened, is far and beyond the most interesting part to me, where boredom and other persons' stories are included.
So, why is Waters going on a hitchhike and writing a book about it?
What am I trying to prove here? I mean, I’m not bored. An ex-convict woman I recently met claimed her criminal past was not a result of a bad childhood but just because she “wanted an adventure.” I do, too. Kicks. But hasn’t writing and directing fifteen movies and penning six books made me feel complete? My career dreams already came true years ago and what I do now is all gravy. Shouldn’t I be retiring rather than sticking out my thumb? Retiring to what, though? Insanity?
[...]
Will I be safe? I know serial killers routinely pick up hitchhikers and murder them, but aren’t the victims, unfortunately, usually young female hookers? Yeah, yeah, I know about Herb Baumeister, “the I-70 Strangler,” who choked at least sixteen gay men to death, but he picked them up in gay bars, not on exit ramps of truck stops. Yet I must admit even truckers I know are fairly nuts.
Well, he wasn't murderd by a serial killer. Hope I didn't spoil anything for you by writing this. On the other hand, he writes a lot about how twittered-of his adventure on the road was.
The book would have been more interesting if Waters hadn't had access to his credit cards or his smartphone.
All in all: I wish only the non-fiction part would have been in here; that's at the end of the book. Otherwise, it's a semi-interesting read. Waters is eccentric in a good way, and that's interesting to read, but his free-wheelin' fictional stories are better left to films, if you ask me.
I didn't get the fact that the first two parts of this book were complete fiction until after a few rides into the first part; that's all what Waters wanted his trip to be, the second part is what Waters imagined how the trip would be if it were as horrible as possible, and the third part is - according to Waters - the trip as it really happened.
Yes, the third part is the most interesting. Like Chuck Palahniuk, Waters managed to gross me out in his first part (not at the start) and the second part just bored me, but the third part, where his escaped his storytelling and actually started telling the story as it happened, is far and beyond the most interesting part to me, where boredom and other persons' stories are included.
So, why is Waters going on a hitchhike and writing a book about …
I didn't get the fact that the first two parts of this book were complete fiction until after a few rides into the first part; that's all what Waters wanted his trip to be, the second part is what Waters imagined how the trip would be if it were as horrible as possible, and the third part is - according to Waters - the trip as it really happened.
Yes, the third part is the most interesting. Like Chuck Palahniuk, Waters managed to gross me out in his first part (not at the start) and the second part just bored me, but the third part, where his escaped his storytelling and actually started telling the story as it happened, is far and beyond the most interesting part to me, where boredom and other persons' stories are included.
So, why is Waters going on a hitchhike and writing a book about it?
What am I trying to prove here? I mean, Iâm not bored. An ex-convict woman I recently met claimed her criminal past was not a result of a bad childhood but just because she âwanted an adventure.â I do, too. Kicks. But hasnât writing and directing fifteen movies and penning six books made me feel complete? My career dreams already came true years ago and what I do now is all gravy. Shouldnât I be retiring rather than sticking out my thumb? Retiring to what, though? Insanity?
...
Will I be safe? I know serial killers routinely pick up hitchhikers and murder them, but arenât the victims, unfortunately, usually young female hookers? Yeah, yeah, I know about Herb Baumeister, âthe I-70 Strangler,â who choked at least sixteen gay men to death, but he picked them up in gay bars, not on exit ramps of truck stops. Yet I must admit even truckers I know are fairly nuts.
Well, he wasn't murderd by a serial killer. Hope I didn't spoil anything for you by writing this. On the other hand, he writes a lot about how twittered-of his adventure on the road was.
The book would have been more interesting if Waters hadn't had access to his credit cards or his smartphone.
All in all: I wish only the non-fiction part would have been in here; that's at the end of the book. Otherwise, it's a semi-interesting read. Waters is eccentric in a good way, and that's interesting to read, but his free-wheelin' fictional stories are better left to films, if you ask me.
I didn't get the fact that the first two parts of this book were complete fiction until after a few rides into the first part; that's all what Waters wanted his trip to be, the second part is what Waters imagined how the trip would be if it were as horrible as possible, and the third part is - according to Waters - the trip as it really happened.
Yes, the third part is the most interesting. Like Chuck Palahniuk, Waters managed to gross me out in his first part (not at the start) and the second part just bored me, but the third part, where his escaped his storytelling and actually started telling the story as it happened, is far and beyond the most interesting part to me, where boredom and other persons' stories are included.
So, why is Waters going on a hitchhike and writing a book about …
I didn't get the fact that the first two parts of this book were complete fiction until after a few rides into the first part; that's all what Waters wanted his trip to be, the second part is what Waters imagined how the trip would be if it were as horrible as possible, and the third part is - according to Waters - the trip as it really happened.
Yes, the third part is the most interesting. Like Chuck Palahniuk, Waters managed to gross me out in his first part (not at the start) and the second part just bored me, but the third part, where his escaped his storytelling and actually started telling the story as it happened, is far and beyond the most interesting part to me, where boredom and other persons' stories are included.
So, why is Waters going on a hitchhike and writing a book about it?
What am I trying to prove here? I mean, I’m not bored. An ex-convict woman I recently met claimed her criminal past was not a result of a bad childhood but just because she “wanted an adventure.” I do, too. Kicks. But hasn’t writing and directing fifteen movies and penning six books made me feel complete? My career dreams already came true years ago and what I do now is all gravy. Shouldn’t I be retiring rather than sticking out my thumb? Retiring to what, though? Insanity?
[...]
Will I be safe? I know serial killers routinely pick up hitchhikers and murder them, but aren’t the victims, unfortunately, usually young female hookers? Yeah, yeah, I know about Herb Baumeister, “the I-70 Strangler,” who choked at least sixteen gay men to death, but he picked them up in gay bars, not on exit ramps of truck stops. Yet I must admit even truckers I know are fairly nuts.
Well, he wasn't murderd by a serial killer. Hope I didn't spoil anything for you by writing this. On the other hand, he writes a lot about how twittered-of his adventure on the road was.
The book would have been more interesting if Waters hadn't had access to his credit cards or his smartphone.
All in all: I wish only the non-fiction part would have been in here; that's at the end of the book. Otherwise, it's a semi-interesting read. Waters is eccentric in a good way, and that's interesting to read, but his free-wheelin' fictional stories are better left to films, if you ask me.
I won't claim this is the best book or the best thing Waters has done. But it had a couple laugh out loud moments. And a couple of exclaim in disgust moments. It was sometimes tedious but also sometimes delightful. I'm gonna call it beach/pool reading for weirdos.
