Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America
Ratings9
Average rating3.4
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.
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Do not read or listen to while eating. You'll either lose your appetite or you'll spit your food out from laughing out loud.
Fun if you like Waters, his films, and his sense of humor. The most interesting part of the book was the real life hitchhiking trip and seeing how it was a) hard to get a ride and b) most people were quite nice and decent to him once he did finally get a ride. He even made a good friend! Someone he probably wouldn't necessarily have met otherwise.
That is only one-third or less of the book though. Most of it is Water's fantasy's/nightmares about what might happen to him on this trip. Of course, they are extreme and frequently gross/raunchy. They start out almost believable and then amp up to utterly absurd. Some chapters are quite funny. Some are a bit much.
I am a fan of Waters and like the way he writes. It's hard to imagine who to recommend this to outside of other fans though.
