Watery Memoir

Just finished reading John Waters' book, Role Models. No, I just finished reading the negative reviews on its Amazon page. One reviewer said she blamed getting this book on Terry Gross of NPR's Fresh Air. That's funny because I got this book because I too listened to John Waters on that program. Terry is great interviewer. And the books always sound so interesting.

Waters reads his book for Audible. Nobody else could do it. Dry, drool, totally self-aware. On Fresh Air he talked about the first chapter, which is about his admiration for Johnny Mathis. That chapter was fascinating. Unlike the reviewer mentioned above who hated the Leslie Van Houten chapter, I liked that chapter. I worked with one of her brothers, the one who was adopted. When I met him, he had changed his name back to his Korean birth name, although it seemed more Japanese to me. I don't blame him. There is a lot of hate associated with those Manson folks. What Waters does so well is to help you understand more about these people than what is on the surface. Van Houten went to a very bad place in herself, thanks in large part to drugs and the times. There but for the grace of fate could have gone many of us. Fascinating reading.

My hairdresser in Virginia had just come back from a vacation in Provincetown, MA. I never knew this was a gay hang out. Tennessee Williams hung out there, so did John Waters. You know how I love these connections.

You must have guessed there was some chapters I didn't love. The perversities at the end almost undid me. To each his own, I always say, as long as they aren't hurting other people. But I really don't need to know about it. Really. Do not. Need. To know. But now I do. Yippee.

Would I recommend this book? Sigh. How curious are you?