Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters

John Waters

Scribner 2003

Re-Issue Edition with new Chapters

Crackpot is a reissue of John Waters' 1986 collection of rants and reviews, expanded with new materials. Marketed a bit like a DVD it has “9 new features, even a bonus commentary” ! This is one cool book. Every essay has a unique brand on humour, it ranges from truly nasty tongue in cheek reflections on Christmas to the inside story behind Hairspray, where we find our how much of real Baltimore is in the film. (which is now a musical and soon to be a film of the musical !)

There are real life stories of Waters experiences teaching film-making in maximum security jails to interviews with celebrities, this is a book packed with gossip, innuendo and wit. Waters can be so much more daring in print than he can on film, so his written works are even more over the top than one would expect. At the same time he likes to dispense “useful” advice along the way: how not to make a movie, how to become infamous, and of course, how to most effectively offend as many people as possible and yet make people laugh (and make yourself money) at the same time.

It is quite an experience to read John Waters rather than see his vision on celluloid; he has an incisive wit and clever use of language which actually makes him more interesting than his films. Don’t get me wrong, I love John Waters films, from Divine eating pooh in Pink Flamingoes to the sex missionaries of A Dirty Shame. But there is something truly artful, something “fine tuned” and unique about Waters use of language which elevates his printed works above his films.

This is a great read and is a must have item.