"You should never just read for 'enjoyment.' Read to make yourself smarter! Less judgmental. More apt to understand your friends' insane behavior, or better yet, your own. Pick 'hard books.' Ones you have to concentrate on while reading. And for God's sake, don't let me ever hear you say, 'I can't read fiction. I only have time for the truth.' Fiction is the truth, fool! Ever hear of 'literature'? That means fiction, too, stupid."
Such is the wisdom of John Waters, culled from his 2010 book Role Models, which I am enjoying so much that I know I will flip back to page one as soon as page 294 rolls around. Waters is a American treasure ( though he'd hate to be described as such), and I truly hope he's willed his brain to the Smithsonian. In my parallel universe, John Waters is on the Supreme Court and a pencil-mustachioed Antonin Scalia is skulking around Baltimore in a Comme des Garcons ensemble, Super-8 camera in hand.
The only addition I would make to the above observations is that nonfiction (the category which includes Role Models, as it is a collection of essays, all of them GREAT) can be just as fake as fiction is true. Stories are how we make sense of this filthy world of ours. Even a "nonfiction" "political memoir" like The Radical Housewife has a few, er, moments of inspired creativity--though the story about Michele Bachmann yelling at my son and nephew is as horrifyingly true as it is truly horrifying. Bachmann, the real person, is so outrageously bizarre that if she didn't exist, Waters would have invented her. As long as a loony like Bachmann wields power, Waters' declaration that "fiction is the truth" will hold....well, true.
May you create a few tales of your own this new year--the taller the better. Onward to 2011!
Hey, I'm not sure exactly where an appropriate place for me to write this comment is...but I guess right here will do. Thanks for commenting on my blog and for your support! Did you see the show? Thoughts? Also, I'm excited to meet other feminists in MN! I'm in the GWS graduate program at Mankato right now. How do I get involved with Minnesota's NOW chapter? (I only recently moved there and am still figuring things out)
ReplyDeleteKatie, it's so nice to hear from you. I have not yet seen the show--I don't have MTV so I have to make time to stream it. I'm thrilled by the positive responses, though. I welcome you to the Minnesota feminist community! The best place to connect, as always, is Facebook. There's a MN NOW fan page that can get you hooked up. Request me as a friend, too! You'll recognize my daughter's "feminism runs in my family" t-shirt as my icon.
ReplyDeletethanks for the book recommendation -- I had not heard of it. My partner and I want to start a book club...perhaps this will be one of the first we read. He is indeed a national treasure, and needed more now than ever.
ReplyDeleteI always get my Baltimore pride on when John Waters is hailed. :) He is truly our patron saint of the freakadelic. I've seen him around on occasion, though he lives mostly in New York now. Role Models is on my list!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, fellow radical Shannon!