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cluckingbell's review
4.0
I am a John Waters fan in spite—or possibly because—of the fact that I have never seen any of his films. I know him only through interviews and an occasional guest appearance, and I really like the guy.
Looking forward to his interactions with a stream of strangers, I was a little disappointed initially to find his imagined best and worst case scenarios take up the bulk of the book. I knew the fictional rides would be there, but I had thought there were maybe three apiece (there were thirteen apiece). So I took a break from the audiobook and returned a couple days later with different expectations and was able to enjoy it much more after that.
It was funny to learn in the acknowledgements that even one of his assistants, who presumably knows him very well, had had difficulty discerning between the imagined "good rides" and "bad rides." Good: a maniac driver who runs over a squirrel. Bad: a maniac driver who runs over a dog. Good: abduction and 'probing' by aliens, resulting in a temporarily magical anus. Bad: abduction by a vegan who forces him to eat a raw turnip. The confusion is understandable, and these relatively innocuous examples are representative of many reasons I will not be able to recommend this book to people I know. They also had me laughing out loud (especially the bad rides) and feeling like I’d gained even more insight into John Waters as a person.
More than anything, the good and bad fantasies give an indication of how exciting, dangerous, and full of possibility hitchhiking seems to the uninitiated, when overall the "real rides" proved somewhat mundane—which is probably the best outcome one can or should hope for when hitchhiking. In his imagined series of bad rides, Waters never gives up his cross-country mission, no matter how alarming or terrifying the experiences, while in reality the tedium (and occasional despair) of waiting hours for a ride proves his greatest obstacle. He's not as resilient in real life as he is in his fantasies, and he spends a lot of time calling and emailing his assistants at all hours, negotiating alternate drop-off points with his drivers, and suffering disappointment with the motels of America.
While Waters seemed more inspired by and invested in the possibilities of hitchhiking than the largely uneventful reality, I ultimately enjoyed hearing about both.
Looking forward to his interactions with a stream of strangers, I was a little disappointed initially to find his imagined best and worst case scenarios take up the bulk of the book. I knew the fictional rides would be there, but I had thought there were maybe three apiece (there were thirteen apiece). So I took a break from the audiobook and returned a couple days later with different expectations and was able to enjoy it much more after that.
It was funny to learn in the acknowledgements that even one of his assistants, who presumably knows him very well, had had difficulty discerning between the imagined "good rides" and "bad rides." Good: a maniac driver who runs over a squirrel. Bad: a maniac driver who runs over a dog. Good: abduction and 'probing' by aliens, resulting in a temporarily magical anus. Bad: abduction by a vegan who forces him to eat a raw turnip. The confusion is understandable, and these relatively innocuous examples are representative of many reasons I will not be able to recommend this book to people I know. They also had me laughing out loud (especially the bad rides) and feeling like I’d gained even more insight into John Waters as a person.
More than anything, the good and bad fantasies give an indication of how exciting, dangerous, and full of possibility hitchhiking seems to the uninitiated, when overall the "real rides" proved somewhat mundane—which is probably the best outcome one can or should hope for when hitchhiking. In his imagined series of bad rides, Waters never gives up his cross-country mission, no matter how alarming or terrifying the experiences, while in reality the tedium (and occasional despair) of waiting hours for a ride proves his greatest obstacle. He's not as resilient in real life as he is in his fantasies, and he spends a lot of time calling and emailing his assistants at all hours, negotiating alternate drop-off points with his drivers, and suffering disappointment with the motels of America.
While Waters seemed more inspired by and invested in the possibilities of hitchhiking than the largely uneventful reality, I ultimately enjoyed hearing about both.
ecrate's review
3.0
I found the intro kind of rambling so I skipped it. I read the first novella like it was nonfiction and couldn't believe what was happening to John Waters! (Spoiler) it took me to the part where he gets abducted by aliens and received the gift of a magic butthole until I realized it was fiction. Moral of the story: skim the introduction.
matthew2666's review
4.0
Like the best of John Waters, just raunchy, hilarious, violent, and somehow full of love and grace for people at the same time. I'm not quite sure what to make of the book's goals and structure and stuff: I originally had the sense that it was a nonfiction account of Waters's adventures hitchhiking across America. The last third is that, but the first two thirds is made up of two novellas, fantasizing in detail about the best case scenario and the worst case scenario of the trip before Waters actually sets out. There's a sort of joke in that the best and worst-case scenarios largely are not super different - both are different energies of 'extremely grotesque.' Somehow, the nonfiction section, while way tamer, is just as fun, a credit to Waters's skills as a raconteur.
So yeah, this book is a weird mess, but it's also vile and hilarious and wholesome.
So yeah, this book is a weird mess, but it's also vile and hilarious and wholesome.
charlibirb's review
3.0
I wanted to like this book better than I did. It sounded so good on NPR. Unfortunately, the words "screamed" and "yelled" and "shouted" were on every page, and I didn't expect 2/3 of this book to be speculation. Meh...
We're supposed to have a book club about this book, but I don't know what there is to discuss...
We're supposed to have a book club about this book, but I don't know what there is to discuss...
alibi313's review
3.0
Not surprising, given his movies, that the fictional parts of the book are truly outrageous, but I have to say I only really enjoyed the factual third of the book. He still puts his unique spin on the experience, making his actual hitchhiking trip across the US much more interesting to me than his ridiculous best possible/worst possible imaginary scenarios.
thebookofdanny's review
4.0
I am completely bias, I love John Waters. He could have slammed his hands on a typewriter, published it and I'd say 'well, it's not for everyone, but it is for me!'.
mamalemma's review
3.0
Carsick is three novels in one, each telling the story of our author on a cross country hitchhiking trip. The first two are fiction: the best scenario and the worst scenario; the third is the truth. What passes for best and worst is where you really experience the quirkiness of John Waters (and is definitely not for everyone!) I really liked the real story, which was fairly short. While I liked the fictional accounts, I spent a lot of time cringing for various reasons. If you are a fan of John Waters' quirky sense of humor, you're likely to love this book. If you are only a casual fan, you may be either slightly shocked, or you may end up a big fan. As such, I would only recommend the book to someone not easily offended or skeeved out. For those, it's utter absurdity is fun.