A review by cojack
Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America by John Waters

3.0

The 3 stars is a little generous. Carsick rates a little below a 3 for me, but I like John Waters, so I bumped it up. The construction of this book -- 1st section is fictitious good rides; 2nd is fictitious hellish rides; 3rd section is FINALLY the real rides -- ends up being its downfall. The first section is a pretty hilarious, wild ride. The second section was awful. It reminded me that I don't really dig Waters' gross-out stuff all that much. The "Bad Rides" section had too much disgusting, stomach churning detail for me. I found myself skipping ahead a lot during this part. It was plain unenjoyable. When we finally get to his real rides, the details are a little skimpy. I think he could have carved more page space from the middle section and fleshed out the last part more. The book would have worked better for me if he had sprinkled the good and bad imagined rides throughout the real rides, e.g., imagining what the person pulling over might be like, then giving the real ride.

** This review is of the audiobook version. The main reason I stuck it out is that Waters was reading it. He is fun to listen to. If I had been reading it, I might have tossed it aside midway through.