We all went through the book knowing that it’s making fun of political correctness, but at the same time, what’s the edge you can walk on? I still don't know if I fell off the edge or not. We purposely became our own ludicrous sensitivity editors here in my office, where three generations of women work.
But it’s a very, very different time for humor now than it was when I started the book. I've written fiction my whole life-all my movies are fiction. I’ve always wanted to write a novel because I love to read novels.
John Waters: Ten or fifteen years ago, the part about a woman stealing suitcases started as a movie idea. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.Įsquire: Where did Liarmouth begin for you, and how did it take shape over time? Ahead of the work's release, Waters spoke with Esquire by phone from his home in Provincetown, where the conversation ranged from eargasms to travel tips to the state of American comedy. In his acknowledgments, Waters aptly describes how, in writing Liarmouth, he risked veering into “fictitious anarchy.” That’s as good a description as any for this campy, raunchy, surreal story, rife with ribald pleasures. Their cat-and-mouse caper brings them into contact with unforgettable characters like Marsha’s mother Adora, who runs a dog facelift clinic Richard, Darryl’s talking penis and Poppy, Marsha’s trampoline-addicted daughter, who’s also the leader of a cult for bouncing enthusiasts. Marsha has promised Darryl sex for his services after one year of employment, but when she skips out without paying up, Darryl is out for revenge. with Liarmouth, a "perfectly perverted feel-bad romance” about Marsha “Liarmouth” Sprinkle, a con woman caught up in a bad romance with Darryl, the degenerate loser with whom she steals suitcases from airport luggage carousels. The filmmaker, writer, and artist takes his first bow. His debut in the format arrives today, and it’s a characteristically Waters-ian phantasmagoria of good, unclean fun. The legendary Pope of Trash has battled censorship, dropped acid, and hitchhiked across America, but until recently, one thing eluded him: writing a novel.
At 76 years old, there’s not much John Waters hasn’t tried.