Overview

Role Models is filmmaker John Waters's self-portrait told through intimate profiles of favorite personalities--some famous, some unknown, some criminal, some surprisingly middle-of-the-road. From Esther Martin, owner of the scariest bar in Baltimore, to the American playwright Tennessee Williams; from the atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair to the insane martyr Saint Catherine of Siena; from the English novelist Denton Welch to the timelessly appealing singer Johnny Mathis--these are the extreme figures who helped the author form his own brand of neurotic happiness. Role Models is a personal invitation into one of the most unique, perverse, and hilarious artistic minds of our time.

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Reviews

The essays in Role Models meander pleasantly around personalities, recollections and ideas, always finding glory in the flaws.... Within [Waters'] jokes and winks and countercultural jabs, he is striving for real human emotion.-- Los Angeles Times Apart from its consistently engaging voice, both casual and eloquent...what makes Role Models more than just the latest expression of a great American oddball is its appearance at a time when nearly every segment of society (hipsters, meet Tea Partiers) feels justified in dehumanizing anyone they deem as the other. Waters never does that, even to the truly abhorrent. This man who never sought respectability may have become the most affectionate and radical humanist in American letters. -- Barnes & Noble editorial review His acolytes won't need a reviewer's say-so to lap up every word of Role Models...But dilettantes at liberty to skip around will find a lot to charm them. In a way, the best joke is that...Waters can't help revealing on every page that he's both sentimental and good-hearted. Pass the relish, Uncle John. -- New York Times Book Review Waters is a greater national treasure than 90 percent of the people who are given Kennedy Center Honors each December. Unlike those gray eminences of the show-business establishment, Waters doesn't kowtow to the received wisdom, he flips it the bird...[Waters] has the ability to show humanity at its most ridiculous and make that funny rather than repellent. To quote his linear ancestor W. C. Fields: it's a gift. -- Washington Post

"The essays in Role Models meander pleasantly around personalities, recollections and ideas, always finding glory in the flaws.... Within [Waters'] jokes and winks and countercultural jabs, he is striving for real human emotion.-- ""Los Angeles Times"" ""Apart from its consistently engaging voice, both casual and eloquent...what makes Role Models more than just the latest expression of a great American oddball is its appearance at a time when nearly every segment of society (hipsters, meet Tea Partiers) feels justified in dehumanizing anyone they deem as the other. Waters never does that, even to the truly abhorrent. This man who never sought respectability may have become the most affectionate and radical humanist in American letters."" -- ""Barnes & Noble editorial review"" ""His acolytes won't need a reviewer's say-so to lap up every word of Role Models...But dilettantes at liberty to skip around will find a lot to charm them. In a way, the best joke is that...Waters can't help revealing on every page that he's both sentimental and good-hearted. Pass the relish, Uncle John."" -- ""New York Times Book Review"" ""Waters is a greater national treasure than 90 percent of the people who are given Kennedy Center Honors each December. Unlike those gray eminences of the show-business establishment, Waters doesn't kowtow to the received wisdom, he flips it the bird...[Waters] has the ability to show humanity at its most ridiculous and make that funny rather than repellent. To quote his linear ancestor W. C. Fields: it's a gift."" -- ""Washington Post"""

Author Information

John Waters is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and visual artist best known for his cult films, including Polyester, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Desperate Living. He has also made more conventional films, such as Hairspray and Cry-Baby. His previous books include Shock Value and Crackpot. John lives in Baltimore, Maryland. John Waters is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and visual artist best known for his cult films, including Polyester, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Desperate Living. He has also made more conventional films, such as Hairspray and Cry-Baby. His previous books include Shock Value and Crackpot. John lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

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