For those like myself who are fans of John Waters, this novel is a long-awaited treat: the first full-length work of fiction by the Filth Elder himself. Given his track record with filmmaking over the last few decades, this is the closest to a new John Waters movie as we're likely to see. Unleash your imagination and let those mental images gone wild and this book could be your new favorite Waters movie, produced by your own brain, with a limited audience of yourself to enjoy your own casting choices and special effects budget. If your mental movie is a flop, don't blame yourself - it's a John Waters creation, after all.

While this book is overstuffed with gags and rants that we love from Waters, it also has a few rough patches. I loved the evil main character Marsha Sprinkle - she's the best of Desperate Living's Peggy Gravel and Female Trouble's Dawn Davenport, and her every scene is a hoot. Less satisfying is some of the book's supporting cast, including Marsha's daughter's trampoline cult community. A trampoline cult sounds hilarious from the mind of Waters (and to be fair, it sometimes is), but the amount of description Waters offers to the characters' bouncing and shaking can reach levels of deep tedium. (But hey - a fella's gotta make his word count, so cut him some slack.)

If you miss the days of enjoying a new celluloid atrocity from Dreamland, you'll love immersing yourself in Waters' newest fictional world. A teaspoon of patience will help the filth slither down in the most delightful way.

I... I don't even know how to rate/comment on this. Just.. here: *throws 5 stars, hangs head in shame* ... whispers, "I loved it 🥲"

I am an absolute enthusiast for Waters' work (whether it be his films, or his literary work), some of this hit really well, and had me laughing out loud or utterly repulsed (though to be fair that's to be expected when it comes to John Waters). Some parts I felt kinda drug on, but it didn't ruin the book for me at all. Can't wait for the film.

I'm not sure how to rate this book. I am John Waters fan and not shy about the perverted side of life. This reminded me of a Carl Hiaasen with the wacky story line (there is no real plot) times a hundred. I learned more about sexual variations than I ever really needed to know. Wish there was more humor than just a shake your head weirdness.

I can only quote the best review I have found here where the reviewer said that " everything about this book is wrong."

So true and yet I happily went along for the ride. And if youve ever been to Provincetown MA, you will roar with laughter.

It reads like somebody's grandpa read a buzzfeed list to try and seem cool at Thanksgiving dinner. Same schtick for decades. Exhausting. Not disgusting, not shocking, not anything we haven't heard dozens of times from Waters. Very disappointed. His edge is long gone and this is a desperate attempt to regain some relevance. Ive been a fan for so long too- that is the only reason I suffered through to the end. Saddens me to say, but pull the plug, please. You will be missed.

Filthy. Awful book. Written by John Waters. Of course, I loved it.

I had such very, very high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, it was a big disappointment. The first few chapters were very funny but then the narrative went downhill quickly. It became very repetitive and quite frankly boring.

I finished it, but it's time I'll never get back. Water has some nice ideas but not enough to make a book, and he's obliged to rework them over and over. The details of what the bouncers at each encounter just get tedious and feel like padding. It's strained, as though he was forcing himself to get to 11 on a werdometer that only goes to 10. The sex is no worse than Tom Sharpe was writing decades ago, and if that's the pinnacle of his idea of weird sex...yawn. He could have the developed the talking penis a lot more and left out the bouncers. The ending really runs out of steam and just doesn't work.

John Waters is a clown and I love him for it. The absurdity in this book is so delicious, I actually laughed out loud several times while reading it.

Amazing read. John Waters is an American treasure.

Seriously, this is hilarious, but there were a few times that I almost spewed my food while reading. There are some very bizarre scenes in this -- of course, we expect no less from John Waters, our filth elder, but overall it was a fun ride. I read it in two days and laughed out loud a lot. If you are John Waters fan, you won't be disappointed.

Great debut novel from John Waters. Very much his sense of humour and absurdity, however not quite as strong as his non-fiction works