Book review - "Crackpot: The Obssessions of John Waters" by John Waters

Bright collection of essays from one of the greatest director raconteurs (up there with Kevin Smith). It was originally published in 1986 but this edition updates it with some more recent articles, including the making of Hairpsray and several speeches from the Independent Film Awards which tend to over-rely on the one joke structure - Waters advising people in ways to be shocking ("have affairs", "when you accept an award say you deserve it"). This got repetitive and made me realise a lot of Waters' shtick is based on this. But when he writes from the heart - about Buddy Deaners, or teaching in prison, or his love for stuntmiesters like William Castle and actors like Pia Zadora, or review Hail Mary by Godard - he can't be beaten, and he's always funny.