Jesse Monteagudo: Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer and gay book buff who lives with his domestic partner in South Florida. He can be reached at jessemonteagudo@aol.com online. This article was originally published in Gay Today (Vol. VI Issue 187). It is reprinted with permission from www.gaytoday.badpuppy.com online.
This book is partly a biography of John Waters and partly a study of the John Waters phenomenon. Besides putting Baltimore on the map, the creator of Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Hairspray (now on Broadway) started the careers of Divine, Mink Stole and Ricki Lake and made rats and puke the objects of serious film study. Once (in)famous as the Fellini of filth, Waters hit an artistic slump once reality became even more disgusting than his movies. Even so, Waters enjoys a devoted following who memorized every line he ever wrote and who turned suburban homes into John Waters shrines. Though Filthy is as disjointed as an early Waters flick, there is enough material here to please even the most jaded fanatic.
commenting closed for this article