Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance: A Novel

by John Waters

Overview

A hilariously filthy tale of sex, crime, and family dysfunction from the brilliantly twisted mind of John Waters, the legendary filmmaker and bestselling author of Mr. Know-It-All.

Marsha Sprinkle: Suitcase thief. Scammer. Master of disguise. Dogs and children hate her. Her own family wants her dead. She’s smart, she’s desperate, she’s disturbed, and she’s on the run with a big chip on her shoulder. They call her Liarmouth—until one insane man makes her tell the truth.

Liarmouth, the first novel by John Waters, is a perfectly perverted “feel-bad romance,” and the reader will thrill to hop aboard this delirious road trip of riotous revenge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374185725
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	05/03/2022
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	12,975
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

John Waters is a writer, a film director, an actor, and a visual artist best known for his films, including Hairspray, Pink Flamingos, and Serial Mom. He is the author of the national bestsellers Role Models, Carsick and Mr. Know-It-All. His spoken-word shows This Filthy World, False Negative, and A John Waters Christmas continue to be performed around the world. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Editorial Reviews

03/21/2022

Filmmaker and author Waters (the memoir Mr. Know-It-All) makes his fiction debut with a hilariously sleazy story of a con artist in which the villains are good guys, the good guys are silly, and everybody gets down and dirty. The heroine, Marsha “Liarmouth” Sprinkle, knows she is “better than other people” (and “smarter, too”). She teams up with a guy named Daryl who lives for the deal they’ve struck: once a year, amid their airport baggage scams and false accident claims, he gets to sleep with her. But Liarmouth is out to swindle everyone; not only Daryl but her daughter, Poppy, leader of a band of misfit trampoline fanatics who literally bounce through life; and her mother, Adora, who performs cosmetic surgery on pets. Liarmouth also wants her ex-husband dead, while self-righteous Poppy and Adora want her killed. Waters miraculously sustains the wacky humor in just about every line (here’s a throwaway description of a punk rocker who aged poorly: “No mosh pit for this guy. He’s too fat to catch!”). Along the way, characters air their grievances over the indignities of airports and cheap hotel rooms and wryly observe the cheery indulgences of Provincetown, Mass., where a family of parents and children sport matching “I EAT ASS” sweatshirts. Raunchy and exhausting, it’s a must for fans of high camp. (May)

Publishers Weekly

I couldn't put it down, like a bomb singing me a lullaby. For fans of John's movies, this will be a delicious treat. And for the boring people who don't know what's up, good luck. Marsha is probably the funniest villain I've ever read, and I was cheering for her the whole way through. Like all of John's work, this was true comedy, he has ransacked culture for its absurdity, violence and lunacy, and yet somehow I am happier to be here after going along for the ride.” —Ottessa Moshfegh, author of My Year of Rest and Relaxation

"Nasty, violent, and obscene? Over-the-top, ricocheting, and hilarious? All of the above describe the self-described Pope of Trash and Filth Elder’s first novel . . . [The] misadventures are absurd, vulgar, bloody, comic, and weirdly sweet as devilish Waters keeps the pedal to the metal . . . and slyly advocates for acceptance and love." —Donna Seaman, Booklist

"A hilariously sleazy story of a con artist in which the villains are good guys, the good guys are silly, and everybody gets down and dirty . . . it’s a must for fans of high camp." —Publishers weekly

"The king of campology is back, as gleefully heinous as ever." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

04/01/2022

DEBUT This first novel by Waters (the iconic director of Hairspray and Female Trouble) is nothing short of stunningly outrageous—a nonstop smorgasbord of theft, deceit, and rancor fueled by an unrelenting, unabashedly sexualized comic genius. It commences with Marsha Sprinkle and Daryl Hotchkins as partners in a luggage theft scam. Daryl's incentive is sex with Marsha in exchange for his participation. Their flagrant thievery is discovered, and their photos are posted on local news channels. Chased by security, they become separated, but both accomplished scammers continue to steal on different tangents. Multiple cumulative adventures ensue. Daryl's penis (named Richard) starts talking. Marsha steals from her movement-obsessed daughter Poppy and then from her estranged mother, Adora. This causes a melee-filled revenge chase across several states. The distributed action converges at an analingus festival in Provincetown, Mass. Here Marsha discovers the turn-on of telling the truth and Richard is detached from Daryl in a dog attack. Marsha then fakes her death and gets away with everything. VERDICT This eminently farcical and jocular work reads like Planes, Trains and Automobiles meets, oddly enough, a John Waters movie; recommended for intrepid readers cognizant of satire.—Henry Bankhead

Library Journal

2022-02-08
A grifter couple rampages up the Eastern Seaboard, their relatives and genitals in tow.

Marsha Sprinkle and Daryl, her ex-husband/chauffeur, have been living high on the hog in a foreclosed McMansion, making regular raids on the Baltimore/Washington International Airport baggage claim to keep themselves in clothing, cash, and fake IDs. Tension between the couple is running high—it's the one day a year that Marsha permits sexual intercourse, and Daryl and his little friend, Richard (his penis has a life, a voice, and dreams of its own), are ready to collect. Marsha, however, has absolutely no intention of honoring her agreement, so when a heist at the airport goes awry, she gives Daryl and Richard the slip and goes on the lam by herself. Fleeing up the East Coast, she's trailed not only by her ex and his penis, but by her estranged 22-year-old daughter, Poppy, and Poppy's cabal of bouncing friends—Leepa, Vaulta, and other "leaders in the radical trampoline movement"—as well as her also-estranged mother, Adora. New York–based Adora is worshipped on the Upper East Side for her plastic surgery on dogs. Her own cocker spaniel, Surprize, has been made over to look like Joan Rivers ("Adora has spent years sculpting, tucking, pulling, and lasering her dog’s skin into that 'wind tunnel' look that Joan made her signature") but is now transitioning to become a cat. All of this gives Waters plenty of opportunity for woke jokes; Amtrak, bus, and airport jokes; and, of course, poop jokes. If you are a Waters fan, you have long since made your peace with the latter. Good thing, because the whole crew of Marsha haters is headed to Provincetown for the annual Anilingus Festival. Billed as Waters' debut novel, this road story is a cousin of the stories included in his hitchhiking memoir, Carsick (2015).

The king of campology is back, as gleefully heinous as ever.

Kirkus Reviews