Book Review: “Liarmouth” by John Waters
A Feel-Bad Romance
If you know anything about former filmmaker John Waters, it is that he could be considered by some to be a filthy, dirty man. Why? Especially early in his career, he would frequently push the limits of good taste. For example, in his 1972 film Pink Flamingoes, he famously got his drag queen star, Divine, to eat a piece of dog poop. (To his defense, and as recounted in Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep, Waters has argued that it was a small piece of dog poop.) Thus, much of John Waters’ work could be transgressive and he often pushes back against the status quo. There’s probably a good reason for this: as an openly gay man who was open long before it became even remotely fashionable in mainstream society to be open, he wants people to see his characters as challenging what it means to a gay man, or a drag queen, or a person of whatever sexual orientation they may be. Therefore, you should read his first novel, Liarmouth, expecting no surprises as to the perverted content. The novel is about as transgressive as it could get, and it will push your buttons and offend you, likely. (I even have to wonder if the book has been banned in some places.) And that’s the whole point.
To that end, there isn’t too much of a plot to Liarmouth. The novel is full of filthy and perverse over-the-top scenes strung together with characters trying to get from point A to point B while being sexually humiliated. But if you need a frame of reference, this is the story of a woman named Martha Sprinkle who is a con artist and a thief, both professionally. At the start of the book, she is attempting to pull off a heist at an airport with her “employee” Darryl, who has been promised sex with her at the end of the day (it’s complicated). Things go south and Martha and Darryl get separated. Martha goes after her daughter, Poppy — who owns a trampoline school for misfits — and then goes after both her mother and ex-husband as she gets hooked on getting revenge from people who have wronged her somehow. Darryl, meanwhile, is chasing after her because he wants to have sex with her (as per the original bargain). His penis gets injured in a wild mishap, however, and it begins talking to him. This puts Darryl into some sticky situations as said penis turns out to have a mind of his (its?) own. Darryl’s penis even gets a name: Richard.
I have to say that I’m not easily offended, and found the novel to be rather fun in its first half as Waters loads on the puns and double entendres, showing that he’s a master at filthy wit. And I can also say that this is a novel that will never get filmed because it’s so outrageous: early on, Richard gets punched in public and Darryl begins ejaculating like a geyser because he’s been holding it all in for Marsha. This allows him an easy escape from the bungled caper he was trying to pull. So, to a point, this is a fun novel because it is so outlandish. However, the book falls apart in the second act as Waters keeps trying to up the ante with sexual exploits and misdeeds. I know what Waters is doing here: he’s trying to show that what society views as disgusting and moral is normal and okay, since he was probably victimized by society as a gay man. However, Waters crosses a line when a couple of sexual assaults are viewed as okay because the “victim” (if I can use that term) is perfectly consensual with the sex crime being committed against them, sort of. So when Darryl gets jumped, for instance, by a gay man on a train, it’s okay that he’s not homosexual because his penis, which has a mind of its own, is bi-curious. And this is, in this context, not really rape. Even though it kinda is, if you ask me.
That’s a pretty mild example of what occurs because by the novel’s end Waters is trying to make what I think is scientifically called “oral-anal contact” (and, if not, I’m trying to be polite) by having characters take part in a festival devoted to such behaviour. Stuff like this just seemed to be offensive for the sake of being offensive. However, I think a real criticism of this section of the novel is that it just narratively doesn’t make a lot of sense, per se. It’s just there, as though Waters ran out of ideas as to how to wrap things up, and, conversely, just tried to leave readers with the worst ideas that he could dream up. Had this been a novel written by anyone other than a name such as John Waters, it would have probably languished for ages on the slush pile before finally being rejected as too outré. I’m not trying to be mean — it’s probably true.
Still, if you don’t take things seriously and aren’t outraged by all the depravity, you might enjoy this concoction of literary pornography. I enjoyed it to a point, but by the time I got halfway through the book, it seemed evident that the plot wasn’t going anywhere and the novel then gets quite silly. The book gets a bit tedious and ridiculous, even though I get the point Waters is trying to make — that we should all be able to get along in society no matter what our fetishes are (though I think there should be some exceptions to this rule and I would invite you to use your imaginations there). In any event, if you enjoy taboo material and don’t mind a tasteless pun now and then, you might fully enjoy Liarmouth. Everyone else? I can see the book burnings clearly in my mind already by the puritanical conservative right. This is not a book for everyone’s taste and I’m sure there’s probably a pun that Waters could make with that sentiment. But he doesn’t need me to sell him some books!
John Waters’ Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on May 3, 2022.
Of course, if you like what you see, please recommend this piece (click on the clapping hands icon below) and share it with your followers.
Get in touch: zacharyhoule@rogers.com
