John Gardner Grendel
Years ago, I heard Neil Gaiman worked on the script for Beowulf and immediately invested in tickets to witness this cinematic triumph in IMAX 3D. Surely, someone that imaginative must have riffed on the original story in some seriously exciting ways. While he failed me miserably, John Gardner didn't. Grendel is a triumph. Beautiful, mad, tragic, triumphant, human, monstrous, complicated, witty, and all in all a delightful read.
John Waters Role Models
Some folks write about influences and worry entirely too much about being cool. Waters, however, shares his views on pornographers, Johnny Mathis, releasing a member of the Manson family, Baltimore bars, fashion, modern art, and everything else without fear. The man comes across as intensely comfortable in his own skin and provides wit, wisdom, and humor in spades.
Carrie Fisher Postcards From the Edge
I grabbed this book as part of my "anjoyable guest on Craig Fegurson" reading series. Postcards . . . has always been on the peripheral of my pop-culture awareness but never sounded appealing. People always told me it was the story of a mother and daughter tandem in Hollywood. That may well be true of the movie but the book is more the story of a likable young woman who tries to come to terms with her life after hitting bottom before age 30. That might sound a bit shit but Carrie Fisher is as engaging an author as she is guest on a talk show. There are some great turns of phrase and an easily read pace.
Polyester
A delightfully depraved satire of suburbia chock full of fantastic lines, disgusting people, and a (sadly near-death) Scratch N Sniff card. I love John Waters. Well, his work. Don't personally know the man. Got to cuddle him a bit at a really awkward meet and greet but that doesn't count for much. Of course, I'm told that getting a re-tweet from a celeb is somehow equivalent to being buddies with a person so by that standard, maybe me and John are a couple? Shit. Now I remember why I enjoy being a crazy cat-lady/recluse so much.
Shakespeare Retold - Taming of the Shrew
Sometimes, the BBC depresses me. This adaptation is pretty great with fantastic casting. However, I just sat through another round of trailers for the epic television movie event Liz & Dick. I get that the BBC can go down to the Royal Shakespeare Company and say "sup?" far more easily but really... Lindsay Lohan as Liz Taylor vs the actress who played Moaning Myrtle as Kate in a fun take on Taming of the Shrew? Gah. Fuck it. I feel a beer review coming on. Possibly some bourbon.
Carrie Fisher Wishful Drinking
Facebook pisses me off. People feel obliged to overshare their piddling little problems. That's one thing but why can't they at least do it with the panache of Carrie Fisher? Sure, Cary Grant never called them to talk about hallucinogens but even the more mundane stuff in her life is addressed with style. Not that there's much mundane stuff in here. That's one lovably messed up lady.
Desperate Living
I came into the cult of Waters with Serial Mom then followed it up with Hairspray. So, the whole "pope of filth" thing didn't really make much sense to me. I mean both movies showed a fairly ugly world, sure, but neither was that dirty. Then there's this one. Very raw, very dirty with some memorable lines and characters.
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