Liarmouth

September 1, 2022

Waters, the filmmaker, actor, and artist, adds this debut novel to seven previous nonfiction books, including Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder and Make Trouble. Marsha and Daryl are a consummate "confidence game" couple. They grift all over, grabbing bags at the airport, lying, stealing, and cheating without prejudice--even targeting family or anyone else who shows them kindness. Marsha's daughter Poppy and her entourage of trampoline "acrobatic fanatics" have been ripped off once too often and are out for revenge. Every scene in this chase tale is over-the-top and delightfully distasteful. Waters is the overlord of alliteration trotting out "blubbering boyhood bereavement" and describing a couple that "kiss like cobras." He bests himself with rhymes like "Jeepers creepers, this guy is a peeper" every chance he gets. As the audiobook's narrator, Waters does not perform character voices in but adds so much heart and soul that it is certainly a better bet to listen rather than read this alternative romance. VERDICT Waters's hilariously filthy debut novel is recommended to all libraries; as Jo Goodwin has said, "A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone."--Christa Van Herreweghe

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 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.