BOOK 175: CARSICK: JOHN WATERS HITCHHIKES ACROSS AMERICA: JOHN WATERS

John Waters is putting his life on the line. Armed with wit, a pencil-thin mustache, and a cardboard sign that reads "I'm Not Psycho," he hitchhikes across America from Baltimore to San Francisco, braving lonely roads and treacherous drivers. But who should we be more worried about, the delicate film director with genteel manners or the unsuspecting travelers transporting the Pope of Trash?

Before he leaves for this bizarre adventure, Waters fantasizes about the best and worst possible scenarios: a friendly drug dealer hands over piles of cash to finance films with no questions asked, a demolition-derby driver makes a filthy sexual request in the middle of a race, a gun-toting drunk terrorizes and holds him hostage, and a Kansas vice squad entraps and throws him in jail. So what really happens when this cult legend sticks out his thumb and faces the open road? His real-life rides include a gentle eighty-one-year-old farmer who is convinced Waters is a hobo, an indie band on tour, and the perverse filmmaker's unexpected hero: a young, sandy-haired Republican in a Corvette.

Laced with subversive humor and warm intelligence, Carsick is an unforgettable vacation with a wickedly funny companion--and a celebration of America's weird, astonishing, and generous citizenry.

MY VERDICT: I am a big fan of John Waters, but I am afraid I was a little disappointed by this book.  I heard about it when he was interviewed for a radio show. He promoted it well and it instantly went on my ‘to read list’. The concept of a modern hitchhiking trip fascinated me. Unfortunately it wasn’t as interesting as it could have been and John knew it – which is why he filled a third of the book with a fictional account of the trip (twice). He wrote a short novella of the best possible thing that could happen on his trip and a novella of the worst. The concept is an interesting one and as a former art student I can say it has been blagged in the best possible way but from reading it you can clearly see he panicked that the book would not be long enough and added filler. The filler is well written and entertaining but it’s not what I signed up for and from reading other reviews I can tell other readers felt a little cheated too.

BOOK 125: OF MICE AND MEN: JOHN STEINBECK

Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in California, United States.

Based on Steinbeck's own experiences as a bindlestiff in the 1920s (before the arrival of the Okies he would vividly describe in The Grapes of Wrath), the title is taken from Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse", which read: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley." (The best laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry.)

Required reading in many schools, Of Mice and Men has been a frequent target of censors for vulgarity and what some consider offensive and racist language; consequently, it appears on the American Library Association's list of the Most Challenged Books of 21st Century.

The first film adaptation was in 1939, two years after the publication of the novella, and starred Lon Chaney Jr. as Lennie, with Burgess Meredith as George, and was directed by Lewis Milestone. It was nominated for four Oscars.

In popular culture:

The Warner Bros. cartoon duo Pinky and the Brain (of Animaniacs fame) are somewhat similar to Lennie and George.

In Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) two of the gremlins are named Lenny and George, after the characters of the book. They both have the same personalities as the characters Lennie and George from the novel, and are often seen together.

In Fever Pitch (1997), Paul Ashworth (Colin Firth) claims that getting a boy to read Of Mice And Men is the pinnacle of his career, and it will only go downhill from then on.

John Leguizamo sings (or raps) "Which way did he go, George; which way did he go?" on his song "Voodoo Mambo", as does Tupac Shakur on "Can't C Me" (Can't See Me).

Katy Perry references the novella in her song "Pearl": This love's too strong like "Mice and Men" / Squeezing out the life that should be let in.

In Stephen King's serial novel The Green Mile (1996), John Coffey (played by Michael Clarke Duncan in the 1999 film) is similar to Lennie in that he is large, unintelligent, and innocent at heart. In both stories, mice fall into their care at some point and ultimately, at the time of their deaths, both Lennie and John Coffey were executed in the most compassionate way possible under the circumstances that occur in both novels.

In the season 3 episode of the sitcom Friends titled "The One with a Chick and a Duck" (1997), Joey is playing with a little chicken. Chandler alludes to Of Mice and Men by saying, "Easy, Lennie", to Joey. This was written in the subtitles, "Easy Lenny", by misunderstanding.