A Few of My Favorite Things

by Nik Rainey

Three Books I’m Reading Simultaneously Right Now

1. Richard Meltzer, The Night (Alone) (Little, Brown, 1995) – Madman Meltz doesn’t write about rock anymore (he’s become a jazzbo in his dotage), but all that means is that now he’s using his unique prose snipage to spurt his choppy vitriol over matters of the soul. It’s allegedly a “novel,” but in form and substance it’s not far removed from his earlier non-fiction prankwork (check out L.A. Is The Capital of Kansas (1988) if you can find it), only more personal (that means lots of sex stories). He’s like a giggly Proust with an anti-formalist Joycean streak and the dirty mind and pure soul of Henry Miller. Tastes good and it’s good for ya, too.

2. Will Self, My Idea of Fun (Vintage, 1993) – A grotesque trip through the fractured consciousness of an eidetic (look it up) youngster and his obese manipulator, often known simply as the Fat Controller. Self is the best of the new Brit breed of enfant terribles, even more thesaurean, outrageous, and cancerous in his outlook than his mentor Martin Amis (if you’ve read Amis’ Dead Babies (1975) or Money (1984), you know that’s no mean feat). An audacious smack in the chops to the ossified carcass that passes for late-twentieth century literature.

3. John Waters, Trash Trio (Vintage, 1990) – The scripts for three of Johnny’s finest: Pink Flamingos, Desperate Living, and (the sadly never produced) Flamingos Forever. Psychotic comedy nonpareil, folks – for a laugh, stand up in a public place and scream out lengthy passages from this book. Or imagine what Divine carrying Edith Massey in a baby backpack would’ve looked like. Or just call me up at Lollipop and have me explain what a “Hollywood loaf” is.