""To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about. If someone vomits watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation."" "Thus begins Shock Value. And what a story it is. Packed into these pages are moments of incomparable humor, tenderness, and revelation, all suffused with Waters's sweet charm and mad-genius wit. Also included is a new foreword by fashion writer Simon Doonan, a close friend of Waters's and a fellow cultural icon."

"John Waters, perhaps America's most successful trash filmmaker, achieved a new ironic sense of public acceptance in 2003 with the runaway success of the Broadway musical Hairspray. He first achieved notoriety with his films, and he's written and directed fifteen, including Pink Flamingos, Polyester, Cry-Baby, and A Dirty Shame." "Readers familiar only with Waters's movies may be surprised at just how extraordinary a prose writer he is; he's as gifted a memoirist as he is a filmmaker. Here is a true love letter from a legendary director to his friends, family, and fans."--Jacket.