• Mr. Know-It-All

  • The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder
  • By: John Waters
  • Narrated by: John Waters
  • Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (521 ratings)

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Mr. Know-It-All  By  cover art

Mr. Know-It-All

By: John Waters
Narrated by: John Waters
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Publisher's summary

"[Just] like reading a description of a Waters film is nothing like seeing it on the screen, listening to him tell his own stories brings the context and inflection needed to truly appreciate his art. A singular experience." — Booklist

This program is read by the author and includes a bonus conversation.

No one knows more about everything—especially everything rude, clever, and offensively compelling—than John Waters.

The man in the pencil-thin mustache, auteur of the transgressive movie classics Pink Flamingos, Polyester, the original Hairspray, Cry-Baby, and A Dirty Shame, is one of the world’s great sophisticates, and in Mr. Know-It-All he serves it up raw: how to fail upward in Hollywood; how to develop musical taste from Nervous Norvus to Maria Callas; how to build a home so ugly and trendy that no one but you would dare live in it; more important, how to tell someone you love them without emotional risk; and yes, how to cheat death itself. Through it all, Waters swears by one undeniable truth: “Whatever you might have heard, there is absolutely no downside to being famous. None at all.”

Studded with cameos of Waters’s stars, from Divine and Mink Stole to Johnny Depp, Kathleen Turner, Patricia Hearst, and Tracey Ullman, Mr. Know-It-All is Waters’s most hypnotic, upsetting, revelatory audiobook yet —another instant Waters classic.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 John Waters (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Cheerfully lewd and sincerely disingenuous, cult filmmaker, comic, and lifelong raconteur John Waters narrates his latest memoir/tell-all with a good-natured wink and a well-earned dab of sentimentality." -AudioFile Magazine

"[O]ne of those books that you definitely should listen to on audiobook." -BookPage

"[A] wry, sardonic, tell-all audiobook flavored with Waters' uniquely blunt, insightful, and tongue-in-cheek sense of wit. Mr. Know-It-All is acerbic, biting, and utterly hilarious." -Midwest Book Review

What listeners say about Mr. Know-It-All

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Truth revealed through wicked humor

From the brilliant, twisted mind of John Waters springs his newest book, Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder. LMFAO. Especially with the audio version, hearing him tell his stories. Subversive, and an incredible wordsmith, Waters reminds us of his remarkably vivid imagination. All are hysterical, but three of my favorite ruminations are his stream-of-consciousness thoughts on Andy Warhol; his plans for an anti-hipster restaurant named Gristle (that forces you to eat alone with dead flower arrangements, non-gastronomically correct fare such as paint chips—or worse); and a letter to his transgender adoptive son, Bill, a Linda Evans brand vinyl doll. Beneath it all, Waters is a social scientist with great love for his subjects, a purveyor of human behavior who reveals truth through his wicked humor.

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11 people found this helpful

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Love John Waters but this is not his strongest

Been a fan of his for years as both director and writer. There are some hysterical sections of this book and while his later films weren’t maybe as strong or well received, it’s interesting to hear his views on them especially with some time between their release and now. His narration is as always outstanding. Several of the stories especially in the last half feel clunky and while they do have the Waters filth factor fans love him for, they ramble and end a bit boring. Not a horrid read but for first time listeners I’d start with earlier books.

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Always entertaining!

Sometimes yucky, sometimes silly but always good fun. Loved it! He’s an America treasure. Recommended!

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for fans

I adore John Waters and his twisted brain. if you arent into him, you might not enjoy this as you wont get all the references. For me tho- Laugh out loud funny❤

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Another Winner

Mr. Waters unloads another fine batch of knowledge right into our ear holes and we must once again thank him for the opportunity.

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Oh wow!

It’s my favorite audiobook to this day. I had to listen to a few of the chapters twice in a row because I was laughing so hard, and I also couldn’t wait until I was finished. The way the stories weave from fact to fantasy is a brilliant way to take a glimpse into the mind of John Waters.

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John Waters is a king amongst men

The Prince of Puke, The Pope of Trash, whatever you call him, John Waters is one of American cinema's most talented and pure auteurs, and this book is a great introduction into one of the most imaginative minds of the last 40 years.

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Hilarious

A side splitting good time. I find John Waters reading his own work to always be utterly hilarious. The chapter on Andy Warhol and then the chapter on Bill (his son) Had me almost in tears of how funny they were

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delicious thilth! still the king

after already buying the book I didn't realize I needed to also have it read to me by John waters himself. the man, the myth, the legend, the king of thilth gives us the dirty scoop deeper into his beautiful mind.

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pope of trash does it again!

John Waters is an absolute icon of American cinema and this book just celebrates his abrasive style in a very grounded and endearing way. This book is delightful.

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