Baltimore filmmaker John Waters has three books coming out in May, all screenplays he wrote more than 40 years ago.
In addition to “Flamingos Forever: A Screenplay,” the never-filmed sequel to Waters’s 1972 movie “Pink Flamingos,” the books include “Pink Flamingos: A Screenplay,” and “Desperate Living: A Screenplay,” written for Waters’ 1977 comedy.
This is not the first time the screenplays have been published. In 1988, Random House USA published them in one book entitled “Trash Trio: Three Screenplays by John Waters.” A first edition, first printing paperback copy in Very Good+ condition is currently selling for $56.25 on rarebookseller.com
Now the three screenplays are being sold separately as 96-page paperbacks, with vibrant new covers by artist Wayne Hollowell. Picador USA is the publisher. The list price for each volume is $15, and booksellers such as Amazon and thriftbooks.com have begun to take orders, with delivery on or around the publication date of May 27, 2025.
The book sales capitalize on the popularity of all things John Waters, including his books, films, TV appearances, spoken-word shows, fashion campaigns and other projects. In 2021, the U. S. Library of Congress added “Pink Flamingos” to its prestigious National Film Registry, and the library added “Hairspray” the next year. In 2023, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles mounted “John Waters: Pope of Trash,” a career retrospective that was on view for 11 months. Many of his films have had 25-, 30- and even 50-year anniversaries, prompting additional screenings around the country and abroad.
By mining work from Waters’ archives, Picador USA is counting on interest in him from a new generation of fans as well as longtime admirers. He will be 79 when the Picador series comes out in May.
In its marketing for the “Desperate Living” screenplay, the publisher calls the book “a grotesque and hilarious satire about the American dream, suburban living, and the corrupting influence of power, set in a world that could only have sprung from the unhinged and brilliant mind of John Waters.”
It calls the “Pink Flamingos” screenplay “the return of a spectacular, reviled, and iconic classic of American filth.”
In the new edition, Waters “takes us back to the scene of his original crime against good taste,” the publisher says. “Watch as Babs Johnson fights to hold on to her title as “Filthiest Person Alive,” fending off the craven attempts to dethrone her by her nemeses Connie and Raymond Marble. Read along as Waters takes us on a romp through his [campy] and filthy vision of Baltimore, from nefarious baby-stealing lesbians to scenes of unspeakable things done to unsuspecting chickens, to the film’s iconic and revolting coupe to grace (no spoilers, but it is just as stomach-churning on the page more than fifty years later.) Pink Flamingos is John Waters at his provocative, disgusting, piety-puncturing best, with the hellish and hilarious trash masterpiece that first made him a household name.”
At least one retailer, Target, has begun taking preorders for a fourth John Waters book, “Multiple Maniacs,” noting a price of $16 and a release date of Oct. 21, 2025. Another retailer, orcabooks.com, says on its website that it will begin taking preorders on April 20 for “Hairspray: A Screenplay” by Waters, with a price of $17.
How exciting I’m a long time fan of his and have seen all the films and met him in NYC