POLY SCHMITT BRINGS THE CHURCH OF JOHN WATERS BOOK CLUB TO AVANTPOP
A young Director John Waters
VIM Magazine is bringing back its interview series after a several year hiatus. The interview series in the past highlighted luminaries in the contemporary arts, music, and fashion scene. Other notable interviews include Boz Boorer from Morrissey, Polecats, Adam Ant fame and Naoko Yamano, lead singer of Shonen Knife. This week VIM Magazine Editor In Chief Jorge Lara interviewed Poly Schmitt, who sells vintage homes in the Las Vegas downtown area. She is bringing a book club dedicated to the bibliography of John Waters to Avantpop Books in Las Vegas.
VIM MAGAZINE: What was your interest in starting the book club at Avantpop or how did the idea come about?
POLY SCHMITT: I posted some John Waters-worthy $3 Moonshine at XO Liquor in the Commercial Center to my Downtown neighborhood FB page. The comment section went wildddd. People are moving here from Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, etc. They're looking for cultural meeting points, both low-brow and high-brow. Plus, Vegas locals want to find and meet other weirdos – they just don't know where or how. The Church of John Waters (a very trashy book club) provides an easy (and loose!) way to find each other. I'm also a huge believer in creating your own universe. If it doesn't exist, make it happen.
““John Waters is the Patron Saint of being trashy. We need to embrace that part of ourselves here in Sin City.”
VIM MAGAZINE: I love that this book club encourages people to read a book. Why was Director John Waters picked as the focus? I saw the bookstore has a dedicated John Waters section.
POLY SCHMITT: John Waters is the Patron Saint of being trashy. We need to embrace that side of ourselves here in Sin City. Waters is the focus because his movies and books are irreverent and disgusting. He doesn't give a f*ck and we shouldn't either. Book clubs are too serious, so we want this book club to be a little fun AND a little trashy. We may not be the best book club around, but we will be the most talked about. And, we like it that way.
VIM MAGAZINE: For those who haven't been to the Avantpop Bookstore, how would you describe the place?
POLY SCHMITT: Oh, Avantpop Bookstore is very Baltimore with a dedicated John Waters section already in place. It's practically perfect – an indie bookstore smack dab in the middle of a sex club (The Green Door) and a gay bathhouse (Entourage). The bookstore has a little cart outside with bargain books. Inside, you'll find an old-fashioned glass counter checkout, rows of tall bookshelves, an open space for meetings, and a cultural hub of flyers and zines and stickers. It feels like home.The owners are friendlyAF, too.
VIM MAGAZINE: What can members expect from future book club meetings?
POLY SCHMITT: A whole lot of trash talk, an occasional hustler, an outburst or two, tons of profanity, lewd commentary, junk food, John Waters prizes, and some semblance of a discussion on the book, day drinking after with new friends who are wild and weird.
VIM MAGAZINE: So tell us your backstory? Are you an avid reader? What's your favorite book or author?
POLY SCHMITT: I moved here 18 years ago from Los Angeles and I sell vintage homes in our oldest and most cherished Las Vegas neighborhoods. I read everything from the back of a cereal box to art manifestos to shitty Facebook posts. My favorite book is related to John Waters written by one of his protégés, Cookie Mueller. It's called Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black.
VIM MAGAZINE: I love the description for the event on Facebook. Pretty chill. What advice would you give people wanting to be more avid readers in the new year?
POLY SCHMITT: There are no rules in life. Wipe off your dirty readers, and dive straight into the gutter with a trashy read. It doesn't have to be a literary masterpiece because anything you read will make you infinitely sexier.
