Review of Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black by Cookie Mueller

*Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black* by Cookie Mueller (2022). Published by Semiotext(e).

I grew up in Baltimore County, Maryland, although one would think that I would be exposed to Baltimore City during my upbringing. My parents were teen parents in the city with my oldest sister, and lived in a tiny row house apartment with some other people because otherwise they would be homeless.

My father then became a taxi driver and ice cream truck owner in the city, which allowed my parents to move out of the city and into the projects of Baltimore County. Eventually, they made their way to where we are today, but because oft heir experiences in the city, they never took us down there really growing up.

I always was curious about the city, and now see it as a home whenever we drive past or go downtown for food. My parents are still weary about the city, but I’m curious about its history, art scene, and try to educate myself as much as possible and put myself in new scenarios.

So of course I knew who John Waters and Cookie Mueller were. When I found out this edition of Cookie’s writing was becoming available to purchase, you bet I sprung on it. But then I procrastinated on reading it for a year, which is pretty indicative for a lot of things in my life.

I finally read the book though while on a trip to Deep Creek in Maryland. I flew through it over the course of a day, I’ll tell you that right now.

Let’s get into the review! I don’t want to ramble too much.

A look into the life and adventures of Cookie Mueller.

Cookie Mueller was a legend before she passed away from AIDS. I specifically ended up picking this book to read after such a long time because of how I saw Nan Goldin’s photographs with Cookie, especially the ones she took while at her dear friend’s funeral.

Walking Through Clear Water compiles a lot of the stories that Cookie wrote during her lifetime. The beginning of the book focuses on her time and upbringing in Baltimore.

We see how she worked at certain stores and was a wild child from pretty early on, then she met John Waters and crew.

Cookie began becoming more active with the arts scene in Baltimore, and that’s the beginning of her career as a writer, artist, model, and actress. It was with Waters, as we see in some of the stories, that Cookie began to flourish as a creative human being.

Her stories do end up navigating to other places. She settles down in New York City, becoming a figure in the arts scene there as well, and then starts her own column.

A solid section of the middle of the book is her advice column from when she was living in New York, which was the dullest part of the book to me (but still it was entertaining).

Then there are her stories from when she flees town and goes to the other side of the world. I got Patti Smith vibes from when Cookie ends up in Europe; if I recall correctly, in one of her memoirs, Patti describes how she ended up in Paris around the same time and was kind of just wandering.

Despite growing up in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s, which was such a backwards time when it came to rights and fighting for them, these stories from Cookie’s life were so charming to see. She truly was such a free spirit, and we can really get that from the essence of her writing.

At the same time, there is so much struggling that Cookie is depicting. Life wasn’t easy for these kinds of creatives in this period, especially in New York. There was addiction going on in these circles, and she was not immune to the mental consequences of being raped.

Overall Thoughts

I think this was such a good book to read. I was interested in Baltimore during this time, as well as Cookie Mueller, so I was satisfied with what I was picking up and my expectations were met.

I feel like though if you’re not interested in that, or life as an artist during New York this period, you might not enjoy this book this much. I liked Mueller’s prose a lot, but I could see how someone might get bored with what they’re reading.

Regardless, this is such a fascinating read for me. Definitely pick it up if you’re interested in the premise, as Cookie was such an incredible human being. Her life is a wild one, too.

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