Normally I don’t watch Showtime or HBO unless someone convinces me a particular program is worthwhile. Why? Because for the cost of these channels alone I can just as easily get the best ever Netflix package. But Showtime has one program I can’t seem to get away from, and the book God Hates Us All, written by the show’s main character Hank Moody, just made not-liking “Californication” even harder.
Hank Moody, played by David Duchovny, is an unmarried dad who screwed up royally by not marrying the love of his life. He’s a philandering writer who loves booze, pot and women and gets around LA in a worn out Porche. Each day is another rompfest with some nubile or milfy woman — a plight he cannot escape, but simultaneously fuels his writing prowess. Did I mention he’s a blogger (for awhile) with a penchant for pissing people off? Minus the whorishness and perpetual inebriation, Moody is man to be admired.
And to show you and me how real Moody is, Showtime published a book that he wrote, apparently, years before — God Hates Us All (not to be confused with the Slayer album). I read it during a brief flight to the midwest this weekend*, and for anyone who’s a fan of the show it’s not only a fun read but also provides more about the character’s background. Though the story is not about Moody, it does pull from his life (or so we’re told on the show), and that just strengthens the idea of Hank Moody — cementing the backwards-hero in our minds as a man whose current life path is no more his own fault than the color of his hair.
*Full disclosure: Showtime sent me the book.
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