HQ has announced it is to publish a new book from comedian and writer Katy Brand! It promises to be “a warm, witty, honest, and accessible” account of Brand’s life-long obsession with the absolute CLASSIC film Dirty Dancing, called I Carried a Watermelon.
In I Carried a Watermelon Brand will explore the film’s influences on her attitudes to sex, romance, rights, and responsibilities, as well as talking to other fans of the film.
It will also examine its legacy as a piece of filmmaking with a social agenda that many miss on first viewing; from pushing women’s stories to the forefront of commercial cinema, to its ‘Gold Standard’ depiction of abortion according to leading pro-choice campaigners, and its fresh and powerful take on the classic ‘coming of age’ story told from a naïve but idealistic 17- year-old girl’s point of view.
“One of the most celebrated and viewed films ever made is about to get its own love letter, and frankly, it’s about time,” HQ said.
Brand said: “I Carried a Watermelon is a book that, deep down, I now realise I have always wanted to write, so when the idea came, it came suddenly – a memoir, and homage to my favourite film, ‘Dirty Dancing’, covering my own adolescent obsession, and the impact it’s had on millions of fans. At last I can argue that the several hundred times I have watched it now count as legitimate research. And I’m so pleased to be working with HQ, Harper Collins – they said yes so fast I felt I must be in a dream.”
Obviously Brand had to add: “I’m about to have the time of my life…”
I Carried a Watermelon will be published in hardback, eBook and audio on 31st October 2019.