Candy Girl by Diablo Cody

As I said in my previous entry, I became aware of Candy Girl from reading other blogs and hearing about Diablo Cody when there was all of the Juno hype during Oscar time. I placed it on hold from my library and picked it up yesterday and read it today. It was definitely an interesting read, and I give it a B+.

Library Review:
As a college graduate from a stable family, with a boring job at a Minneapolis advertising agency and a supportive boyfriend (now husband), Cody decided to become a stripper. She jumped in on an amateur night at a local bar and then pursued her interest at several different venues, from so-called gentlemen's clubs to peep shows. Cody, now an arts editor with Minneapolis's alternative weekly, City Pages, describes in explicit detail her experiences stripping, lap dancing, and masturbating for clients. She has a fondness for the other strippers, who range from teenagers to thirtysomething mothers, but Cody has only disdain for the clubs, which generally treated the women badly and demanded a large portion of their pay. Cody tries to explain her attraction to stripping, but her descriptions of her encounters and the physical toll the work took on her body leave readers wondering why she kept going back despite the fact that she earned enough to buy a house. Still, a very readable account of life in the sex trade.

I have to admit, I felt dirty at times while reading this. I almost felt like if someone saw me reading it, they would think that I was a stripper or interested in becoming one. I think because of the stigma on stripping and the sex trade it has always been a bit of a taboo to me and I wanted to know what really went on. I had one friend in high school who was a stripper and I wanted to get into the head of one. Candy Girl does that job and puts the reader there. At sometimes graphic with the language and the descriptions, Diablo Cody does an excellent job of putting the reader right there with her during her stage debut. However, where I did think the book lacked a bit was telling my why she chose to become a stripper especially since she doesn't come from the typical background one may think a stripper has. It was a very quick read and was something different from my usual type of books I read.

I am not sure what is next. I think I may either read The Good Liar by Laura Caldwell or use the random number generator to select a book for me. I hope to get in some more quality reading time tonight and keep up my reading mojo. I am not working tomorrow or Tuesday, so I should be able to get some extra time in. I have a dentist and doctor appointment tomorrow and another doctor appointment on Tuesday, so there will be plenty of wait time. Tomorrow night is dedicated to my Wings who will win tomorrow. They will break this mini-slump and prove all of the haters wrong! I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend and that the weather was nicer where ever you are (54 degree high for today and it is the middle of May!!). Have a great start to the week and Happy Reading!