Shawna’s Blog

Wow. Hos, Hookers, Call Girls and Rent Boys: Professionals Writing on Life, Love, Money and Sex made the cover of the Sunday NY Times Book Review…and it’s a great, thoughtful review! (My story’s in the ‘Money’ section, by the way). I am honored to be in this collection, speaking truthfully with a bunch of fine, brave writers about the big business of sex. It’ll be interesting to watch the fallout and read the comments after the paper hits. My hope is that it sparks discussion about an often ignored and degraded (yet vital!) part of our society. I no longer work in this industry but I don’t think it should be demonized the way it usually is.

My favorite part of Ms. Bentley’s NY Times review is at the end: “This collection is a wonderful reminder that good writing is not about knowing words, grammar or Faulkner, but having that rare ability to tell the truth, an ability that education and sophistication often serve to conceal. While we are all, I suppose, in the business of surviving, some really are surviving more notably than others. The collective cry for identity found in this unsentimental compilation will resonate deeply — even, I suspect, with those among us who pretend not to pay for sex.”