An Overdue Book Report

It has been awhile since I conducted a book report. So here is a brief summary of the last five books that I have read.

Sex Work: Writings by Women In the Sex Industry, by Frederique Delacoste – A book written originally in the 80’s and recently updated. The first half of the book is actual stories from the workers themselves. In there it runs the gambit from massage parlor girls, street walkers, escorts, and dominatrix. A very interesting read and some really good and rich stories. The second half of the book is a more sociological look at the industry and the effects of it on society. All proving what I have often felt. Legalize and regulate prostitution and you rid yourself of the medical and societal problems that come along with keeping it illegal.

Center Field On Fire: An Umpire’s Life With Pine Tar Bats, Spitballs, and Corked Personalities, by Dave Phillips – A so-so read about Phillips time as a major league umpire. While there were some interesting enough stories in there, there weren’t enough of them and there was too much preaching from the author. Overall, I would have to give this one a slight thumbs down.

Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of Unlikely Stripper, by Diablo Cody – An interesting enough read about a woman who was working an office job in Minnesota and one day decided that she wanted to be a stripper. So, she tried out, got hired and for a little over a year made more money they she could have ever imagined. This story shoots down a lot of myths about strippers and also examines why other women hate strippers. A good story, that is written well and I would recommend it.

Smashed: A Story of a Drunken Girlhood, by Koren Zailckas – A very honest confessional from a girl who battles alcohol. It examines the hypocrisy in America of how one is almost encouraged to drink and is looked down upon if one doesn’t yet if you smoke one joint you are a leper. The author starts drinking at age 13 and falls instantly in love with it. Even after losing her virginity during a drunken blackout she can’t stop drinking. Eventually in her early twenties she stops and writes a very good book about her experiences.

A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole – I am not much of a fiction reader as most know, but a co-worker knowing my sense of humor highly recommended this book to me and I am glad he did. The story is absurd and hilarious. I realize this book was published years ago, but if you haven’t read it, I highly suggest it. Reading it makes me want to examine the author’s life more as he committed suicide in 1969 over his failure to get this book published. His mother never gave up and eventually the book was published after Toole’s death and he won a Pulitzer for it.