 Detailed criticism from someone in the Industry |
| Reviewer: Otoki, MN |
I never worked with Diablo Cody (she was before my time), but I know someone who did. She was the one who suggested I read the book. Afterwards, we both talked about how we want to write the anti-Diablo Cody strip-club book. This book is like A Million Little Pieces, but because of the veiled nature of the industry, the facts are harder to check. I think the book is disgraceful, but the fallacies and exaggerations are mostly hidden to those who have never worked in the industry.
For the record, for six months she worked in the Dollhouse in Sexworld, which is a peepshow. While that is part of the sex industry, it is a very different job from dancing. In fact, as she points out in the book, anything involving penetration is illegal in MN, yet the Dolls could get away with doing it. Because of this, I find her attitude of being "above" the "dirtiness" of certain clubs disingenuous, and her condescending description of dancers an insult to any woman in that occupation. Her sudden vague-ness when describing what occurred in the Loft at Deja Vu also begs the question of how candid she really is. The few things she actually mentions are blatantly illegal, things that many dancers never do, yet despite this lack of willpower in the face of a generous and pushy client, she still expresses her belief in her own mental superiority to other strippers. I guess she didn't see the irony.
For the most part, her book revealed a few important things about the industry (club fees, work expenses, irritating customers) but did little to explain stereotypes, or even debunk them. Instead, her patronizing descriptions of dancers (either blond fake-titted bimbos at Sheiks, or drug-addicted boorish wrecks at Skyway) simply echoed the two most common stereotypes of strippers. For someone whose writing exposes their obvious belief in their own superior intellect, she was far less observant than most "dumb dancers" I know.
I think one reason is because she went into the job from a research angle. Most of us get into the industry (as staff or entertainers) because of a financial need it would fulfill, like supporting kids, paying for school, getting out of debt, etc. It is an industry that can open doors for women (and men) and give us opportunities we may not have had otherwise. The sense of solidarity between individuals can be quite strong, although it was notably absent in Cody's case.
The title really says it all: "A Year in the Life of an UNLIKELY Stripper". Her assumption, (obviously supported by many people, much to my chagrin), that a nerd, educated woman, geek, etc etc simply doesn't fit the mold of "stripper". My friend who worked with her (call her B) said that, when Cody expressed surprise that B was going to college, B pointed out that most of the dancers at the Choice were in school. Cody responded with disbelief and dismissal "No they don't"*eye roll*. I think that pretty much sums up Cody's attitude towards the people in the sex industry, and explains why she felt girls were "mean" at the Choice. I currently work with many of the former staff from Sheiks, and they complained that she turned the club into a generic, faceless place when there was so much personality and dynamics to be explored in both the customers and the dancers/staff.
I think that the 6 months she spent as a DANCER is very significant. Most strip club workers (dancers and staff) are excited at the money, the change in lifestyle, the flexible schedules, and the newness when we first start the job. I also think that most of us, after the first year, are more reserved and realistic in our enthusiasm because we've had plenty of time to reflect on how the industry has changed us, and we have seen plenty of men and women go through a less than desirable change. Perhaps, with a more empathetic attitude, Cody would have had a more realistic view of the industry, one focusing on individual change beyond her own self-centered story. Somehow, after speaking to B and others who remember her, I think I'm being a bit optimistic.
Diablo Cody held herself aloof out of a sense of intellectual superiority, and thus blinded herself to the wealth of information and reality that she could have revealed to an (obviously) captive audience. It's a shame.
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The sex trade ain't all that sexy
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| Reviewer: Scott Bresinger, New York, USA |
Diablo Cody, blogger of distinction and soon to be "in demand" screenwriter, is kind of an odd choice to be a memoirist. After all, she's young, not a drug addict or a habitual liar, and has not survived years of horrible abuse. From what I can tell, her family isn't even all that eccentric. Of course, when you factor in that "Candy Girl" chronicles the year and a half she spent as a stripper/sex worker, the response for a lot of people (namely yours truly) is an immediate "best. Memoir. Ever!" After all, I'm not a big customer of strip clubs (the whole scene, in particular the crowd they seem to attract, just seems...I dunno...icky), but I'm fascinated nonetheless. What kind of girl would want to work at a job where they have to be naked in public and pretend to like guys they would normally avoid? What actually goes on behind those velvet ropes? Well, you may not find all the answers you're searching for here, but with a guide like Ms. Cody, you won't mind a bit.
Not only is she an unlikely choice as a memoirist, as it turns out she was an even more unlikely choice as a stripper. A self confessed geek with pale skin and a non-surgically enhanced body, she was well into living the life of a faceless cubicle slave when she got the sudden urge to do something radically different with her life. From tryout night at the seediest strip joint in Minneapolis to the grungy booths of Sex World and a couple of other stops along the way, she soon sheds her naivete and becomes a seasoned pro in a matter of months. How she shed her inhibitions is one of those questions left unanswered, although it seems she didn't really have any to begin with. Getting work as a "dancer" is surprisingly easy (basically, being a woman with a pulse is the only real requirement), but how to avoid burning out is much trickier. Also tricky is learning to deal with the pole, which is something one has to learn by doing, while everyone watches. It also turns out that stripping is harder work than you would think. Since the clubs generally take a sizeable cut of what the girls earn, and most expect a certain minimum, they really have to sell themselves aggressively, even desperately, all the while appearing as cheery and mindless as Ashton Kutcher. It's even possible for a stripper, on a bad night, to end up owing the club more money than they earned. Of course, it's also very possible to make amounts that can only be described as obscene. In any case, it takes the kind of people skills and stamina that the average office drone couldn't dream of.
The real draw in this book, as it turns out, is Diablo herself. Possessed of a witty, sardonic attitude that sizes up any situation with a healthy sneer, she can turn even the most squalid environment into an absurdist Gen X anthropological study. She's also capable of genuine warmth toward her unbelievably supportive boyfriend and his cute-as-a-button daughter from a previous relationship. There's even some pathos, as when she relates the tale of one of her Sex World co-workers. She's also capable, on the other hand, of some real metaphorical groaners, even if they're delivered with a deliberate wink: "...the world around me looked like a blank answer bubble on a standardized test. I didn't know I was destined to make my mark heavy and dark, and that Satan was my exam proctor."
I first heard of this book when Diablo made a promotional appearance on David Letterman's show (it can be found on the web if you look around), where even a couple of years removed from her life as a slut-for-hire, I thought "I'd definitely buy a lap dance from her!" It wasn't just her more than acceptable body, but her intelligence. If you're the type of person who refuses to turn off your brain even when one of your hands is otherwise occupied, this is definitely the book for you. Even though a lot of the language is as salty as you would expect, and sometimes even more so, "Candy Girl" is not smut. It's about the business of smut, which as it turns out is a lot like plain old business. Just more fun. |
Cluster fact
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| Reviewer: Natalia Blanks, Minneapolis, MN United States |
It is an accumulation of isolated experiences, abrupt thoughts and pretentiously shocking metaphors. There is no beginning, middle or end. It does cover a year's worth of stripping, but it is not enough to engage a reader who is looking for something other than a compilation of facts in chronological order - the story does not develop or evolve, it simply starts and ends. The observations about stripping lurk on the surface of mediocre psycho analyses that don't go deeper than what the eye meets or the ear hears: she sees and hears things and so she types it out on her laptop and sprinkles it with flavorful allegories.
It does read fast and keeps you entertained, but don't go looking for insightful or eye opening revelations. If People magazine twists your brain - you will feel very satisfied reading the book. |
(Irritating) style over substance
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| Reviewer: Helen Joan Spence, Australia |
If you thought Juno was overly hip, that the dialogue sagged under the weight of one too many "clever" pop culture references, you'll perhaps be surprised to hear that it represents a refinement in Diablo Cody's style. Candy Girl is so smugly, irritatingly, hiply written that it should come with a disclaimer. About four of the book's innumerable wise-cracks are actually laugh-out-loud funny - the rest are just so painful and self-impressed that I felt like throwing the book across the room. I liked Juno quite a lot, despite the aforementioned problems, but this book was just too much. Instead of social observation, which could have actually been pretty fascinating in this setting, we have this endless attempt to be edgy and shocking, this all-eclipsing self-interest. But to cap it off, the reader is left with just as little insight into Diablo Cody as into the other characters she neglects to concern herself with. She is all bluster, and fails in her capacity as memoirist to the degree that she fails to produce one single convincing insight, one moment that rings true.
But, well, she's young. Here's to improving. |
A hand party when you want a happy ending
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| Reviewer: Dangle's girl, Astoria, NY United States |
| If you liked "Juno" you'll like Candy Girl--it's got the same kind of witty repartee and engagingly sarcastic voice. But, like Juno, it's also frustratingly superficial and self-centered. Cody's in her own world for much of the book and doesn't seem to have had much interaction at all with her fellow strippers, many who sound like much more interesting characters than her persona as a slumming hipster. It's a fast, fun read, but you end up feeling a bit cheated and wondering if Cody is really as skin-deep as she seems. |
Poorly Written
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| Reviewer: Dontes, Minneapolis,MN |
| Narcissistic and myopic, this book is overwritten and almost devoid of insight. The author of this book tries to make every sentence memorable and a zinger. The effect of this style of writing is like turning up a thrash metal song album to high volume. There are no levels, no quiet spaces, just one long smart-alecky shout. The book is also lacking in insight, either into the author's motives, the dynamics of the strip club, or the girls or patrons involved in it. The one good thing about it is that she does not shy away from describing the fundamental depravity she participated in and yet simultaneously acknowledges that there is some strange degree of glamour in the business. Nonetheless, you are left with the impression that the author started stripping knowing nothing and left stripping knowing less. |
She was just a typist, why not be a stripper?
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| Reviewer: Ben Stevenson, Chicago, IL United States |
"A copy typist by day in Minnesota, Cody was hardly a likely candidate for entering an amateur stripping contest."
Why is that so unlikely? A "copy typist" is just someone that types documents from handwritten notes. Quick google search reveals they make between $7 and $12 a hour. Is it any wonder she turned to stripping for easy money?
I think the title's misleading and it's not a shock that someone making such a low income would become a stripper. Now if she was a successful doctor or lawyer then I would say it's unlikely, but a typist becoming a stripper isn't a stretch. |
Enjoyable, but not filling
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| Reviewer: Bob Summers, Norman, OK United States |
This book is a collection of annecdotes really, some of them entertaining, some of them a bit disgusting. It's a story that winds up posing questions at the end about things you thought should've been answered somewhere in the text. She describes herself as an average middle class girl without any of the "prerequisites" we've come to expect from strippers. However, some of the clues like how she came to be with the boyfriend show there may be some of those prerequisites after all. It just didn't paint a total picture, and those looking to this as a serious insight into stripper pysche will find nothing here. Yet I did find that she seemed to fall into some of the typical stripper patterns, like earning the bulk of the income for the couple.
The writing style is some kind of hipster thing. It's as if there were some school that taught writing something in a trendy, clever way would make it stand out. "Dinero to spare-o" doesn't seem to communicate any better than "money to burn", or "plenty of extra cash". You also have to wonder about the less hip readers who are going to get lost in that.
The part about stripping held my interest, but I was a bit disgusted when she started doing the sex shows. It made me realize that you never really know what your friends and neighbors are capable of or do in the privacy of their own bedrooms. A couple of the customers should get the death penalty for ciminal disgusting.
Overall, it's an entertaining book, but not anything revealing about the world of stripping. |
A far cry from the big picture
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| Reviewer: K. A. Peet, Chicago |
224 pages of one-liners.
Don't waste your time if it's depth you're looking for. |
Entertaining if glib and brief...
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| Reviewer: Greg Whitsell, West Plains, MO |
...but not a bad read at all. Diablo Cody outlines her trip through a year in the sex trade of Minneapolis, working in 3 or 4 strip clubs, a peep show and as a phone sex operator. The writing style is alternately hilarious and too cute for it's own good (when she calls the internet the World Wide Waste of Time, for example, you can tell she's a lot more amused by the phrase than you are). Still the anecdotes and terminology are interesting (a "reg" is a regular customer that a stripper can milk for money, a "jack shack" is a strip club where clandestine hand jobs are offered), and her relationship with her boyfriend and eventual husband is alternately touching and disturbing. Did he never get jealous, or concerned for her safety? Not once? Best of all, she explains why some good girls go into stripping (and, by extension, possibly why some good boys visit strip clubs): "I was trying to terrify myself."
The book loses a few points for not being the best value for your dollar--212 pages of fairly large print. You may want to buy it second hand or wait for a paperback edition. Still, for some of us, overpaying for entertainment from a stripper is a time-honored tradition. |
Funny, Bawdy (Often Crude) Look At Stripping by "Juno" Screenwriter
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| Reviewer: Jenners, East Coast of the U.S.A. |
3 Reasons You've Might Have Heard of Diablo Cody
1. She wrote the screenplay for Juno and won a screenwriting Oscar for it.
2. This summer, she wrote the screenplay for Jennifer's Body. It is doubtful she will win an Oscar for it.
3. She writes a column for Entertainment Weekly.
With that kind of resume, you may wonder why she was able to write a memoir about a year spent working as a stripper. Well, before she "hit it big," Ms. Cody was living in Minneapolis and working a "straight" job at an advertising agency. On a lark, she decided to strip at local strip club's amateur night to satisfy her curiosity about what it was like. The adrenaline rush (and the money) hooked her, and she ended up spending a year stripping at various clubs and working in a sex shop and as a phone sex worker.
5 Things I Learned About Being A Successful Stripper From This Book
1. Blondes get bigger tips so it is worthwhile investing in a wig.
2. Wear white for your stripping outfit.
3. Learn how to work the pole.
4. Pick your spotlight songs carefully. (Ms. Cody thoughtfully provides a list of good songs and bad songs to strip to in the book.)
5. Be prepared to sell more than lap dances. Many clubs expect you to sell a certain amount of drinks as well.
Ms. Cody is very candid about what it takes to be a stripper. She breaks down how the various clubs worked, explains the stripper hierarchy, describes what kind of strippers tend to earn the most, and offers (often hilarious) advice about the ins and outs of being a stripper. The book is very humorous and often very crude, and Ms. Cody doesn't take herself too seriously most of the time. It was a kick to get an inside glimpse at a world that most of us will never explore. The fact that Ms. Cody chose to pursue this lifestyle and wasn't forced into it makes a big difference as her story is one of a woman in control of what she is doing--not a woman who was forced by circumstances to pursue this line of work. Plus it helps that Ms. Cody is a darn good writer with a direct, conversational writing style. However, she didn't walk away from the experience completely unscathed.
3 Most Disturbing Things I Learned In the Book
1. There are really really disgusting freaky people in the world. (I guess I knew that but hearing about some of the people who would come into the sex shop where she worked toward the end of her stripping career was really disturbing. Really disturbing.)
2. If you strip for years, you'll probably end up with "hammertoes, coke-worn sinuses and intimacy disorders."
3. You cannot work in the sex industry without starting to lose some element of your humanity.
Her stripping career ends abruptly one day when she finds herself unable to stop crying. Allow her to explain:
"It wasn't the nudity or the grinding or any sex-phobic moral issue that was pinning me to my chair in a moment of blinding epiphany. It was actually the opposite. The one-on-one aspects of the industry made sense; it was the whole girls-in-bulk thing that repulsed me. Hundreds of girls on the floor at some clubs, all reduced to begging dogs for an army of smug little emperors. The rules of attraction were reversed at a strip club. Girls that could halt traffic at Nicollet Mall were rejected by fat guys wearing Zubaz. Joe Punchcard with $20 could toy with several dancers over the course of an afternoon, finally selecting the one who'd receive the dubious privilege of entertaining him for three and a half minutes. The rejected girls, regardless of how loved they were by husbands or paramours or infants at home, would feel worthless for an instant, and all because of ol' Joe. Those instances multiplied, and soon everyone felt like creeping crud, regardless of how much ego they projected."
3 Reasons To Read the Book
1. Diablo Cody has a conversational, honest writing style that is entertaining, funny and easy to read.
2. The book offers an inside glimpse into a world that not many people have experienced and written about.
3. You'll laugh out loud quite a few times.
3 Reasons Not To Read the Book
1. If explicit writing about sex and working in the sex industry isn't your thing.
2. If you are offended by the concept of strippers and strip clubs in general.
3. If you find bawdy, crude and explicit sex talk disturbing.
I really enjoyed this book and I'm giving it 4 stars. However, due to the subject matter, it isn't a book for everyone so I can't recommend it wholeheartedly. I suspect you already know if you want to read this book anyway. |
Meh... a little too haughty
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| Reviewer: Candace Beauchamp, Austin, TX |
I wanted so badly to like this book. I like the author's style as far as her smart-alleck attitude, but I didn't like how superior her voice sounded. "Oh look, I have lived, I stripped for a year" "oh, strippers are stupid - well, except for me". That's kind of the 'voice' I heard. I'm a huge fan of Juno and I'm glad I saw the movie before I read the book - I probably would have skipped it.
The story itself is interesting for the things that it exposes about the industry (the pay schemes for instance), but the haughty attitude of the author ruined this one for me. There were also a few scenes (the licker) that made me feel a little ill, I may be a little queasy though ;)
At the end of the day, I'd say read this one if you like memoirs, but go in knowing that you may not love it. |
Wildy Entertaining!
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| Reviewer: Tamii, |
| I absolutely loved Cody's book and it proved to be a quick, funny and delightful read. I gave this one a read while at the beach and quickly realized how hard it would be to put it down and to stop laughing at her astute observations about people, situations and even her own life. As a former stripper, I found her tale to be right on the mark and mirrored a few of the incidents in my own life. If you're looking for a light-hearted glimpse of the stripping world, this is a funny, insightful book to begin that process! |
Witty and amusing, but ultimately disappointing
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| Reviewer: Lord Mansfield, |
| Amusing, often witty account of one girl's downward struggle from junior advertising assitant to dolled-up stripper to peep-show fodder for onanists. Diablo Cody doesn't sweeten her prose for the old lady in Dubuque--so be warned, this book conjures up some unsettling images that will stay with you for a long time. She wasn't a great success as a stipper, and the answer probably lies in her contempt for her customers. That's the problem with the book: there's a mean-spirited side to Diablo's account which ultimately drains much of the fun from her story. By the last chapter, when we finally get some biographical data about the author, one can't help but conclude that she's still much too tied to her middle-class, mid-western, tongue-clicking roots to relish the absurd humor in what she saw and experienced. |
Challenges your preconceptions
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| Reviewer: David Wintheiser, Minneapolis, MN USA |
Simply put, "Candy Girl" is an entertaining read that gives a reader a little bit more to think about than expected.
The book's subtitle is 'A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper', and while Cody's background may be unusual, her experiences don't seem all that atypical. She gets involved in the industry, in large part, out of curiosity, and while she knows going in that the illusion of naughty fun is paper-thin, she still hopes to experience that illusion for herself. She drifts from the highbrow 'gentleman's club' through more energetic 'hustle clubs', and eventually, though it's a gradual process, she not only learns but internalizes the lessons of being a kick-ass stripper.
'Kick-ass' also describes her writing style - this isn't the tale of a blushing innocent being corrupted, nor that of a jaded, embittered husk of a woman, spent and empty at the end. For the most part, she's brash, hip, tossing twisted images and pop-culture references around like...well, like this passage:
"Grizzly eyeballed my long patchwork skirt and snow-dredged penny loafers. I looked like a guest lecturer at the Oberlin College Womyn/Transgendered Potter's Collective. 'You really think you can get up there and take your clothes off?'
"He gestured to the stage, where a stout Chicana grappled with a brass pole, pivoting to reveal a cesarean scar on her midriff, red as a sockeye salmon. I watched the dancer for a moment and admired her six-inch platform stilletos, solid enough to house a school of betta fish in each transparent sole. Lesson one: Even a birthing-room Betty can be glamourous in the right pair of kicks. I committed this visual to memory.
"'Sure,' I said, 'Obviously. I'm just the type you're looking for.'"
That's on page 12 - there's another two hundred where that came from, sometimes scary, sometimes ugly, always open, and frequently hilarious.
Full disclosure: being a Minneapolitan myself, I've visited most of the places Cody talks about in her book (though never while she was working there, as far as I know). I was additionally fascinated at the peek behind the scenes of these places, and to know a little more about how the industry operates than I could learn by merely being a dazzled 'client'. If you're looking for a 'tell-all' book, you'll probably be disappointed, though the book certainly tells enough to keep the story moving.
It's also not a book that's likely to change your life, unless you're a young woman inspired to take her own erotic odyssey following in Diablo's footsteps. But it is fun, informative in different ways, and certainly worth picking up, if only to see how the author challenges your own preconceptions. |
Arrogant, amoral & pretentious
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| Reviewer: die fliedermaus, |
Very disturbing book, not because of the topic, but because of Cody's sociopathic aversion to empathy, humility and compassion, even among lonely, desperate, abused people. She acts as if she's above it all, and every sentence is SNEER. This is a person WITHOUT A CONSCIENCE. Her flippant,pretentious writing style tells me that she is a very intelligent person, but that she cares about no one, and has no discernable values. She wants to shock. She wants notoriety. She wants money, and she will sell her mind, soul and body to get fame. And what's this "Diablo Cody" business. Isn't that the brand name of of a whiskay or an SUV? It resonates with total fakery.
Well, Ms. Diablo Cody descended even lower than that. She sold out to the religious right to make an anti-abortion film and won an Oscar.
huzzah
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Raunchy Good!!
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| Reviewer: Victoria, Minneapolis, MN |
Ok so the irony about my reading this book is that it was suggested to me by a dear friend who is an extremely dignified social doyen. The book reads like a bad history of a free clinic so you can imagine my amusement upon finishing it.
My only issues with Candy Girl are Cody's obsessive need to rip on Minneapolis and its locals (I'm from here and, no, my skin does not look like silken tofu nor do I have an insatiable appetite for Manwich), and her tendency to write as though this book was intended to be read by an angry emo at a poetry slam (it has a choppy rhythm and she's constantly speaking in metaphor).
Aside from that, Candy Girl is wickedly delicious! Readers beware; it is EXTREMELY raunchy!! I love anything to do with train wreck pornography and even I was squirming at certain points. All in all, I loved it and I certainly have a whole new respect for my "lily white" friend!
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Suggested With: A dirty mind |
3.5 Stars
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| Reviewer: Sara P., Washington |
I read this book a few years ago and was happy to see Cody switch mediums to Screen Writing (overall better for her writing style). Cody's attempts to fill every page and moment with an exorbitant amount of wit at every turn plays out better on the screen than in a book format.
From the beginning, she was trying to make every sentence stand out and it almost became a list of "look at all of the neat things I know about" instead of a book of her experiences. It was at times an interesting look into her perception of life as a sex worker but her constant body image issues coupled with her ill-placed and overabundant wit became very old, very fast.
Ironically, when looking at pictures of Cody it is very apparent she is an attractive woman. Throughout the book she constantly describes not physically fitting in with the other women which in context is laughable. Perhaps she suffers from the self-esteem that curses a lot of us women.
All in all, not a bad read but I guess the only way to summarize is "too witty for it's own good." The book could have thrived with less of the humor and sometimes attempts and the book would have been excellent. The writing style was just too over the top for my taste. At times I wasn't sure whether to laugh or roll my eyes and towards the end of the book I was doing a lot more of the latter. |
More than you'll want to know
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| Reviewer: J. Mullen, Fort Worth, TX USA |
| Candy Girl is the memoir of a woman who spent a year working in the sex industry in Minneapolis. The book reveals facets of the industry known only to insiders, and it leaves the reader with a negative feeling about the author's experience. Still, I consider it a useful, truthful report. If you're looking for an erotic experience, you won't find it here. |
Pretty boring...
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| Reviewer: Kara Whiplash, |
| I normally read most autobiographies, I thought this would be interesting, but this one is boring. It might be interesting to someone who is naive about strip clubs and wanting to learn. I'm taking it to the used bookstore next weekend. |
More than you ever wanted to know about the adult entertainment industry!
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| Reviewer: Cassie W., Ohio |
Diablo Cody was 24 years old and new to Minneapolis when she decided she needed a little spice in her life. One evening, on her way home from her job as a copy typist, she spotted a sign in the window of a seedy strip club advertising an amateur stripping contest with a $200 prize. On a whim, she signed up. And although she didn't win the contest that night, over the following year she'd become much more knowledgeable about "pole tricks," and "bed dances," and other skills required to become a successful stripper in Minneapolis.
Wholly frustrated with the 9-to-5 gig, Cody spent her first year in Minneapolis working as a stripper at some less-than-savory clubs, as a "doll" at the local Sex World, and as a phone sex operator. CANDY GIRL: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF AN UNLIKELY STRIPPER is about that year Cody spent in the sex trade; and let me tell you, the "unlikely" part of the title is as accurate as she could possibly be. Cody, an enhancement-free, pasty-fleshed, well-educated girl from the Midwest, is about as unlikely a candidate for the position of "stripper" as you could imagine. But stripping satiated some curious urge inside her and, with a boyfriend who was disturbingly gung-ho about the whole thing, Cody went for it.
By the time you've finished CANDY GIRL: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF AN UNLIKELY STRIPPER, you'll know the meanings of the terms "tip rail," "jack-shack," "reg," and "porn shui," among others. You'll know the best and worst songs to strip to (I was sorely disappointed that "Young Lust" by Pink Floyd didn't make the Best list). You'll be able to determine what a stripper's personality type is, just by the song she dances to. You'll be given the opportunity to choose your own "stripper name," according to the guidelines set out in Cody's list of the worst stripper names (which include any version of the name Britney). You'll be given a back door into the exotic sex trade industry, and you may be surprised at what is revealed. You'll hear about some hilarious, almost unbelieveable incidents of perverseness. And you'll be introduced to the women -- the strippers, those intoxicating, sexualized beings -- and some will repel you...but some will break your heart.
This is probably one of the best memoirs I've ever read -- not based on the content (which was pretty squirmworthy at times), but based on the author. Cody's tone is so sardonic and dry, her knack for timing is so spot-on, that you're entertained from start to finish and completely unable to look away from the illicit, naughty world she's describing. I do agree that sometimes Cody's writing reads as if she's trying a little too hard to be clever, but that doesn't make reading her writing any less enjoyable. She has a wonderful voice, and I really enjoyed how she separated her personal and professional lives in the text (I don't know how she was able to do it in her real life, incidentally). And while CANDY GIRL is rollickingly funny, there are also undertones of sadness in this memoir. The whole strip club scene comes across as melancholy, unreal, shabby, a place where dreams go to die. That's why Cody stood out as an atypical bright spot in the gloom, and that's part of the reason why her memoir works so well.
CANDY GIRL is smart, surprising, insightful, revealing (in more ways than one!), and sometimes cringe-inducing. If you're looking for a book that transports you to another world -- well, this is it! The world may not be the prettiest...but it's definitely an interesting trip in Diablo Cody's able hands. |
Bored? Try Stripping!
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| Reviewer: Jay B. Rusovich, Houston Texas |
| Candy Girl is by no means a treatise on the profession of "adult entertainment." It isn't particularly insightful, nor is it compelling from a psychological pespective. The primary reason for this is that Diablo Cody isn't a REAL STRIPPER, but rather a well-educated journalist who decides, on a whim, to explore something out of the ordinary...like stripping. And in deference to the author, she admits as much in her "Coda." Nonetheless, if you're still interested in reading about what stripping looks and feels like from the perspective of a Mid Western Catholic girl, this book's for you. Like most people in her particular socio-economic position, the author never has to surrender herself to this world, because she isn't really a part of it. She remains detached, analytical and oozing with metaphor --- ripe with pop-culture vernacular and street jargon that manages to litter every nook and cranny. Obviously, this is another way she keeps herself - and her "experimental" profession - at arm's length. It almost comes across as a hedge against embarrassment. One might imagine visiting a jungle habitat in some municipal zoo, where you can safely walk in the same enclosure with a couple of cougars, but not have to worry about being devoured by them. And that's my problem with the book. I saw everything, but felt very little, and that's precisely where the book fails to satisfy, and why I gave it 3 stars...I hear Diablo did a great job with Juno, however, and I look forward to seeing - and reviewing - it. |
Strangely dull
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| Reviewer: Ginger, Los Angeles |
Wow, so you are saying that the sex industry doesn't treat women well, that they make more money off of the women than the women do...and that one becomes a hollow shell stripped (Ha! -pun) of dignity and self worth? Really? Huh - that is like the frst time I have ever heard that. Never could have figured that out.
Did this author not get enough attention as a child? Lookit me, lookit lookit...you're not looooooking! This is girls gone wild (with a brain, I'll give her that) written down - someone who flashes her goods because she is just so, like WILD and free man! Everyone knows this girl - upper middle class family and self styled rebel who is just so "real". The one you lose touch with after college because you are tired of hearing about it -you know, a self perpetuating drama queen. We all have one in our lives at some point. The dirge like forced "wildness" gets tiresome pretty quickly.A bit of self examination as to WHY would have saved this book, but apparently lifting rocks and looking under them is too much work. Instead we get a daily diary of..and then this happened...etc....No hint of any reasoning behind any of it.
It has it's moments, but the material is stretched so thin it gets tedious. This would have been a great essay - novel/memoir length = no. There is no payoff for reading this book - there is no structure...it's just random items slapped together. A memoir does require an arc, not just writing it down. It doesn't string together in the end. Kind of reminded me of Gloria Steinem's Bunny expose - which covered similar ground...but which was much more incisive. |
Contains what may be the most offensive line I've ever read
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| Reviewer: Maria, Eugene, OR United States |
Until I got to this line, near the very end, I thought the book was ok, though I too was troubled by the too glib writing style and the touch of oversimplification and arrogance I felt the author displayed. Then, towards the very end, she wrote what may be the most offensive sentence I've ever read in a book: "I was never sexually abused as a child, probably because I wasn't pretty."
What???
What does appearance have to do with sexual assault at any age? This trivializes the experience of all sexual abuse survivors, and is just horrifying on so many levels I cannot believe her editor let it stand.
It soured the whole book for me, which frankly wasn't that good to begin with, but until this point at least hadn't been horrifically offensive. |
Candid and Somehow Innocent
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| Reviewer: Jessica Craig, Portland OR |
Let me explain: what do you think when you think of strippers? Drug addicts? Molested as children? Maybe they are working their way through college but... Yeah, me too. While there are all of the above in the book, Diablo herself is none of that. She is a (pretty much) normal, everyday, vanilla kind of girl. She was just curious. That formula in itself is an instant good read. Throw in her off the wall, hilarious wit and attitude and you then have quite possibly the best account of stripperdom EVER.
While reading this you will laugh, feel nausous, laugh, suddenly want to become a stripper or a phone sex operator, or (my favorite) those chicks behind the glass who guys jack off to. You will then continue to laugh, realize you could never become a stripper, want to again, laugh some more, then wonder what you want to do more, hug and comfort Diablo or cry with her when she arrives at her enavitable breakdown. The bottom line here folks is that you relate to this girl, and whats more is you genuinely LIKE her! You want her to become a stripper, then you want her to get out of it, you want her to win in whatever she sets her mind to.
This book is written so well, put together with an incredible flow that does not dissapoint from start to finish. I find that most memiors have an ending that is quite a let down; they cut you off too soon or they wrap it up so fast in a rush to get their own story over with. This book is nothing like that. In fact, I was enjoying the book so much that I started dreading the ending since I "just knew" that the usual dissapointing ending was going to ruin an otherwise awsome book. Surprise, surprise! 5 star story with a 5 star ending!
LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK AND I RECOMMEND IT TO EVERYONE!!! |
Well written documentary about an unliklely stripper
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| Reviewer: Donna Rubio, Oklahoma City, OK USA |
| Diablo Cody documents, in an insightful way; the life and world of an occupation that is so stigmatized by society. The life of a stripper. She brings to life what these unfortunate women must go through in order to earn a decent living in order to survive. Read her book with an open mind and you will come to appreciate single mothers and women that have amibitions beyond the strip scene make this choice. Stripping, can get some women beyond the working poor if you are smart and have a little talent. How sad a commment for our society. |
Fantastic - I worked with Cody at one point in her past...
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| Reviewer: orr333, Minnesota! |
We recognized the photos in the paper and had to read the book. I work at the insurance company in the "suburbs" that is referenced on page 203. The book is fantastic. What a great backstage view into the strip clubs that so many of us have been "forced" into going to with buddies . I recall her being sweet and all of the Indian contractors at our company thought she was hot. If we only knew the truth at that time!!
I do not consider myself to be naive or innocent but found many things in this book that I never would have expected. I find myself at work today and wonder "who" the real person is that I have sat next to for 5 years!
Buy and read this cleverly written book now! |
Arrogant Suburban Woman who Insults Everyone
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| Reviewer: wolfefreespace, Saint Paul, MN USA |
A friend of mine liked this book and handed it to me with the disclaimer that the author is a little bit "hipper than thou." A LITTLE BIT?!
First off, she prefaces the book by re-enforcing every imaginable shabby stereotype about her adopted state, Minnesota. It is clear that her perception was heavily influenced by that other embarassment to the state, Garrison Keilor. Minnesota is "Sooo cold." My thoughts: "If you don't like it, go back to balmy Chicago." Chicago is what, like 3 degrees warmer in the winter on average? Minneapolis is, according to her, the "City that Never Wakes." Nice. It is funny, I've lived in the Twin Cities nearly my whole life and have never wanted excitement of any kind that I couldn't get whenever I wanted it.
But her insults continue. Not content insulting the place, she goes on to insult her co-workers at "the Agency." Obviously a 24 year old privileged girl from the suburbs (her admission in the final chapter) was WAY too hip to be bothered to be any good at her job.
Apparently, she was too cool to be like the other strippers, too. She was somehow "above" all of them because she set some sort of special mental space - called "arrogance" by us ordinary folks. At the end of the book, she goes home to where she belongs, the suburbs, in her insulated little box made of ticky-tacky where she can apparently feel free to insult whomsoever she pleases from atomized comfort.
While there is some redeeming value in the book as it describes the backstage area of various city strip clubs (after reading this book, you will never go to another one), the book's value is almost completely obscured by this irritating woman's attitude. Give it a miss.
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B+
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| Reviewer: Lauren | |
