Canadian graphic novel on escorts

[Cato 160314]

Chester Brown, Paying for It, 2011

 

"Publisher's Blurb:

Chester Brown has never shied away from tackling controversial subjects in his work. As the cartoonist of the autobiographical The Playboy and the biography Louis Riel, Paying For It is a natural progression for Brown as it combines the personal and sexual aspects of his autobiographical work with the polemical drive of Louis Riel. Brown calmly lays out the facts of how he became not only a willing participant in but also a vocal proponent of one of the world's most hot-button topics--prostitution. Paying For It offers an entirely contemporary exploration of sex work--from the timid john who rides his bike to meet his escorts, wonders how to tip so as not to offend, and reads Dan Savage for advice, to the modern-day transactions complete with online reviews, seemingly willing participants, and clean apartments devoid of cliches street corners, drugs, or primps.

 

Paying For It is a book that stands for itself and will be the most talked about graphic novel of 2011. In stores this May."

 

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

Thanks Cato, I'll definitely be watching for it!

[MightyPen 67414]

And an intro by Robert Crumb! Score!

 

I'll definitely grab this when it's available.

 

EDIT: Looks like it's debuting at the Toronto Comics Festivial, May 8-9.

(It scrolls around eventually in the "Books debuting..." area.)

 

Toronto Comics Festival

[VedaSloan 119179]

Ooooooooo.

 

Want.

[SamanthaEvans 166766]

Maybe we could get a group-purchase discount? Advance copies to review? :icon_cool:

[Lou 9208]

Crumb, kewl!

Thanks for posting this.

Lou

[Guest C*****tte]

Cool. I am interested to read it. I think it is important to have clients share their experiences and art and literature is a good way to do this.

[Guest tr*****e]

Normally I'd rather read a non-illustrated novel, but this is interesting!8)

[Lowdark 5613]

And hopefully, this portrayal is the first of a series of non bias ones and will help balance out the sensationalism in the mainstream media.

[chilifreak 105]

Brown is one of the top Canadian cartoonists to ever put ink on paper. His books are taught in schools across the country. I've been waiting for this for some time now.

 

I didn't know there were comic geeks that hung out here! Awesome.

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

I just read Chester Brown's "paying for it: a comic-strip memoir about being a john". The many media reviews and interviews it has generated show that it's certainly a book with "buzz". It's currently second on the New York Times bestseller list for Hardcover Graphic Books. I've read several of the media pieces about it, and just thought I'd add my impressions as a "John" - since none of the pieces I've read are authored by anyone who (admits to) being a john themselves.

 

The first thing that struck me, after stripping off the hum-drum dustcover, is the design of the book - its actual cover is a bright little jewel. I'm not familiar with the graphic genre nor Brown's previous work in it. But one thing that struck me is the tinyness of the panels - I'm near-sighted, so they were fine by me, but some folks may require a magnifying glass. I was also somewhat taken aback by the lack of variation in the art. Many panels are virtually identical to each other, except for the words in the dialogue-bubble. It makes for a bit of an austere and sometimes visually-boring presentation, which may for all I know be Brown's artistic intention, given the "provocative" nature of his subject-matter.

 

One choice that raised my eyebrows was Brown's decision not to depict the faces of the escorts. They are always drawn as either turned away from the reader, or with dialogue-bubbles obscuring their heads. For me, this approach seems to rob the ladies of a part of their humanity. This is a book about the John, however - so again, this effect may be at least partially deliberate, even though Brown states in the foreward that he wishes he could have "brought the women to life as full human beings and made this a better book."

 

 

Brown was active from 1999 to 2004 in Toronto, and frequented brothels, then switched to outcalls when he got a place of his own. He started out using the ads in Now magazine.

 

 

Brown also depicts himself making considerable use of 'the other board", as we call it. It's mentioned in several of the panels, and in an appendix at the back of the book, although he notes that "These review-sites are controversial for prostitutes".

 

 

I see some parallels to my own experience in Brown's memoir, although most of it shows him conducting himself a bit differently than I do. This is not surprising, as Johns are a diverse lot. Brown does not claim to represent all Johns, but does note "I'll bet I'm close to what the typical john is like," which seems to be fair. I laughed out loud on any number of occasions while reading this book, and, contrariwise, found myself cringing at some of the things Brown shows himself doing or saying to the escorts. He doesn't go out of his way to try to depict himself as a paragon of virtue, and my impression is the whole thing seems pretty honest.

 

 

A significant portion of the book is taken up by Brown's theories on the unnaturalness of marriage as a romantic institution ("the romantic love ideal is actually evil"), and on the nature of seeing an escort ("Prostitution is just a form of dating").

 

 

One need not follow him down all his intellectual paths (including the belief that there's no such thing as physical drug addiction) to appreciate that he's a thoughtful guy with interesting things to say that are friendly to the world of sex-for-money. A significant portion of the book and its appendices are taken up with a pro-decriminalization polemic.

 

 

Unusually, Brown is currently in a 6-year monogamous relationship with one of the escorts he met. That's two-way monogamousness - and he still pays her for the sex. If that twist isn't interesting, I don't what is. As Brown says, "Paying for sex isn't an empty feeling if you're paying the right person for sex."

 

Memoirs written by Johns are very few and far between. Hats off to Brown and his depiction of a corner of the escorting world of Toronto from 1999-2004.

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

To be clear - I was of course by no means suggesting that Brown should have drawn the ladies' faces in a manner such that they could be recognized. I had imagined that he could have drawn faces that were altered enough from their real looks so as not to be connectable to the individual ladies in real life.

 

For me, I feel sure that the mere presence of ladies' faces in the comic itself would have elicited a greater feeling of connection or empathy from me as a reader of the comic. Other readers may experience it differently. Everything's a tradeoff, of course. The artist has the final say on which compromises he prefers.

[blue_eyes56 2010]

I read this book recently and thought it was great on many levels.

 

It strikes me as an honest telling of his own experiences (he is a little eccentric and clearly not trying to make himself look good), it is an original take on the issue of monogamy (it's ironic that one of his friends states that Brown, the john, is the one he thinks would be the best boyfriend/husband), it helps people not involved in the sex trade to somewhat understand the motivations and experiences (using close friends as foils in honest dialogue), and I can relate to many of his more humorous moments! The artwork is a little flat but I found the story works well as a graphic novel and seems more accessible, personal, and humorous than if told strictly through the written word. I recommend it highly.

[fortunateone 156618]

I haven't seen the book, but to me a choice to avoid drawing in faces of the sps seen, is more like a gesture to how most sps advertise. Blurred features, head turned, etc etc. It seems like a natural extension that a graphic novel, with pics, would represent the sps in the way that they have mostly chosen to advertise themselves, or show themselve. To me, it seems it would be almost a violation, even if the features are not true to fact, to put a face on the sps in the book.

 

Someone who is presenting a pro-sp viewpoint, I wouldn't see it as him trying to dehumanize anyone, imo.

[castle 38816]

Just checked the Chapters website and there's several copies available at the location on Rideau (in Ottawa). It so happens I'm heading down there shortly to meet a SP. Seems only natural to pick up a copy on my way home. Looking forward to reading it!