Rating: 
Summary: She calls herself a writer?
Review: This was an incredibly disappointing book. I have friends who have stripped, and their stories are always so gripping and interesting. Lily Burana, on the other hand, is so self involved that we never quite get a feel for the world of stripping. When she does begin to offer insight, she immediately changes the subject. (Note that she is a fan of white space.) The success of this poorly written book shows how little has been written about a subject many people wonder about. I hope others in the business will take the time to find a good editor, and consider writing a skillful, honest, and true account of the stripping world.
Rating:
Summary: Vacuous and superficial
Review: This book was tedious reading at best. The author wasted the first 32 pages descibing how a cowboy with a missing front tooth swept her off her feet. She was dazzled by this cowboy's statement "I may not win every fight I'd get in to defend you, but I'd die trying." Please, is this a line from WWF?? The book deals with the women and the men in the clubs in a very superficial way. The reader never really gets any great understanding of the dynamics of this business. Don't waste your money!
Rating: 
Summary: what a let-down
Review: For all of her sexy experience, Burana has a problem: she is incredibly banal. She's so concerned about painting a good picture of herself that she leaves a lot out. I think she could still be "sex-positive" (her lingo) and still acknowledge that stripping can be a very dangerous business. And what about the people who frequent strip bars? There is almost nothing about them. And what about the other strippers? Surely it's not all "sisterhood is powerful" in the current strip world. No, instead we hear about her punk rocker years, which happened in New York approximately ten years after the real punk scene was gritty and going. Oh, and she dressed like Madonna in the tarty stage. That was long after it was mainstream, too. And what about her family and how they feel about her work as a stripper? It was funny how Burana had to make sure we knew that in "her" day of stripping, it was more outlaw, but also much less raunchy--she was more lika a dancer, performance artist, doncha know. Please.
Rating: 
Summary: an enjoyable holiday read!
Review: Excellent book for anyone considering work as a stripper. I liked the insights about what happens behind the scenes in the clubs, as well as learning about the variety of strip clubs in the USA. It's clear from the book that the author likes being in strip clubs, not only as a worker but as a customer too. I think the writing is honest as I don't care if chronologically some of the events are shuffled... The end of the book dragged on a bit much for me as well as some of the lists, but overall liked the structure, content and language.
Rating: 
Summary: Clever but dishonest
Review: Burana's book is full of clever and insightful observations into the world of strip clubs. She's a great writer and several sections are laugh-out-loud hilarious. There is, however, a big problem with factual honesty in this book, starting from the fundamental premise that she met a guy, got engaged and only then decided to go back to stripping to find her old self. GQ readers will recall that Burana wrote a fine article about stripping her way across American long BEFORE she got the book deal to write "Strip City". It was while writing that article, in fact, that she met Randy, her cowboy fiance. So much, then, for the fundamental conflict of "What will he say when I want to go back on the road stripping" that's central to this book. Hey honey, you were already on the road stripping and it wasn't a big deal for him so don't try to build a plot around it. When you overlook that basic problem, Strip City is a fine and seemingly portrait of an industry that gets short shrift. It's only too bad the honest portrayal couldn't extend to the author's own circumstances.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally
Review: Finally, a book that reaches deep into the soul of a normal girl who chose to use her genetic blessing to earn a living. This book educated me on the exotic dance industry. Lily offered a keen insight on the emotional and physical aspects of the business. I felt as if I finally had a voice in society as a woman who has recently began a soul searching journey as an exotic dancer. this book is great! you must read it to understand my review!!
Rating:
Summary: Very well written and entertaining with one frustration
Review: I recognize that in reviewing a stripper's autobiography/travelogue, the writing style might not ordinarily be the first issue which comes to mind. I have to say however that I was highly impressed with Ms. Burana's prose. She has a graceful, breezy and fluid writing style and which every word was just right and every sentence seemed to fit together beautifully. Her style was, for me, reminiscent of Bill Bryson (by coincidence another travelogue writer) who has the same effortless and flowing style and whose books I also love. (Indeed the book almost seemed like something Bryson himself might write if he were to write his version of "Stripping Across America".) So for her writing and the overall entertainment value of the book, I give it 5 stars. My only complaint was that I felt that it began to lag a bit towards the end and to become somewhat rambling and unfocused. It could have been 40 or 50 pages shorter without any loss in quality. That said, there was one thing as to which I was curious which was never addressed by the author and which I found very frustrating. I could not help but notice that there was virtually no description whatsoever of the author's own body. (A photo or two would have helped, but no dice there other than the teeny head shot on the dust jacket.) Is she tall? Short? What are her legs like? What is her butt like? Any tatoos? And last but not least, what are her breasts like? A-cup? D-cup? In between? Firm? Droopy? Rounded? Pointy? (In fact the only references to her body at all are where she implies from time to time that she is not a beanpole--such as having "shoulders like a Viking oarsman"--although I assume that this does not equate to being fat, and where she tells us that she has no implants). I fully recognize that many people will consider such questions as chauvinistic, irrelevant, juvenile, boorish, piggish, moronic, stupid, Republican, etc., etc. but hear me out. This is after all a book about a stripper and the world of stripping generally. Certainly Ms. Burana thinks these issues are important enough when it comes to OTHER strippers, many of whose physiques (including breasts) are described in detail. In addition, this is obviously not a book where the author is holding much back from her audience. So why is she so conspicuously silent as to her own body? I could think of only two possible reasons for this omission and neither of them frankly makes much sense. The first is that she felt her readers might not be interested in jejune issues such as the size and shape of her breasts. However in the context of this particular book, such an explanation simply defies credulity. She certainly thought that the readers would be interested in these things when it came to other strippers. Also, consider the following: Say there were 2 versions of the book--one is the book we have and in the other one, there is a paragraph added in the book which does in fact describe her body and breasts in full detail. Readers can opt for either version. Given that choice, how many readers--whether male OR female--would opt for the edited version which we have? Is "none" a safe guess? I would say so. So much for that theory. The only other possible explanation is that Ms. Burana somehow felt that information about her breasts and body was somehow "too personal" or "off limits" or "none of our business" or something similar. To me that explanation seems as implausible as the first, especially when one considers the totally frank, open, brutally honest and almost confessional tone of the book when it comes to every other aspect of her life. In a book where she seems to hold nothing back, where all of her inner feelings, phobias, and insecurities are laid bare (so to speak), the notion that to advise her readers as to her cup size would be just "over the top" seems incongruous, to put it mildly. That would certainly be an odd place to draw the line in the sand. If Ms. Burana ever reads these reviews, I would love to hear her thoughts on this. I can't imagine that the issue didn't arise in the writing and editing process. Anyway, aside from all that, I still thought it was a great book and would highly recommend it to those interested in such things.
Rating:
Summary: A thoughtful and wonderfully written memoir
Review: This was a wonderfully entertaining read-- I couldn't put it down. Burana is wise and insightful, and especially adept at recounting the history of the colorful characters in this book. Her vivid accounts of her adolescence and early career in New York are marvelous. She is a terrific storyteller with a solid grasp on her subject matter.
Rating:
Summary: One Trip that Could Have Used Less Baggage
Review: I was surprised at what a disappointment this book turned out to be. One thing that all of these objective, glowing reviews fail to mention is that Strip City is thoroughly suffused in the author's victim mindset. Coming from a woman with no alternative to stripping as a mode of survival, it would be understandable. Coming from a woman with every advantage--education, looks, privilege, a loving, supportive family & a self-purportedly successful career as a writer (especially a writer who claims to be dispelling the victim myth that surrounds the sex industry)--it's just laughable. Then it gets very tired. Lily sobs into her cellphone to her boyfriend about how "fried" she is (after a few days-long stint that ends in El Paso). Lily works it for a woman after her companion buys her a table dance ("Here's to claiming new territory, sweetie. Sisterhood IS powerful," Lily trumpets), then, two chapters later, she complains about the all-too-demanding way the couple stared at her body. Lily discovers that age is a handicap for strippers (yep--just as it is for models, anchorwomen, stewardesses, bus drivers and just about everyone else, dear) & becomes embittered when clients choose the younger dancers over her. Lily reminisces on how her suburban princess life went so terribly, terribly wrong ("I could blame it on New Jersey"). Yeah, I guess you could. If you can get past the giant V in the road, then there's this:
Strip City just isn't that well-written. A skilled editor could have tightened it up to some advantage (I found myself bored & skimming entire chapters by the final 150 of 328 pages), but it would have taken an alchemist to make a silk purse of this stuff: overwrought paeans to the Midwestern landscape/populace that inevitably end in some allegory of her own self-reflection (Ian Frazier with boobies, this ain't); tedious outlines of onstage moves that, for all their length, remain incomprehensible; list after list of favorite songs, clothes, stripper & club names; perfunctory interviews with ex-dancers you've never heard of and--if you can believe it--wedding plans (not that it's so scandalous that a stripper would get married; more like, who could be interested in the minutiae of this woman's life save herself, and possibly her fiancé?). Mind you, all of this is conveyed to the reader without the slightest threat of a sense of humor. Lily Burana takes herself very, very seriously and she clearly expects you to, as well. And that's really the last sort of companion anyone needs on a trip like this.
Rating:
Summary: Strip City: A Stripper's Farewell Journey Across America
Review: I (heart) Strip City. My favorite book of the last year or so. Lily Burana has interwoven a smart, saucy and moving memoir of her personal history -- that of the thinking girl as stripper -- with the evolution and current state of the profession itself. A fun & juicy read, highly recommended. Burana's writing style is clear and always engaging.
| 
