Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, Entertaining, and Educational
Review: I enjoyed reading this book and have continued to think of it days after I finished. It was well-written and well-organized. I felt the author led me through her thought process, incident by incident, and helped me come to the same conclusions to which she had come. I really got into the story and felt connected with the author. I would recommend this book for feminists born in the 1960s or later who aren't offended by explicit descriptions of pornography. The book isn't particularly "sexy," but does have some explicit descriptions of sex acts in order to get the point across, which works.
Rating: 
Summary: shallow understanding
Review: I read through this book continually waiting for Ms. Eaves to gain some self awareness, but sadly she never did. She was more than happy to comment negatively on others: her boyfriends, her stripper friends, but she never really examined her own motivations. When she wrote about using her power over her boyfriends in order to treat them like dirt I thought perhaps she might later come to some conclusion that perhaps she had behaved badly, but no. When she came to the conclusion that 'all sexuality for profit was insidious' it seemed to come from nowhere. Why did she suddenly decide this? I will say that the one time she tried to make a more general statement about women, it did at least provide my husband and I with a good laugh. Do people really still hold the view that there are two sorts of women, the 'good girls' who get married and procreate, but "disdain sex" and the bad girls who enjoy sex and keep their freedom. Okay, Ms. Eaves believes this, but does anyone else?For a book by an ex-stripper which is really interesting, political and wise, try My Dangerous Desires by Amber Hollibaugh.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, thoughtful and well written
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Bare. I found the glimpse into a world that I have never seen from the inside fascinating. But I enjoyed even more the exploration of the various issues surrounding women and sexuality. How do we relate to our own bodies, our sexuality and men? What motivates women to dance naked in front of a group of strange men? The book offers more answers than questions but in so doing the author passes no judgement but instead lets the reader think for him/herself. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Hackneyed
Review: The book itself is titillating as the author describes her activities and explores the depths of her personal limitations. But I began to feel as though I were reading the journal of a completely self-absorbed narcissist. Overall, the book seems to elicit a sort of naïve amoral tolerance toward the sex industry.
Rating: 
Summary: Not very original
Review: There have been so many books written about educated women in various sex industries that there is very little left to say -- it's certainly not an original concept anymore. Eaves feels empowered by her experiences; many of the women she works with are also there out of curiosity or pleasure, rather than desperation; strippers get to play outside of society's sexual mores. Eaves doesn't really add anything to these cliches.
Rating:
Summary: Addictive...
Review: This book gives the reader a peek into the world of stripping, bachelor parties and peep-shows (there is a difference between the three). I felt that it broke away from the stereotypes and offered a fresh look at the temptations and pitfalls of this industry. Especially interesting is the examination of the consequences this job has on personal relationships and the tensions between wanting to keep this job in order to be free (financially, more free-time) and ceasing to be free by virtue of the job (it seems to 'trap' some and tempt others to push their boundaries and make more money in prostitution, pornography, etc). The book is well written and impossible to put down.
Rating: 
Summary: Sensual and Intellectual
Review: This book is a fascinating journey into the world of the stripper. Ms. Eaves is a great writer and the sections where she talks about her life are well-written and compelling -- putting to rest any notions that there are no brains behind the naked beauties. When she dives into the lives of the other dancers, things get a little bit off track, but only for a short while. This book has a lot to teach about the mindset of the stripper; about the sexual politics of stripping; and about how some woman view sex in general; and about how one woman views her body and her boundaries.
Rating:
Summary: Worthwhile to those that are interested....
Review: This is a good book, well worth your time and money. The author's primary motivation for writing the book (imho) is to create an educational, inside look at the strip club world, especially attempting to teach readers that the subculture of stripping/dancing is populated by many independent, intelligent, and multi-talented women. I'm not sure that this will be enough of a revelation to keep the average reader fully engrossed in the theme of the book, but if it helps to eliminate a blanket generalization of the dancer as a defective or ignoramus, the book will have succeeded in a literary, if not monetary sense. It's hard to imagine this book becoming a big seller, because the widespread preconceptions about women who dance in the sex industry for money is a immediate turn-off for many. If you take the plunge, though, you'll find a well written book that attempts to examine the motivation of women who choose this line of work, however temporarily. The author is insightful, and explores both the positive and negative aspects of dancing in a fair, objective light. The main message as a man that I would take from this book is this: Except in the rarest of circumstances, you are being sold an illusion at a rather high price. Dabble in the world of flesh if you must, but examine your own reasons as to why you do so in an entirely non-judgmental, non-moralistic manner. At the end of the day, virtually nothing you will have seen is at all real, and the quest to find otherwise may leave you no wiser and considerably poorer. Dancers can be wonderful therapists and very special people.....but you will never be any closer to them than your wallet allows.....and that is the wistful yet disappointing truth. (And, in the end, on their side of the glass, it is generally no better for them to take your money for a variety of entrapping or mercenary reasons....and ultimately, no more fulfilling.)
Rating:
Summary: A horrible read on stripping but fair assesment of peep show
Review: This is probably one of the worst stipping books I've read simply because it doesn't include actual stripping (other than some limited and misleading chapters at the end). Peep show booths are one aspect of sex work but it is erronous to equate it with stripping (one you start naked, the other you perform a tease, the first you rarely have contact with costumers, the second you have intensive contact with customers, at the Lusty Lady you can earn an hourly wage, most strippers have to hustle and their income is always in flux, etc).
I strip in Seattle at an actual strip club. I know a few who work at the Lusty Lady and not a one refers to herself as a "stripper." Aside from that issue, the author should never have been in sex work in the first place. One of the primary rules is that you must be able to diferentiate between your work and your personal life. If you cannot, then you should not do it. The author did not follow common sense and is left confused and feels a need to justify her one year experience.
From a feminist aspect, I felt she failed to accurately represent the dynamic between a dancer and a customer (probably because her experience in that is very limited considering she sits there naked and the exchange starts for her after they have already paid). Also, I receive a fair amount of couples and female customers which are completely absent in her experiences and so in her reasoning.
Her explanations of fellow peep show workers are those that also seem to have difficulty seperating work from personal life (perhaps they attracted each other in friendship because other workers would have been negative or dismissive of such concerns).
I'm hesitant to call them dancers. Dancing is physically exausting (ever try to climb a pole of slick metal and hang upside down?). Also, dancing is meant as a tease, you push someone in an erotic manner but never permit them release. Masterbating alters the dynamic and is a clear difference between peep show booths and stripping (in this, I'm assuming US laws and "clean" dancers."
Overall, it's fine if you want to read a warning for what happens when you aren't emotionally capable of doing sex work and care to see someone trying to come to terms with it years later.
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