Rating: 
Summary: great memoir (not a how-to book!)
Review: This is not a how-to manual, nor a social criticism, nor a feminist theory. This is a memoir of one girl's decision and path to being a dominatrix to pay her way through a pretty pricey university (I happen to be a graduate of the same one. More power to Ms. Kenney!) The title says it all: "I Was a Teenaged Dominatrix" ---she just talking about herself and her lifestyle at that point in time, she doesn't pretend to speak for anyone else. That said, Kenney is a great writer, taking a rather taboo subject and putting together a breezy but not airhead-like book about answering an ad to pay the bills. Who hasn't seen those ads calling for college girls 18 and older? Here is the real-life story of someone who answered one. She keeps names and details private, and only accounts for WHAT happened on any particular job. It is a short but rich book.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but something's mising
Review: This little book is a fast read but presents only a superficial picture of BDSM. Missing is any description or sense of the important psychological and/or erotic factors underlying BDSM, for both doms and subs. The author, rather, presents the tale of a young opportunist who got into BDSM-for-hire just as a pragmatic means to make money to get through college. Indeed, she never seems really to have enjoyed BDSM or to empathize with her clients. She was in it just for the bucks. I'm not passsing moral judgment here, but prospective readers should know what the book is or isn't. It is akin to a young person's diary, bereft of deeper sensitivity or insight. The book does contain one touching passage. Describing what turned into a non-BDSM conversational session with a gentleman still grieving over his 12-year-dead wife, the author writes (p. 79), "I know I probably should've told him that she'd want him to get on with his life and all those other things you're supposed to say, but to this day I know when I die I want someone to have loved me like that." That eloquent passage stands out in an otherwise cold-hearted book.
Rating: 
Summary: Teenage dominatrix: A whip-cracking delight
Review: Vivid account of an everyday girl with a secret identity. An autobiography that is full of heart with a great sense of humor. Ms. Kenney really shines here. She'll tickle your fetish to the very end. A must read.
Rating:
Summary: Close to home...
Review: When I spotted the review in the Washington City Paper, I went out and got the book. When I read the book, I realized (much to my amusement) that I had gotten acquainted with Kenney while hanging out in the Crowbar. This is one of the better "I worked in the sex industry" memoirs around, precisely because Kenney seems to have gotten into and out of the industry relatively unscathed. Insightful and amusing, I would recommend it to anyone who is neither prudish or looking for cheap thrills.
Rating:
Summary: short personal account without much flash
Review: While she was in college (so not just a teenager, folks), Shawna Kenney took up several different jobs -- waitress, nanny, erotic dancer, and finally dominatrix. The title might lead to to think this is all hot recounts of her clients but really this is more her perceptions of what she experienced without much down and dirty descriptions. If you are looking for hot stories about professional sex workers; don't look here. If you want a defense of professional sex workers, she seems to feel rather negatively about them by book's end. Instead get this for one more example of what some people must do to better their lives and how they can grow from any experience.
Rating:
Summary: holy smokers!
Review: Whoa! That's all you need to know about this book. Brilliantly written; it'll blow your socks off! Ultimately, a tale of optimism and hope amid the intense grossness of some of the acts Keeney's freaky customers are into. Talk about a wild roller coaster of a ride through life.
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