Memoirs of a Sex Industry Survivor

Rating:
Summary: No Way Out
Review: "Memoirs of a Sex Industry Survivor" by Anne Bissell is a very raw look into the world of teenage prostitution, and the devestating effects it has on the individual woman during and after being in "the life". Reading through the book gives one the sense of traveling through time during the 70's, 80's, and 90's. In this book one can see how a teenage American girl's worldview is shapped by the merging of ideas between the women's movement, the mass production of pornography, free love, easy access to drugs, and sexual abuse in the her family. The author sheds light into an America which many people do not understand. In many cases an American which people choose not to see. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: By the founder of Sex Industry Survivors Anonymous
Review: Anne Bissell [is] the founder of Sex Industry Survivors Anonymous and has taken upon herself the mission of de-glamorizing the global sex trade. While Bissell's Memoirs Of A Sex Industry Survivor is a fictional story, she draws upon very real situations and presents the unvarnished truth of the hardships and exploitations of prostitution. An utterly compelling read that draws one into an inherently fascinating narration of the oppressions sex workers endure, Memoirs Of A Sex Industry Survivor is unique, compelling, informative, entertaining, and strongly recommended reading.

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Summary: Story of survival
Review: I am a survivor of incest and have found this book very hard to read, but true. The hard thing about it is that it is not sugar coated in anyway, but that is the best part about it. I love that it does not make the reality of the sex industry any less or more than it really is. I love the way Anne Bissell was able to show how many girls do enter the industry and how it reflects the victims mental status before, during, and after. I really feel that this book can help others not to judge so quickly and to possibly think of the life that a person might have lived prior to making the decission to enter into the sex industry.
I have never been in the industry, but I know that with my own personal abuse that I very well could have chosen that road. I was amazed to see many of the struggles and feelings expressed in this book were similar to my own. I applaud Anne's courage and strength to write a very moving book that will, in my opinion, open the eyes of all who read it.

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Summary: Gen-X Reader from Local Hero Bookstore
Review: I originally picked up this book because of the title, when I was working at Local Hero Bookstore out in Southern California. I didn't realize until I read Memoirs of a Sex Industry Survivor that the sex industry could kill in so many ways. This is not an easy them to talk or even write about in today's society where the sex industry is still alive and well, not to mention powerful. This novel, based on the author's life, is the perfect book to help teach us all about the issues that our mother's forbid us to acknowledge. I hope this book will make it into bookstores all over the United States. We need to hear the truth!

Rating:
Summary: The truth will set you free
Review: Kudos to Anne Bissell and her enlighting book on the harsh realities of being a sex worker. Bissell has so eloquently brought to light the damaged psyche of those who choose to work in this profession. I highly recommend this book for it's redeeming nature. I have been in the sex industry for the last ten years both as a stripper and an actress in porn. I am not proud of what I do and have given up on myself over and over. Unfortunately, the media continues to glamorize sex work without revealing the real truth. Bissell exposes the life circumstances and the dark cloud of shame that surrounds not only me but my fellow collegues. This book has inspired me to make a change in my life and for that I am deeply grateful.

Rating:
Summary: Promising But Flawed
Review: The dust cover and title of this book are enough to make a person want to read it. Or at least take a look. Then one finds it's not just a sexually tittalating book but has some social value. It seemed to me to be a good piece of work that wasn't quite ready for prime time. Except for the women in the industry, the characters were very stereotypical. It takes hard work and many rewrites to develop a cast of characters that seem real and that people can identify with. The author seems to want to draw in some history, but she hasn't done her homework; information offered as fact is insubstantial and uncredited, sounds like opinion more than fact. There has been significant research done on the relationship of childhood sexual abuse and prostitution and other deviant behaviour, and she would have been wise to research this before claiming that she was "finally exposing a hidden epidemic". She may be adding to a body of work but she certainly hasn't pioneered it, as she would have us believe. I would say to Ms. Bissell that she should do her homework, take her time, write a "tighter" book, so that she can better serve her mission. The work she is doing is important; its impact is weakened by amateurish flaws.

Rating:
Summary: Happy Homes Produce Hookers Too
Review: This book could have great value. Ms. Bissell describes the abused, neglected and rejected chidhood of her character, her subsequent fall into the grips of the Sex Industry, her eventual brave recovery, and the way she's inspired and helped other women who are recovering from this terrible addiction. Unfortunately, there are only victims and villains in this book, pretty much stereotypes. Ms.Bissell implies that only girls from horrendous families with heartless, selfish, substance abusing, possibly criminal, monsters for parents, stepparents and foster parents can become ensnared in the Sex Industry. Many factors contribute -- TV shows, MTV, ads in magazines, the emphasis on living high and looking good (for women, young, skinny and sexy, seductive, vulnerable,, peer pressure, drugs,etc. You see, I had good people in my life: not perfect, but doing their best, raising a family, holding down jobs, trying to keep us all safe. But I was willful and rebellious and sly, and so I too had a fling with the Sex Industry in college. It didn't pay my tuition but it paid the extras. I guess I'm lucky I'm not as pretty as Juliet. I was more like Marie in this book; and I would like to have seen Marie overcome and triumph also. This was at the beginning of the Aids epidemic and I'm glad I came to my senses in time. Today,my Priest and my husband know, but my parents don't. I think Juliet ultimately sees herself as a triumpant victim, but a victim, nonetheless. The people who damaged her are cliches (as is the sister)and this weakens the book. The author states her premise again and again as if the reader is a little dimwitted and probably didn't get it the first 50 times. Ms. Bissell is strongest when she writes about her interactions with the recovering women she has known and worked with. Only then does she sound authentic. The editing is very sloppy; she should get a new editor and proofreader. I missed the presence of an "Acknowledgements" page from the author. I wanted to be reassured that her mother and father and sister weren't like the ones in the book. The dust cover tends to perpetuate the paradigm she is attacking. This book probably will have a certain large audience given its important subject matter, title, and dust cover. But it could serve a much wider more influential audience if it were better written and more tastefully presented.