I follow Rayne on Facebook, she runs a page called Insufferably Intolerant Science Nerd and it’s one of my most favorite pages on Facebook. Those that personally know me, know that I am a believer in Science and that your beliefs are irrelevant when you’re ignoring the proven Science, and it’s on such pages as Rayne’s that I found a likeminded tribe of people.
Rayne lives in Australia and she used to work in a brothel, and occasionally she would share with us stories of her time in sex work. Some of her stories had me laughing out loud, some of them were heartwarming, and at the hounding of her followers, she decided to write a book based on that time working in the brothel. So of course when she put the book up on her website, I ran right over to grab my copy (and for now, the only place you can get a copy). Here are my thoughts on her long-awaited book:
While the book is based around stories regarding some of her clients, overall it’s a sex-positive book. She talks a lot about consent, intimacy, confidence in ourselves and how we treat others. She provides excellent resources within the text for people who want more information. She talks a lot about the LGBTQ+ community, about sexual preferences, about everyday worries her clients had.
The thing that stands out a lot to me is how sorely lacking our sexual education, and not just in the states. That we expect kids not to have sex, but to know what they’re doing when they finally do. Overall, I would say that Americans frown upon sex workers. They don’t realize that when you legalize sex work, you give workers recourse if they have clients that are abusive. It gives workers an avenue to report clients without fear of legal repercussions, and in the age of computers, problem clients can be shared within a database so they can’t brothel hop with their bs.
Rayne herself has admitted she is not a writer, but this book proves otherwise. And while I did pick up on a few spelling mistakes here and there, it doesn’t detract from the message of this book. I found myself reading a lot of it out loud to my family because so many things resonated with me. Yes, some of the stories with her clients are hilarious, but that’s only a small portion of this. It’s a great read and I encourage everyone to grab a copy.
Read this review on Goodreads.
You can grab Pizza, Pincushions and Playing It Straight from her website in epub or mobi format for $9.95. Head on over to Facebook and give her a follow.
Rae's Reading Lounge 