Not sexy

42. Lily Burana "Strip City: A Stripper's Farewell Journey Across America"
This memoir about stripping is better than Diablo Cody's but not nearly good enough for me to recommend to anyone not already interested in the sex industry.

Burana spent the ages of 18-25 stripping in New York City and California. Unlike Cody, she did it as a career, not as a hobby that turned into a book. The reader learns about her time at multiple clubs, eventually teaming up with a former stripper to demand independent contractor rights from a San Franciscan club. We read about alcohol policies, Champagne rooms, costumes, rituals, piercings and other stripper territory.

One part of the book reads like a travel journal, reminiscing about the younger days while updating the reader on her current stripper tour (hence the title of the book). These are the interesting entries. The rest of the text gets bogged down by pseudo-feminism philosophy, zine-like rants and contradictory inner monologues. After spending four years as a women's studies minor, I've read much better.

If Burana stuck to one thesis, "Strip City" might have been cohesive. Instead, we get a 328 page book that is 100 pages too long.

Sidenotes:
I have never been to a strip club. After talking to friends about their experiences and reading two memoirs about the industry, I have no desire to step foot in any. I'm not sure why I've read and will probably read more books about stripping. My only guess is that I'm waiting to read something that justifies all the pro-stripping essays about female empowerment I read for class.

The book ends with the author visiting her older sister who happens to be a minister. The author tries to fin religion or something like that. It's awful and reason enough not to start the book.