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Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper
Unavailable
Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper
Unavailable
Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper
Audiobook5 hours

Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper

Written by Diablo Cody

Narrated by Natalie Moore

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Decreed by David Letterman (tongue in cheek) on CBS TV's The Late Show to be the pick of "Dave's Book Club 2006," Candy Girl is the story of a young writer who dared to bare it all as a stripper.

At the age of twenty-four, Diablo Cody decided there had to be more to life than typing copy at an ad agency. She soon managed to find inspiration from a most unlikely source--amateur night at the seedy Skyway Lounge. While she doesn't take home the prize that night, Diablo discovers to her surprise the act of stripping is an absolute thrill.This is Diablo's captivating fish-out-of-water story of her year-long walk on the wild side, from quiet gentlemen's clubs to multilevel sex palaces and glassed-in peep shows. In witty prose she gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at this industry through a writer's keen eye, chronicling her descent into the skin trade and the effect it had on her self-image and her relationship with her now-husband.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 18, 2008
ISBN9781436219914
Unavailable
Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper
Author

Diablo Cody

Diablo Cody is a screenwriter, producer, director and the author of Candy Girl. She won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Screenplay for the film Juno. She created, wrote and produced the Showtime television show The United States of Tara. She also wrote and produced the films Jennifer's Body and Young Adult. Her directorial debut Paradise was released in 2013.

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Reviews for Candy Girl

Rating: 3.5162499429999996 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

400 ratings41 reviews

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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I expected more and better from an Oscar winner.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Candy Girl is well-written, with clever turns of phrase and smooth transitions. Diablo Cody tells her story honestly and thoroughly, without one boring sentence. It's not an expose of any kind, just her experience working as an "entertainer" in several clubs in the Minneapolis area around the turn of the millennium.

    One thing she leaves out is her interactions with female patrons. Perhaps she didn't have any. She tells a story of going to a club with her fiancee and receiving a couple's dance; she later takes a job there, so she was employed at an establishment that allowed female customers. While she enjoys her one personal experience with stripper breasts in her face, she uses it as a lesson in how to better her own technique more than anything.

    As a female chauvinist pig who is also, in a fit of dichotomy, a card-carrying feminist, I wanted a glimpse into what the strippers are really thinking about bisexual women who use their roommates as the required male escort to gain entrance to the joint and then ogle with the best of them. Cody offers no opinion on this, however.

    I thought "Diablo Cody" sounded like a pseudonym, and also sounded familiar. It turns out that long after her stripper days were over, she wrote the screenplay for "Juno" (which I disliked for political reasons) and also worked/works as a writer for "The United States of Tara" (which I dislike because I find it boring). I may not like her efforts in movies and television, but I definitely enjoyed her memoir. She is an intriguing, talented woman.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Why did I ever wait so long to read this!? This book was laugh out loud funny, intriguing and eye opening beyond compare. Diablo's quick wit and hilarious insights on the sex industry and her year in it is not to be missed! Diablo moved to Minneapolis and decided to reinvent herself and walk on the wild side with the permission and understanding of her boyfriend she decided to try her hand at stripping. She went from novice to pro in no time at all and bounced around to several different clubs. After that got tiring she decided to be a "doll" one of the girls that stood in a box at a sex store tempting men to spend some alone time with her, with only a window separating them. Ranging from hilarious to disgusting her year on the wild side is a must read for anyone even remotely interested in the sex trade. Diablo worked at gentlemen's clubs, a sex store, and a sex hotline and her views on the trade are eye opening. For fans of erotica, dirty books, or memoirs.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A quick, interesting, easy read. More interesting b/c it's a true story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Diablo Cody (the person who wrote "Juno" and fine-tuned "The Evil Dead" remake) displays her humble beginnings with a memoir of her experience as an outsider in the live-action sex industry. I've read books from people inside, but they've grown bitter and resentful of the field. I was afraid this one would be too perky and positive, but this book is neither, it's somewhere in-between. She writes with the same style in "Juno", meaning quirky, creative metaphors that take sixty words to illustrate. (I've never had to use my eReader's dictionary function so much.) Half the content is similes about her situation. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy them, but at a certain point, it's ridiculous. But damned if it doesn't get the point across in an entertaining way.Some people criticized her for being too filthy or see the book as validation for her career choice. I don't. I found it page-turning, and more informative than the other stripper books I've read (there seems to be an astonishing lack of good books about the sex industry). I know she didn't become a stripper so she could write a book, but her motivations seem a little ambiguous. Still, she proves that she's more together than lots of the other working girls.I liked how she was able to examine differences at each kind of strip club, from high end to low end to sex store peep shows. And she talks about the girls she met, the boredom and thrills, and how her personal life affected her stripper life. It's not strictly anthropological. It's a little more like a LiveJournal made into a book. It's sharp and witty, and even without the Minnesota ties I recognized, I would have enjoyed it. It reminds me of pre-Lena Dunham.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Stripping comes across as just as unpleasant as I thought it was, only possibly worse. Who walks away from a night-shift possibly owning rather than earning?There's a chapter you should skip if you're reclining on the couch with stomach flu.The weird thing is, Cody's style reminded me of Bill Bryson travel memoirs, only that's where the comparison kind of ends.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    pure hilarity! If you have any curiousity about the pros and cons of being a stripper or a peepshow girl...while holding down a day job but not being able to choose which is worse...this is your book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I had seen Diablo Cody at Cinequest a few years ago after her screenplay, "Juno" had been so successful. The interview with her at the California Theatre was very well attended, I'd guess almost 1,000 people were there and the interview was so weird. The interviewer was an older personality who would often host sreenwriting presentations but this interview seemed to go off the tracks as the interviewer seemed to turn into a dirty old man baiting an attractive, smart younger woman. The audience turned on the interviewer and it started addressing questions to him instead of Ms Cody in the form of demands that he clean up his act. I guess he had done his homework and read this book before the interview and made some bad prejudgements about the author.

    It is a funny, intelligent memoir about Ms Cody's obsession with stripping when she was younger. Her writing is sharp and be warned it is filthy. Stripping is not good line of work to get into. She put it in some perspective, in the rear-view mirror. She doesn't have a clue why she had to do it but she did. I think she wishes hadn't and has not really come to terms with the self-knowledge/self-ignorance that has resulted.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    From the “interesting women” reading list, this one is often rather sad. On a whim, Diablo Cody started stripping just to see what it was like; soon the extra money ceased to be “extra” and became essential. The economics of strip clubs – at least the ones she worked at – are interesting; the dancers were heavily pressured to solicit drinks, lap dances, “bed dances” (like a lap dance, but horizontal), and other “special” services; in many cases, the dancers have to pay to work and get money back for each “special”. As a result, it was entirely possible to work a grueling shift and end up owing the club money for the night. Cody comments on the resulting strange inversion of the normal gender relations – attractive young women in scanty to nonexistent clothing begging old fat bald guys for the favor of their company. OTOH, when things went well, they could go very well indeed – Cody describes an evening when she literally got more money than she could carry from a customer who kept buying $90 bed dances.
    Club managers, who Cody calls “The Mustaches”, do not display fatherly regard for their dancers; not surprising under the circumstances. Cody mostly writes about herself and her supportive boyfriend, without a lot of comments on other dancers (except their physical attributes); one painful exception is where she narrates a young single mom’s comment “You think you’ll always love your baby’s daddy, because he’s your baby’s daddy; but you don’t”. Not Shakespeare, but still profound.
    Her day job was as a copywriter for a Minneapolis ad agency; strangely, her “real” employer didn’t seem to notice when she repeatedly showed up for work exhausted after a dance shift that lasted till 04:30 and when she dyed her hair bubble-gum pink; in fact, she got a promotion to a managerial position. She must have been a decent copywriter; some of her writing in Candy Girl is LOL funny – too bad I can’t repeat any of it here. With “****” censorship, all you’d see is definite articles and conjunctions. Cody went on to become a successful screenwriter; she must have got lots of interesting material from her short stint as a stripper (in addition to permanently distorted feet from dancing in 6” heels, black and blue thighs from pole work, but, on the plus side, “abs of adamantium”).Quick read, sometimes very funny, hide from the kids.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    In ihrer Biographie beschreibt die Autorin ein Jahr ihres Lebens, in dem sie als „Sexarbeiterin“ arbeitete – zunächst als Nebenjob in diversen Stripbars, dann hauptberuflich als Peep-Show-Mädchen und schließlich wieder als Stripperin. Sie versucht der Faszination des Strippens nachzugehen, die diesen Beruf (neben der nicht unbeträchtlichen Kohle) für sie so attraktiv machte. Die Sprache ist wie man sie von Cody kennt, schnell, schnoddrig, scharfzüngig. Man kann sie eine acht Jahre ältere „Juno“ aus ihrem Oscar-preisgekröntem Film vorstellen, wie sie in Minneapolis versucht ihr Leben aufzupeppen.Cody betont ihre spießige Herkunft und ihr bürgerliches Leben, begründet u.a. so den Kontrapinkt, den das Strippen setzt. Sie hält auch mit keinen Einzelheiten hinterm Berg. Sollte also eine Leserin selbst mit dem Gedanken an eine derartige Berufswahl spielen, so erfährt man von Cody, was den Job ausmacht und was auf einen zukommen wird.Ehrlich gesagt, fand ich das Buch zwar irgendwie interessant (aufgrund des abwegigen Themas) aber nicht wirklich gewinnbringend. „Juno“ ist einer meiner Lieblingsfilme, weil er eine Botschaft rüberbringt, tief und warmherzig ist. Das Buch „Nackt“ beabsichtigt, wie Cody selbst betont, nichts dergleichen. Es erzählt einfach eine Geschichte. Die liest sich schnell und kurzweilig, ist teilweise ekelig und seltsam befremdlich. Muss man nicht lesen, kann man aber.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Definitely a popcorn book - short, fluffy, and very very addictive.

    The writing was almost overwhelmingly cute and colorful (it was after all written by the lady who wrote Juno) but the voice grew on me after a while, and there were some extremely funny lines. ("Grizzly eyeballed my long patchwork skirt and snow-dredged penny loafers. I looked like a guest lecturer at the Oberlin College Womyn/Transgender Potters' Collective.")

    As a frank, subjective depiction of a segment of the sex industry, I thought it was very successful. Rather than glamorizing or vilifying the work, Diablo Cody tells it how it is from a not-quite-insider's perspective, and the result was, dare I say it, a very educational book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was surprised by the quality of this book, I originally picked it up for $5 thinking it would be an average trashy novel with barely enough detail to pass the time.

    Whilst some may find the writing kitschy I found it to be well suited to the book.

    If you're hoping for something deep and reflective you will be disappointed, but if you have a mild interest in hearing about the world of stripping and the types of people in it you will likely enjoy it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is a weird trip. It does not unfold as do others of its ilk, a fact acknowledged by the author in a little afterword (which redeemed the whole thing for me). Cody fooled me. So, let me explain.

    This is a nice, white, middle class girl's trip into the dark side, only she doesn't quite know why she does it and neither do we (at least, until that final 6-8 pages). We get, in equal portions, funny, raw, wry, cruel, sickening, too-hip, trying-too-hard, and painfully-honest. She's not trying to make a political point. She's not on a feminist soap box. She's not handing out excuses or explanations, or accusations or blame. She's just telling us "Hey, I did this. This is what I saw. This is what I did. Boo-ya."

    And it works. At times I didn't think it was going to work. Really, I almost stopped reading a time or two because (read my status notes!), trained as I am by other memoirs in which a Nice Girl/Guy does Something Transgressive and Has A Crisis, I was waiting for the big boom, the disaster, the Horrible Thing. Didn't happen. What I thought was a build up toward a climax wasn't anything but time going by. My bad. Cody maybe didn't know where she was going until she got there, but it was...cool. Once we both got there, I was good with it.

    You could, if you wanted, take this book apart and use it in a number of ways, but you'd be pushing. Cody isn't going there. You'd have to pause at some points and put some words in her mouth or translate her unambiguous text through some version of Babelfish. There are no big lessons here, no realizations about culture, no sociopolitical conclusions. It is, to borrow a hackneyed phrase, what it is. And I like it a lot more because of that.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great, quick read. Cody's writing style is entertaining and intelligent. The book is a raucous good time.She not only strips, she does peep shows, and phone sex. She covers the differences in the clubs and isn't really limited by her own squeamishness. Excellent.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book was surprisingly entertaining. I had been concerned that it was going to be some sob-story woe-is-me tale about a woman trapped in a lifestyle. It is actually quite the opposite of that. The author claims to have gone into stripping of her own free will - and not ostensibly to write this book either - this is actually the only part of the whole book that I didn't feel was true. I can understand going "undercover" to get all the dirty details with the intent of exposing it, but her rationale is that she was "rebelling". I just didn't believe her motivations - women don't enter the sex trade to rebel. And I don't believe her relationship with her boyfriend either - she can go rub up on strangers all night and he's okay with that? yeah...Anyway, the author's motivations aside, it's a very interesting and fast story. There are some very funny parts, and some very disturbing parts, and I'm pleased that I read it. WHAT!!! There's porn and foul language and depictions of obscene behaviors in a book about the porn industry!!??? What a shocker! (Did we really expect it to be a "wholesome" stripper story? Really?)
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Got this at my 'trading book club' group. Thought it would be an interesting, kind of 'social experiment' type of book and it was - in the beginning. But the further she goes the more creepy and sleazy it gets. I'm not a prude, but still, one can only take just so much trashy, low life, down on your luck characters. I'd get it at the library and not pay $ for it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I saw the cover and assumed this would be kind of a "Young Adult" cautionary tale type of book.You know what they say about judging a book by its cover though... I found out the author was the same who wrote Juno so I figured what the hell.The book is definitely enjoyable and provides first hand insight into a seedy underworld. I would not recommend this book if your someone who is prudish as the book goes from and R rating to NC-17 when the author starts working in a display booth in a large sex store.Although the subject matter is graphic the author tells the tales in a humorous manner which help distract from some of the more disturbing aspects(one particularly disgusting character in this book-you will know who when you read it).Check this one out.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I saw Diablo Cody during her "Juno" tour, and recently finished this book. She had mentioned it might be considered a "stunt book" and I don't know if she went into stripping solely to write about it. Whatever the motive, the book's snappy writing made it an easy, but still sleazy, read. And if the aim was to get noticed, it worked as she's been racking up the show-biz credits.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This book was much more graphic than I expected. The language used is certainly for an extremely mature adult. I definitely would not let my teenager read this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Acquired via BookCrossing 28 Feb 2010 - from a donation of books for my OBCZsOut of the 4 people who had had this book, pass through their hands, only the first had read (and rather disliked) it. So I took up the challenge.Right - this book has now been read!I didn't actually think it was that bad. The narrator is honest about her reasons for wanting to try out stripping (she just liked the idea), carrying on (the money is good and it gave her more self-esteem than her day job in an office) and the people surrounding her, whether other strippers and sex-workers or their clients. It does go into a lot of detail and while I'm fairly unshockable, having read a few books on this subject, it would not suit someone more easily shocked or not keen on this kind of stuff. I found it interesting and well-written, and liked the author's positivity about her fellow-workers, and lack of a judgemental attitude.Will release somewhere child-proof!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a GREAT book. I was so into the book that I managed to read it in one day. It was very insightful and well written. I would recomemend this to anyone that loves to read or a just occasionaly reader.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    What I Loved: I didn't love the book so nothing really stood out.What I Liked: To say I liked the book, might be overstating.....I found it interesting. Diablo Cody wrote Juno (which I loved) and is writing The United States of Tara (which I am looking forward too) so I like her writing. Plus, how brave (or crazy---it is all perspective) it was for her to try stripping for a year. It was an interesting tale to read and a little disturbing. What was So-So: The story in general wasn't as catching as I thought it would be.I would recommend it as a book to read if you are interested (or curious) about how that industry works. It was eye opening-really. I do believe she got a great (is that the word) chance to work in several different types of places. Her writing was excellent as always and entertaining.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I knew relatively nothing about the world of strippers and sex clubs prior to reading this book. In fact, I'll admit I've always had distaste for that sort of thing. However, this book drew me in and my curiosity about how a college grad with a full-time job could become a stripper got the better of me. I now know much more about how the sex industry works and, to my surprise, I enjoyed learning about it. Cody has a light and friendly tone and kept me interested in the wild people she came across as well as amusing me with anecdotes of her experiences. I have to admit though, I'm sure the experience she had would have been different if she had been in the shoes of other strippers she mentioned who had no escape due to their circumstances. However, Cody is very candid and open, allowing the reader, like it or not, to feel as if he/she is actually in the clubs witnessing the action. I really enjoyed the book and will never look down my nose at strippers again. It's not the world I had imagined at all. I would highly recommend this book, but it is not for those who are easily offended and is certainly not for children. I'm also pretty sure my mom would not enjoy it anywhere near as much as I did. My dad might though. lol
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    This was disturbing because Cody only felt "successful" at stripping when she (finally) made herself a blond, brainless, vacuous body that appealed to males who pay women for sex and to behave as sexual objects. She kept trying to be "successful" at this profession apparently so that she would feel that she is attractive to these males. No insight was given as to the why of that. Left me feeling puzzled and irritated.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An interesting and entertaining view into the life of a stripper. The memoir was written by the screenwriter for Juno (I didn't realize this when I picked it up though). There is a bit of redemption towards the end of the story but the journey to that point is a great one. One I wouldn't chose but an interesting choice for someone else. I will never look at the exotic dance profession the same way again.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Cody is a really good writer which enabled me to to finish the book in a couple of days. She is hip without being annoying or pretentious and doesn't glamorize stripping. She does a good job at giving the reader a nice voyeuristic look on what goes inside those dark facade buildings.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Only the smutty content saved this book. The author has a great vocabulary, but her writing doesn't live up to the hype. Sour grapes from this frustrated writer? Perhaps.I really should have gotten this one from the library instead of buying it (secondhand), but I'm glad I read it. Now I know what goes on inside all the strip clubs in town - no need to investigate on my own.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I just finished Candy Girl by Diablo Cody. Wow. What a ride. Really, it's a good read. My only caution is you should be very comfortable with the different names for body parts and not be too prudish. Diablo is an interesting gal. I loved Juno so very much and I enjoy her articles in Entertainment Weekly. My friend bought me Candy Girl after I commented that I'd like to read it but was a bit embarrassed to be buying a book about a stripper. With good reason. She was graphic in parts. On the whole though, I think it was a very interesting memoir. I was under the impression that she started stripping for research purposes. I thought the book idea came before the stripping. I was wrong. She was intrigued by the idea and did it. More power to her.I would never be a stripper. It just wouldn't be a good choice for me. Ever. I get why women do though. For so many it's about money, and they can make good money. For others it is about power, some I'm sure are just desperate for something. If you are willing to read a book that might make you blush and will definitely squick you out, go for it. I enjoyed it. It's just not for everyone
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fascinating, but frankly, near the end of the book I was ready for it to be over. So gross.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Cody presents an interesting look into the life of strippers and adult entertainers (at least those found in the Midwest) that is both hilarious and intriguing. Although the ending was not as dramatic as one might have liked (and she admits to this), it is still a pleasurable read. Appropriate for college aged and beyond...