Chris Buck’s Gentleman’s Club (2020) is one of the oddest books I’ve read during the Pandemic. Buck’s book is a mixture of photos and interviews with exotic dancers and their partners. In the Preface, Buck explains, “At its best, a strip club is a dive bar with a charged sexual energy and quiet sense of desperation (from the patrons and dancers). There is something about where the beautiful and the tawdry meet that hits the sweet spot for me.” (p. xi)
The men (and women) who date exotic dancers range from seemingly average people (truck drivers, office workers, etc.) to individuals as exotic as the dancers they date. In the 40 interviews, Buck shows the conflict and complexities of this intense lifestyle. If you’re in the mood for something completely different, Gentleman’s Club captures some of the incredible weirdness of this world. GRADE: A
I’ll admit that this doesn’t seem even remotely interesting to me. And it’s not that I disapprove. I just don’t care.
Michael, yesterday’s issue of THENEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE had a article on sex-workers and the effect the Pandemic had on them. I’m just curious about unusual professions.
Sort of interesting, as I’ve seen things (some fiction, some non) about guys who “date” strippers…but not to the level of interest where I’d want to read it.
Jackie was once coerced by friends to go see a Chippendales-lite wannabe “show” and was totally grossed out by it. But obviously many women are into seeing male strippers (not that there’s anything wrong with that) or Chippendales wouldn’t exist, right?
Me. Eclectic strikes again.
Jeff, I’ve only been to a strip club once. The factory workers at our local GOODYEAR chemical plant took a group of six College Summer Workers (I was one of them) to a strip club in Canada. I found it a bit sad and depressing as women bumped and grinded for hours. I spoke to one of the women who came to our table to offer us a lap dance (for a fee). I passed on the lap dance but talked to her for a while. She told me she made a couple thousand dollars a week (this was back in the early 1970s). She had a young daughter to support.
This doesn’t interest me. Strippers are just doing a job that there’s a market for. Perhaps if it were about male strippers and the women (or men) who date them, I’d be interested because then there would be the lack of gendered expectations and more of an inverted view of how the relationships work.
Like Jackie, I’ve been to Chippendales a couple of times—bachelorette parties. The men were hot, but it was obviously just a job for them and, therefore, completely unerotic, imho.
Deb, I completely agree with you on the “it’s just a job” vibe being an erotic turn-off.
As much as I love nekkid ladies, this one is a no-go for me.
Jerry, many of the photos in GENTLEMAN’S CLUB show the strippers in their houses with their significant others. Not as much nudity as you might expect.
Zero interest in this.
Thanks, George! All this time I had a totally wrong idea of a “Gentlemen’s Club.” I thought it was one of those places like you see in Edwardian books, and movies set in London, where chaps sit about, read newspapers and sip brandy brought to them by supercilious butlers.
Dan, there are different kinds of Gentlemen’s Clubs.
Your blog’s censor kicks in for me, George! So, some see-censoring (not really rude words) below:
It is interesting the way Other People’s sexuality can be…lust particularly proved by naked and nearly naked people you are theoretically not allowed to touch, except maybe if you pay for a lap dance (or what’s off the menu), in rowdy public or semi-public situations is about as alien to me as a foot f—-sh (or or one for crippling high heels or…or…) but that does strip (so to write) away any distraction from the sociological aspects of it all. As with other sex workers, I imagine controlling jealousy or not feeling it must play a large role…as well as various sorts of burnout.
Todd, I would hazard a guess that most of the women featured in GENTLEMEN’S CLUB are struggling with depression, or anxiety, or bi-polar symptoms.
Or self-censoring!
Anf povoked, proved, much less proven…I don’t know if spell-check or sloppy typing got me there…
F-
Sloppy typing, clearly. Provoked. not “proved”…
Todd, I have no control over the WORDPRESS censor.
Interesting what it targets. “F-tish” is one of the words. Wonder if Patrick could find that control or menu for you–I’m pretty sure Blogspot isn’t quite as annoying that way…
Todd, Rick Robinson is fighting with WORDPRESS, too. I’m sure Patrick could “tweak” the WORDPRESS censor given enough time.
Hey, Patrick, I’m still being moderated!
This book is a joke! I want my smut down and dirty!
Bob, Patrick is in West Virginia right now. Rick Robinson is having trouble with WORDPRESS, too.
Thanks for the review George. Much appreciated!
Chris, terrific book! I can’t wait until you bring out a new book!