Belle de Jour: Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl [Paperback]

Anonymous (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 2007

Belle couldn't find a job after University. Her impressive degree was not paying her rent or buying her food. But after a fantastic threesome with a very rich couple who gave her a ton of money, Belle realized that she could earn more than anyone she knew--by becoming a call girl. The rest is history. Belle became a 20-something London working girl--and had the audacity to write about it--anonymously. The shockingly candid and explicit diary she put on the Internet became a London sensation. She shares her entire journey inside the world of high-priced escorts, including fascinating and explicit insights about her job and her clients, her various boyfriends, and a taboo lifestyle that has to be read to be believed. The witty observations, shocking revelations, and hilarious scenarios deliver like the very best fiction and make for a titillating reading experience unlike any other.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this entertaining memoir, a 28-year-old British university grad gravitates to London to find a proper job, gets discouraged by temp office work and turns to the lucrative world of the sex trade, where she is asked how she does on her A-levels"not university requirements, but "anals." Anonymous is frank and enterprising, and eager to dish the details of her life as a call girl for an elite London agency that charges £300 per hour""more than 30 times what I would have made doing anything else," she notes briskly. She's had a little experience as a dominatrix and isn't averse to having sex with women; she's open, definitely, to certain procedures such as fisting, rimming and OWO, or Oral Without (a condom). What sets this chronicle apart from being a numbing operations manual is the author's saucy, ironic tone (she loves her Jewish family), her evident intelligence (she studied French and catches clients' literary allusions) and well-placed friends she describes with hilarious precision. With her "straitlaced as a whalebone corset" boyfriend, she actually hopes for true love, and even reveals to him her profession"which she details on her Web site that the Guardian awarded in 2003 "Best Written British Blog." (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'Sometimes shocking, always lively and amusing, Belle is a real Moll Flanders for the 21st century. Her honesty makes for compelling reading.' WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY (January 2005) 'Belle's writing is fluid and funny and it's hard not to admire her total disregard for what others think - you go girl!' -- Shauna Bartlett GLAMOUR (February) 'Belle is sparky; she has a voice.' -- Rachel Cooke NEW STATESMAN (17.1.05) 'Sensational account of the comings and going of one of the capital's escorts.' -- Camilla Long TATLER (February 2005) 'I avidly read her descriptions of her sexual comings -and-goings... But it is the peripheral details that make this account so readable,' -- Craig Brown MAIL ON SUNDAY (16.1.05) **** 'Belle writes with panache...[and] there are some sharp, funny moments.' -- India Knight SUNDAY TIMES (16.1.05) 'the voyeurism is too good to miss.' MIRROR (14.1.05) 'It's bright, breezy and full of musings on art and arses and, naturally, men.' GQ (February 2005) 'a lurid, witty, sad, moving and...honest version of her life as a call girl...The author is clearly well-educated, and peppers her writings with erudite literary allusions...Whoever Belle is, she is obviously witty and clever, but also touched by melancholy. An intriguing, often disturbing work.' -- Lucy Cavendish EVENING STANDARD (17.1.05) 'It's frank, funny and completely addictive...Sometimes shocking, often hilarious, this is a definite must read of an insight into the secret life of an extraordinary, ordinary woman. You won't be able to put it down.' BEAUTYANDTHEDIRT.COM 'She lists like Hornby. She talks dirty like Amis. She has the misanthropy of Larkin and examines the finer points of sexual technique as she is adjusting the torque on a beloved but temperamental old E-type...It's hard to believe that this clever and candid new voice has no more to say. Whoever the author is, she should give up the day job. Only then will we find out what the real Belle de Jour is made of.' -- Katy Guest INDEPENDENT (21.1.05) 'In between appointments, Belle slots in real dates and holidays, and treats us to excepts from her 'A-Z Of London Sex Work' - tips on how to chat to clients ('Lie your head off. Think of it as proving ground for a future political career'), where to buy your knickers and how to smuggle whips into hotels.' -- Hephizibah Anderson DAILY MAIL (21.1.05) 'nicely written, in breezy, journalistic style - Bridget Jones stops moaning and goes on the game, so to speak. Belle is quick-witted [and] funny.' -- Jane Shilling SUNDAY TELEGRAPH (23.1.05) '[a] must read book. A voyeuristic glimpse into the glamour and revelations of her life. A really gripping read.' B MAGAZINE (March 2005) 'don't miss Belle de Jour's The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl.' RED (March 2005) 'Belle's witty musings make this a very entertaining read.' BIG ISSUE (24-30 January) '...witty descriptions...' -- Steven Poole GUARDIAN (5.2.05) 'In the mysterious Belle de Jour's autobiography cunnillingus blends with cunning linguistics to satisy all tastes.' LADSMAG (Sport Newspapers) 'A talent for comedy means it's not really porn, and it's barely erotica - more like one long open-mic stand-up routine about a working girl's lige and the people she meets...a guaranteed hit.' FOCUS (May 2005) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (August 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446694509
• ISBN-13: 978-0446694506
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #810,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ... or you could just go and read the blog..., July 14, 2006

By 

R. Thomas "reebes" (Milwaukee, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Belle de Jour: Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl (Hardcover)

I found this book to be sexy, witty, charming and funny. It's an amusing and entertaining read, and gives you a glimpse of a lifestyle you probably know little about.

It's also taken, word for word, from her blog.

I started reading Belle's blog a few years ago and as I quickly got into it, I went back and read every entry from the beginning. This book is taken directly from the blog (minus a few "entries" in the book, and the Being a Call Girl from A to Z dealio at the beginning of each chapter). There is almost no new material, and what is new, is few and far between and not anything earthshattering.

Frankly, I was a little disappointed, being a devoted reader of her blog, to find out the book is just the blog, in hard copy. It for me was not worth what I paid for it, since I'd already read it for free, and can back and read it again, for free, anytime I want. Also, the blog has a lot more content, much of which is not in this book. She posts regularly.

I do recommend reading this book as it's delightful, but you may want to save yourself the $ and just read the blog. I think, personally, you get more out of it (since it's more comprehensive), and it's also current.

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating book, August 30, 2005

By 

Sarah (New York,NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Belle De Jour: The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl (Hardcover)

Belle de Jour (http://belledejour-uk.blogspot.com/) rightly won the Guardian Weblog award for the best written blog of 2003, and went on to become a blog phenomenon. Having secured a reputed six-figure publishing deal, this book promises to become a similarly phenomenal literary sensation, and there are already plans make it into a film. The mystery surrounding the anonymity of the blog's author generated something of a media frenzy in the first quarter of 2004, with The Times in particular applying its investigative powers to the task of hunting down the author and exposing their identity. However, such attempts proved unsuccessful and Belle's publishers have somehow managed to retain their marketing ace, despite the circulation of numerous rumours regarding who Belle may or may not be. With the initial spate of interest mysteriously on the wane, and Belle's anonymity safely in tact, the British newspapers have become engrossed in another sex scandal involving a some time high-class call girl, the details of which could very easily pass for an episode straight from the pages of Belle's blog. Having initially struck a resounding chord with her first-hand appreciation of the reality lurking beneath the surface of contemporary sexual mores, Belle now seems perfectly positioned as the definitive commentator of the post-Sex and the city/Bridget Jones zeitgeist. Couple this with a wit, intellect and honesty lacking in much contemporary British fiction, and Belle de Jour rightly deserves to become the British literary scene's equivalent of Michel Houellebecq. For a fuller account of the unfolding of the Belle de Jour phenomenon visit The Book Club Blog (http://natural-creations.co.uk/bookclub.html) for a full history and all the latest news and analysis on all things Belle.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Same as the blog... but fun if you haven't read it., October 6, 2006

By 

MPS "picassocat" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Belle de Jour: Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl (Hardcover)

Ditto another reader's observations on this. If you've been reading along with the blog these past few years - the book is an unfortunate duplicate. Or, I should say, 98% is duplicate, but unfortunately, that extra 2% is rather like the extra two minutes on some director's cut of a movie. Doesn't change the story, doesn't change the book itself, and you really could have kept it out - but guess that's what I get for not looking closely before I bought it.

Aside from that - if you haven't read the blog, the book is fun. Nothing earthshattering, just leisurely and running occasionally to voyeuristic.