Customer Reviews

Breaking My Silence: Confessions of a Rat Pack Party Girl and Sex-Trade Survivor

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jane McCormick's "Breaking My Silence: confessions of a Rat Pack party girl and sex trade survivor", written with Patti Wicklund, is a memoir about loss--the loss of one woman's identity. Sexually abused at the early age of three, Jane began to withdraw and found a deep need for parents who would put her first. That need was never fulfilled. The first hint of where her life was going was her mother's statement in the delivery room, a reference I assume from family history, "I wish this baby would hurry up and come out, so I can get back to living my life".

To fill the hole in her heart, Jane tried to find the American dream complete with a little house complete with white picket fence. Instead, she plunged into bad relationships with men who never put her first and a dysfunctional marriage which eventually took away her two children, her life raft in a struggle that became more turbulent with each passing day.

I was surprised to find that half of this memoir is about Jane's life before she makes her way to Hollywood and eventually to high stakes prostitution in Las Vegas. I was happily surprised because hers is a true story of resilience and an unrequited longing for love. It is both sad and wonderful that a little girl can maintain that longing while being sexually abused at the hands of a stepfather who threatened to kill her if she talked. Jane makes the most of it until she flees, but she unknowingly falls into the seductive world of fast cash and fame. As with all of us, our emotional life has its high points, but Jane's are far too few.

This is a book of unembellished literary style. It is a straightforward narrative that captures the innocence of a woman deprived of love from the get-go. Hers is an honest account of contrasts. Some of the most degrading abuse is set against a background of wonderful moments in the life of a woman who takes refuge in petty prostitution that quickly escalates to one of the best paying jobs in 1960s Las Vegas--a high roller prostitute. Some of her tricks are one-nighters, while others, for instance her relationship with what many consider the world's greatest crooner, Frank Sinatra, span years.

Jane has a clear mission, to make big money by providing companionship and sexual satisfaction to her customers, and to eventually leave the business and retrieve her children from a mother-in-law who once knocked her down. (She seemed to see past Jane's perceived faults when confronted with a lot of money to care for the kids.)

Throughout most of her career, Jane held her head high, unashamed, and uninhibited by the side-glances and jealous stares of people with "respectable" jobs. In a search for a normal life, Jane slowly slips into destructive relationships. A mobster threatens to kill her. Finally, she escapes from Las Vegas and the man who sucks her dry of everything she owns.

McCormick is a kind of Barbarella searching not for an evil sex maniac in the 41st century, but for happiness for herself and her children in the 20th century world of mink coats, diamonds, big money, and fame. As you might expect, a story like this draws to a conclusion that is not one McCormack would have liked. However, free from the old life, she is on another mission--to help women learn about the trade in the classroom and not on the streets. She has dedicated her life to this pursuit and to providing help for women already caught in the cycle of tricks and money, manipulative men and high times. After reading this book, I can tell you one thing for sure--this is advice from someone who knows.

Author Wicklund had a real task on her hands translating and shaping Janes's story. Although the writing style could use a bit more dramatization (without being specious) I believe Ms. Wicklund captures the true voice of Jane McCormick and for that the book deserves to be read. I give it 5 stars.

When I was a teenager I remember a girl who everyone called a prostitute. Of course my parents would never allowed me to go anywhere near her because of her reputation. But I always had questions in my mind about her and other girls like her. I've never really understood what would make someone even think about going into this "profession." What in their childhood made them capable of selling themselves to pleasure men? Did they grow up with a low opinion of themselves? Were they abused as a child? Were they looking for something to fill an empty void in their lives? As they grew into adults why did they continue? Was it the money? Did they enjoy what they were doing? How did they get started? Were they forced into this line of "work?" And how do they ever quit? Do they wait until they are too old and no longer attractive to men?

All of these questions have been answered for me through my reading of Breaking My Silence. Jane McCormick takes you through her childhood, her start in the business and even into her life with some of her "Johns" from her "little black book." She tells of her abuse as a child, as an adult and finally her escape. After reading Breaking My Silence I saw Jane as a strong person who was determined to do whatever was needed to get her children back into her life and to do whatever it took to make her life as complete as possible without the prostitution. This was one of the most informative books I've ever read about a subject that is normally kept behind closed doors.

Jane MCCormick has laid her soul open for the world to see. In Breaking the Silence Ms. McCormick has taken a very bad experience in her life and shown the reader what not to do in order to survive. As a young girl she began a life of prostitution that in the end almost destroyed her.
She allowed herself to be with people which she knew nothing about, in places that were dangerous and in a mental and physical state which became life threatening.
Ms. McCormick wrote Breaking the Silence to show young women that the glamour of a high priced call girl was not glamourous at all. It was degrading, controlling and destructive.
She was bought and sold much like livestock in a aution pen. The underbelly of the beast is shown by Ms. McCormick for the uglyness which it is.
I give this book a five Star Rating. Well done.
Yvonne Mason, Author

I didn't expect to walk out of reading this book wishing I had been a Rat Pack Party girl. I did expect to hear a well-told story of the ups and downs of life in Vegas, mid-20th century.
Instead, what I got was a poorly-written, plodding chronological tale that was depressing and lacked depth. Surely Jane's story is sad; as a mother of two my heart broke for the decisions she had to make and the tough period of history she made them in. However, her story was told without perspective, and without much personal accountability. At the end, she's still a victim of her times and of those around her. Uninspiring, dry, and kind of a downer. Sorry, Jane.

I thought the book was full of information, but to much was written about her sexual encounters with men in the book, I was hoping to read more about her social life with the stars.
The story was not what I expected, the ending left you hanging.