Customer Reviews

Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

David Henry Sterry grew up in Dallas during the '70's, the brainy, sociable, and much loved son of striving English immigrants. He writes that a "rosy patina of relentless suburban niceness shimmers on the surface" of his childhood. In this terrifically readable account he writes about his parents with compassion. This is not a "victim" story. "My mother was an emotional woman who cried at the drop of a pin. At the drop of a hat. At the drop of a hat pin." He describes her, achingly really, as someone who "could make a wild wailing hard-baked baby coo with the soothe of her touch." He loved his dad - and strives to understand him. Sterry's an adventurer who happens to feel and think deeply, and he's written a thoroughly absorbing adventure story about the nine months he worked as a prostitute in Los Angeles "partying" with women while he was a freshman in college.

He registers for classes and works frying "industrial chicken, " of which we learn quite a lot. In a few weeks his boss, a seedy, weirdly friendly guy, asks him if he's ready for Real Money. Real Money, it turns out, is to be made "partying" with women. He won't be a streetwalker, but will be on call. Sterry insists on women only: "I started having sex when I was thirteen, and I took to it like a well-watered carrot in fertile earth. I'm fluent in Sex. I take direction well. I love making women feel good, and I've learned the importance of a slow hand, a sweet mouth, and paying attention." He is seventeen.

Sterry gets his pager and his instructions which, aside from the instructions regarding pay, aren't as far from the Boy Scout credo as you might think. ("1. Don't be late. 2. Don't rip anybody off. 3. Don't speak unless spoken to. 4. Be clean. 5. Say as little as possible. 6. When in doubt say even less. 7. The customer's always right. 8. If something seems weird it probably is. 9. GET THE MONEY UP FRONT!"). For the next nine months he's a boy toy for pay: $100 an hour, more or less. It's all here. This book is painful and trusting and generous. It's appalling in places, not a turn-on but a page-turner.

So how does a seventeen year-old boy do in the sex trade? It seems that he did pretty well. Oh, he trained some. "On the first day of my rookie season, Frannie gives me excruciatingly explicit instructions in her droll monotone, detailing exactly what she wants me to do and how she wants me to do it. I'm ready. I was born for this work." His customers, mostly middle-aged women - among them lonely married women, aging rich hippies, lesbians, the horribly disconcertingly grieving mother of a dead son his age - were pleased with him. He is workmanlike, puts forth effort, and he is kind. His customers say "Please," and "Thank you." He strives to understand not only their physical selves, but the rest of them, too. Best of all, the pay is amazing ...

It turns out that, at least for Sterry, the provocation of the female orgasm is the easy part. The more difficult thing, and the true sticking point, is the impossibility of living in a way that gives him even a modicum of happiness. His relationships with his peers (specifically Kristy, a coed - in whom he is interested) are strained to the breaking point. The pager keeps going off, and he can't not obey its call. Lying in the service of the keeping of his secret is behavior which feels "familiar and familial." It becomes a way of life. Something's got to give, and after nine months, it does.

This is a strange story told easily and well. The ragged particulars (and often eloquent and heartbreaking throwaway lines) of the daily life of a seventeen year-old boy who happens to be turning tricks for a living while attending college are no small thing. Sterry intersperses trenchant and interesting vignettes from his childhood and the ongoing drama of his parents' troubled lives. It works well. The precocious and energetic boy "for rent" has clearly grown up to be a man who is smart and wise and compassionate This is a terrific read.

Chicken is impossible to put down, even, no, especially when the sky is falling. It is a true story of survival, of a teenaged boy on the brink of adulthood doing what he has to do. In turns vulnerable, tough, innocent and wise, the author tells the story of his time as a 'chicken' - a male prostitute in 70's Hollywood. Young David strives for normalcy, tries to break the patterns of his double-life, but cannot shake the feeling that he belongs with 'the freaks': those whose existence is outside the realm of acceptability. Tempered with hilarious characters and situations and a fast-paced jazzy writing style, this book has all the qualities that make a good read.

This book is fierce and funny; the account is especially moving because, unlike most memoirs, it is somewhat uncertain how much perspective has been gained--the writer seems to still be learning from his experience, perhaps even attracted to some of the more damaging aspects of it--and this brings an unsettling and honest immediacy to the reading.

I was skeptical about reading this memoir because the sex industry is not a subject that I'm especially drawn to. My friend read and loved this book and strongly suggested that I read it. I took her advice and once I began to read I was completely unable to put Chicken down. The writing style of this book flowed so smoothly and was crafted so skillfully that I felt that I was watching the story happen rather than reading it off of a page. This book was fascinating and I commend David Sterry for his honesty and courage.

Honestly I couldn't put this book down. Short vignettes of an extraordinary young man finding a place for himself amongst the wild and dangerous LA life. The prose is so beautifully executed with an inventive and flirtatious style of writing that is truly captivating. I have to be honest in saying, I would have never picked this book up myself--but was very happy to have read it.

I thought this book was very easy read because of the tongue-in-cheek style of the author and the brashness of the telling. My only complaint is that this book is not longer. I felt like I read a long story in a magazine.

I thought his "tricks" were very interesting stories and I wanted to hear more of them.

It's funny he thanks his parents at the end. By the end of the book we hate them. (or is it at the beginning?)

If you liked this book Permanent Midnight by Jerry Stahl and Dry by Augusten Burroughs are even better.

I hope this author writes more books and longer ones.

I see all these rave reviews and it makes me wonder what book these people have read. I found very little of merit in this hodgepodge. In fact, it's a cheap conglomeration of other books that have been done on the same subject. Not much original here at all. I suggest reading Ron Nyswaner's autobiography if you want something with a glimmer of quality and authenticity.

Quick reading. I glossed over the every other part about his childhood. could have been left out. The parts of his hustling weren't that graphic and he sure was an angry person. I've always known there are a lot of weird and kinky people out there.

David Henry Sterry packed a lot into his nine month stint as a male prostitute in California. For all those guys who wished they could have been Richard Gere in American Gigolo, you should pick up a copy of this book; it will dash your indulgent fantasies.

"Chicken" tells Sterry's story of family dejection and his fast leap into the freakish world of prostitution. On the journey, he mentions various strange meetings and requests of his "clients"--but don't be too anxious to believe these vignettes will tantalize. It's obvious Sterry is speaking from the heart and instead of exciting me (I didn't expect it to) this well-written book made my stomach turn. Even with all the mentioning of orgies and sexual conduct, you can still sense the young boy whose life is being destroyed.

The prose is beautifully, albeit aggressively, written. And other than a few anachronisms (were there really pagers in the seventies?) you can't help but love this book. One of the best I have read this year.

And as you read Sterry's book--and I highly suggest you do--you can't help but hear the echo of what the author calls instruction #8: If something seems weird, it probably is.

I know now there is a heaven, because David Sterry has showed us hell. I love his writing style; it brings you into the story. You will not want to put it down. The fact that this is an autobiography makes the story even more horrifying. Yet since it is a catharsis of a true survivor, it seems that David brings somehow to an unexpected redemption. You must read this book carefully, a second time, if you want to really understand what David is trying to tell us.