Customer Reviews

Diary of a Married Call Girl: A Nancy Chan Novel (Nancy Chan Novels)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Tracy Quan has a gift for slipping subtle and touching scenes into a light, frothy plot. "Nancy Chan" has been fascinating ever since her debut in the pages of Salon, and she remains so as she negotiates the unexpected terrain of "straight" married life. You end up realizing that the secrets a hooker has to keep from her unsuspecting hubby are a lot like the issues in any marriage where the two people are trying to maintain some kind of independent life. Just more colorful and, occasionally, kinkier. (The scene where poor Nancy has to pretend to be a dominatrix - when one of her colleagues is a no-show - is a hilarious twist on a stereotype.)

When I first read about these women in Nancy's life, it was in the pages of Salon magazine. Then they got fleshed out MORE in Tracy's first book, Diary of Manhattan Call Girl. And now, with "Diary of a Married Call Girl", I feel like I'm seeing old friends again...Delightful, interesting women...Some of the same johns, and some new ones. Juat as in everything else she's written, Tracy keeps me turnin' pages, while I relish every word.

Tracy's always had a gift for vivid, sensitive descriptions of erotic moments. The more I know of these women, the more I want to hang out with them. If you liked "Diary of Manhattan Call Girl", you'll LOVE Nancy as a married woman. If you didn't read the first one, it'll help, but you can still get a LOT of joy out of the 2nd book without the first.

Nancy Chan is back, and this time she's juggling even more than before. Her day job -- as a high class call girl -- is kinkier than ever. Meanwhile, her nights, with new husband Matt, are filled with the prosaic pressures of married life -- like where to live, or whether or not to have a baby.

Tracy explores Nancy's life and background to a far greater degree in this novel. There are vignettes about Nancy's life as a youngster in Canada, of her time in London, and even about her unorthodox family in Trinidad. Better still, Tracy describes lively escapades between Nancy and her clients. Nancy is both enthusiastic and ambivalent about the two big relationships in her life. Her relationship with her husband and her relationship with sex work. She's a character filled with humor and nuance.

"Diary of a Married Call Girl" will intrigue anyone with a curiosity about the sex industry, life in Manhattan or the experience of leading a dual life. I recommend it highly for anyone looking for a frisky and fun read.

Quan takes an interesting predicament (that of a married call girl whose husband is eager for a baby) and churns out 300 pages of shallow nothing. Nancy Chan flits from one scene to the next, from hotel room sex to her shrink's couch to vanilla pillow talk. The point of it all is elusive. Are we supposed to find her plucky and endearing, or deceptive and shocking? She makes her husband seem so ridiculously naive you wonder how he finds his way home each night. This book did not meet its potential.

Tracy Quan has scored big again. This sequel to her first Nancy Chan novel, "Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl," continues and adds depth to Nancy's ongoing saga as an elite New York call girl. Her life has gotten more complicated with her marriage to Matt, an upwardly mobile investment banker. Nancy has now entered the hidden world of the married call girl with a secret apartment and surreptitious "dates." Difficulties abound: as Nancy becomes more secretive, her best friend, Allison, becomes more outthere as a hooker/activist. And there's always her inquisitive sister-in-law, Elspeth,to be fended off. But the johns are still rich and adoring and seem to have gotten even kinkier. It's all there, sex and style, randiness and romance, leavened by Tracy Quan's unique humor but, at times, deepened by pensive moments as Nancy, janus-faced, contemplates past and future. This is a delightful novel to be read and savored.

Sexy, funny, and believe it or not, thought-provoking. Tracy Quan takes us on a ride as Nancy Chan, a witty married call girl in the Manhattan milieu of Barneys, Investment Bankers, and the Upper East Side. Not only does she titillate us with her erotic exploits, she tackles the question of marriage and identity. Do we give up all of our selves when we get married? Is there room for some secret side? While being a working girl on the side is certainly more extreme than most secrets, the question remains - can we retain anything secret once we're married?

Nancy Chan, the author's alter ego, is delightful, funny, at times neurotic, and always sexy. What a fun novel - I only bogged down for a few brief pages when she described an unneeded side trip, which was probably cathartic for the author. Even better than the original. I'm looking forward to another Tracy Chan novel. Guilty pleasure.

Kudos for Three Rivers Press for publishing a Kindle edition!

essential reading for all who enjoyed the first nancy chan novel. licking my chops in anticipation of more volumes!

My girlfriends and I got an early copy of the book and all quickly devoured it. It's got the sexy, fun, gossipy style of the first book and more. We want more Nancy Chan novels and hope this to be only the second of many to come!

I thought this Nancy Chan book would be strictly for women. It had chick lit written all over it. But guess what? Tracy writes about sex with a most knowing voice. I'd do anything to be her boy toy. She's definitely a man's woman. I just bought her first book and can't wait until her next comes out.

Sexy, funny, and believe it or not, thought-provoking. Tracy Quan takes us on a ride as Nancy Chan, a witty married call girl in the Manhattan milieu of Barneys, Investment Bankers, and the Upper East Side. Not only does she titillate us with her erotic exploits, she tackles the question of marriage and identity. Do we give up all of our selves when we get married? Is there room for some secret side? While being a working girl on the side is certainly more extreme than most secrets, the question remains - can we retain anything secret once we're married?

Nancy Chan, the author's alter ego, is delightful, funny, at times neurotic, and always sexy. What a fun novel - I only bogged down for a few brief pages when she described an unneeded side trip, which was probably cathartic for the author. Even better than the original. I'm looking forward to another Tracy Chan novel. Guilty pleasure.

Kudos for Three Rivers Press for publishing a Kindle edition!