Customer Reviews

Going Down

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Whenever I like a book, i try to read it as much as possible... at home, waiting for an appointment, in traffic. :) This is one of those books. It was so REAL. I don't know if being a prositute is close to what this character went through, but it was mostly about her, and not what she did for a living.

Bennington was a strange, imperfect, hilarious character that i don't think you have to "like," to enjoy reading about. She took on many jobs as an escort, had a serious commitment problem, tried to raise all of this money to go to NYU, only deciding to quit it not much later. She also made a bad choice with her boyfriend, Adam, who treated her terribly. Of course she would try to do everything he said only to have him find fault with that as well. Obviously this is not a woman I would want to hang out with because she has some serious problems, but seeing her from afar, you can't help but feel sorry for her and be intrigued about what makes her tick.

What I liked best about the book was the style in which it was written. She made observations about people that stick with you or make you laugh out loud, like "she had an unfortunate Pippi Longstocking appearance", or "I was friends with a girl in my building who was emotionally disturbed. She could recite Alice in Wonderland from beginning to end without stopping. Sometimes she would just scream for hours, going up and down in the elevator. I liked her a lot." Its obviously a book I should read more slowly next time, because I'm sure I missed a lot.

I could have done without the Vivian and Lars characters, or at least leave them out of the second half of the book. Other than that, it's great!

This is an extremely "real" and entertaining first-person novel of a young woman, "Bennington Bloom," working as a call girl in Manhattan. It's the second book I read by Jennifer Belle, having read her second novel, "High Maintenance," first.

Both books are very funny, rife with dark humor and sarcastic comments about the wacky kinds of things and people you see when living in the Big Apple.

Bennington is not necessarily the most likeable character you'll encounter (she also lies and steals on a fairly regular basis), but the things she thinks and says can be dead-on and laugh-out-loud funny. She brings a combination of hardness and vulnerability to the situations in which she finds herself.

I thnk most women could identify with at least some of Bennington's tribulations, whether it's having to deal with a disgusting "date," wacky and imperfect friends, failing parents, a condescending boyfriend, and the simple everyday panty-hose-tearing irritations we all confront on a regular basis.

So this may not be a morality tale, but it's as modern (or post-modern, or post-post-modern) as you will get, reflecting the messiness of today's relationships, and a young woman's insouciant approach to making some dough in the world's "oldest profession" in the world's biggest city.

- Julia Wilkinson, author, "My Life at AOL"

This is a first person account of a young Manhattan call girl -- and while that may seem a bit depressing, it sort of reads like a grittier version of Sex in the City -- and is about as realistic as Pretty Woman (to give you some idea). This is a light comedy, a well-told story of a young person's misadventures in the "skin trade," a lively book full of short chapters and great humor. The language is also quite simple and direct. It reminds me of the writing of Anita Loos' Gentleman Prefer Blondes. Wacky and vaguely hair-brained. Pick up a copy if you don't mind a light read. You'll have fun, plain and simple! Other Amazon quick picks include: Slaves of Manhattan by Tama Janowitz, The Losers' Club by Richard Perez

Somehow I just cannot sympathize with the lead character in Going Down, a young woman who just HAS to make ends meet by selling her body because, ya know, there's just NO other way...Come on! I purchased this after reading Belle's "High Maintenance" which was just as light as "Going Down" but had a better story going on. "Going Down" did teach me a few tricks, pun intended, about the hooker/call-girl industry. For instance, using a table lamp to check Johns for crabs before any physical contact takes place. Also, how to merge your old hooker job with doing something a little more, uh, legal such as becoming a real estate agent. This is a good one to read in the tub then toss on your yard sale table. I hope that Belle will give us more material in the future because I do believe that she has some promise.

I loved this book, and, as a former sex worker (dominatrix) I feel that I too, have the right to make a comment re: several reviewer's expectations (especially sex workers) that this book be sexy, and/or "positive" and/or realistic in exposing the life of a sex-worker. I agree that Belle's tone was a little flat at times, and yes the character was somewhat pathetic. Is it unrealistic to create a character like this? No, and this novel is not supposed to be responsible for feeding anyones images of what they wish sex workers were: it is the authors right to create her own world and if you disagree with this world, it is not because you know some larger "truth" about sex work. I, myself, agreed partially with Belle's vision that sex work is not particularly glamourous or empowering and the ambivalence of the narrator towards her job is important to portray in a novel and was effective. We already have too many happy go lucky prostitutes and/or victimized ones in so many other books, why not have something between these two stereotypes? Bennington's journey is somewhat metaphoric and somewhat realistic and I thought engrossing. I read Bennington as a person who is half-awake, and I think that was Belle's intention. Depressing and funny and clever and a little too smooth.

As a woman who WAS an escort at one time, I found Jennifer Belle's first novel insulting. Prostitution is not humorous; it is painful, it is degrading, it is thick with pain and sorrow even in its best and brightest moments. Belle's breezy portrayal of the life that I and millions of women have lived was a gutwrenching read. To be honest, I despise her and all the other unschooled purveyors of the pay per play lifestyle. I picked up this novel in the hope that I would see something of myself and my own experience reflected in its pages. What I found made me weep in frustration and anger and betrayal. Jennifer Belle did nothing for women with her debut novel, she merely capitalized on a stereotype.Bennington is the emotional equivalent of a wading pool. Her pain is so slight as to be barely perceived by anyone who looks and I'll tell you, I tried. At the end of the novel, when she makes her decision to quit, she is a relatively undamaged human being, full of that elusive thing called hope. Listen: Generally, there isn't much hope left in a woman at the end of a prostitution stint. In fact, there aren't too many emotions left in a woman at all. Nothing but anger, bitterness and a heartfelt, rock- you- to -your- core fear of emotional intimacy. One star, if that, for there was no new ground broken here on a subject that desperately deserves it. In fact, Belle may have even backpeddled a few decades. Oh, that cheeky little Jennifer Belle! What a card! What a wordsmith! God bless her. God bless her deluded, untalented little heart.

I was surprised that I liked this book as much as I did - I mean, how original could a bestseller about a New York call girl be? However, the writing is refreshingly vivid with a sense of pure honesty next to the grittiness. The story takes place over one year as we follow Bennington, a 19-year old acting student, through her experiences with creepy johns, her dealings with messed-up divorced parents and their new spouses, her corky friendships and eventually her quest for a real love affair. Lots of dark humor, mental instability, and heart break peppered with stereotypical images of New York and its inhabitants. An interesting read for a debut novel.

"Going Down" is more than a story about a call girl. This book is very well written and multi-layered. On the surface, you have the story of college student Bennington becoming a call girl, and all that ensues. This makes for an interesting read, and I was engaged, getting a glimpse into Benny's life, her experiences as a call girl and her days in the brothel, which were both humorous and sad. Jennifer Belle is very, very funny, and sharp-witted. What I love about her writing style is that she makes her lead characters uncensored in what they think and say. The sub-stories of this book concern women's roles and self-esteem, sex and love, and the dynamics and power within relationships between men and women, particularly Benny's with her father. There is an interesting exchange between Benny and one client who is utterly conflicted (...). The novel is well thought-out, and every event, large and small, is connected and tied up by the finish, which I appreciate. There's nothing that feels false, the characters are very interesting and multi-faceted, and I found the book to be a very satisfying read.

*It's naughty*. You get a peek into a bad girl's life and it's a pretty good time. I wish I could find more books like it!!! (sad news is- I wasn't so hot for her next book, High maintenance, it wasn't as fun.)

Finally--a young author with actual talent. I was beginning to think that her generation of writers was doomed. I rarely get emotional over ficitional characters, but Bennington was so sad and funny and brilliant that I couldn't put the book down. I agree with Jay McInerny. This novel was a gem. I can't wait for her next one.