Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity [BARGAIN PRICE] (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "In the darkness, he touches me, his long, strong fingers moving across the surface of my skin, his breath hot and real near my ear..." (more)
Key Phrases: New Jersey, New York, Fire Island (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite the rather prurient title, Cohen's memoir is a deeply poignant, desperately sad account of a confused, directionless adolescent girl's free fall into self-abnegation. Growing up affluent in New Jersey in the 1980s and smarting from the recent breakup of her parents, 11-year-old Cohen begins to recognize the power her nubile body has over men. Being wanted becomes her greatest hope; once she and her older sister, Tyler, begin living with her father when her mother decides to attend med school in the Philippines, she latches onto other girls with whom she treks into New York City to bar hop at places like Dorian's Red Hand and pick up older, eager boys. Stunningly, the father is not alarmed by her early-morning absences, but seems to encourage her popularity, buying her clothes and treating her as a grownup. Gradually, hooking up with boys becomes a need, a way to bolster her faltering sense of self-worth. A litany of dreary sex acts follows with young men she doesn't particularly like and who don't like her, regardless of STD scares and a college rape. The painter mother of one of her boyfriends does initiate her into more intellectual pursuits, awakening a redemptive desire to become a writer. Cohen's memoir of a lost childhood is commendably honest and frequently excruciating to read. (Apr.)
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Review

"Kerry Cohen's powerful, transfixing story will be familiar to many women, most of whom won't want to admit it." -- Janice Erlbaum, author of Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir

"Cohen's clear-eyed, evocative, and engaging voice draws you into this harrowing story, into the heart of her addiction." -- Alison Smith, Name All the Animals

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (June 3, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1401303498
• ASIN: B001QFZM3S
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #73,663 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly life-changing, June 12, 2008

By	Bard Hovenga (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity (Hardcover)

I probably had no business reading this book. I'm a 20 year old guy, and Cohen's new memoir has been clearly targeted towards women, specifically young girls still coming of age. When I was buying it, the lady at the Borders cash register gave me one of the strangest looks I have ever seen. I tried to explain. It was recommended to me by a friend, so I figured it would be an interesting read. I'd just sell it back on Amazon after I was done.

All that being said, there is no way I am selling this book.

We have all seen those girls at bars and parties, the ones who flaunt themselves around. The ones everybody calls whores and sluts. Maybe you look at them with disgust. Maybe with pity or empathy. Maybe, if you're like one of the guys in Cohen's story, you look at them with lust. Whatever it is you think when you see a promiscuous girl, this book will change your mind forever.

Loose Girl holds nothing back. Cohen writes about her journey with heart-breaking honesty and detail that will make you cringe. The recount of sexual incidents during her childhood and adolescence is melancholy and at times very disturbing. As she continues on through high school and college, making the same mistakes over and over, the story becomes downright agonizing. The last section reads like day turning from afternoon to dusk, or perhaps late night becoming dawn. Every chapter holds new truths. She answers questions that can't be answered--questions about why we are the way we are, what it means to love and be loved. There is a part where she realizes "Not being able to live without someone is not love. It's need." Quotes like this make the book unforgettable.

In the process of writing and publishing her memoir, Cohen has taken a lot of unwarranted criticism. She's been called an attention-whore and a slut. But the truth is, Loose Girl isn't really about any of that. It's about identity. Kerry's sexual promiscuity could have been anything. It could have been alcohol, drugs, religion, or whatever else people let get in their way of creating their art and their life. Kerry's favorite quote is by Mary Oliver: "Tell me, what will you do with your one wild and precious life?" In telling her chaotic story, she's not begging for attention to her life, she's helping us figure out ours. The writing truly touches on all fronts, it would be a huge mistake to assume otherwise.

This is a life-changing memoir that you'll want to read over and over. Here's to hoping Kerry Cohen will ignore the critics and keep up her incredible writing.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Entry in The Addiction Biography Genre, June 23, 2008

By	Geoffrey Kleinman (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity (Hardcover)

Loose Girl is a well focused look at one woman's journey through insecurity, dysfunction and unhappiness. It reads a lot like many other 'addiction' books but since the 'addiction' it covers is sex, the highs and lows are a lot less extreme. Author Kerry Cohen does a good job of drawing the reader in and
creating a very vivid and engaging world. Her writing is clear, flowing and polished. I found myself zipping through the book fully engaged with Cohen's journey. My biggest gripe is that the book has almost no third act. Cohen's story has a very distinct beginning, middle, but a very soft end. I felt there was more book in Cohen and she stopped short of where the story could have taken her. The writer's Bio indicates that Cohen is now married with children, but the book never really ventures into how her past has shaped her present or now how reflecting on all this has impacted her as she moves forward. Even with a less than full ending, I still did like Loose Girl, it's well written, engaging and worth reading especially for fans of the genre.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Brave Girl", June 26, 2008

By	Zwriting "zwriting" (Saint Paul, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity (Hardcover)

From the opening paragraph, I was right there and stayed with Kerry through this agonizing journey. Our experiences are different, and yet, she made it so clear that the drive for attention and acceptance is universal--regardless of how it is played out.

The story reminded me of the Oz narrative: when the emotional cyclone spun Kerry off course, she landed with a crash, but there was no yellow brick road and few good companions to accompany her. In her search for connection and meaning, she took shortcuts, but was too young to understand the destructive ramifications of those choices.

Those expecting a salacious, sensationalistic memoir will be disappointed. Those valuing honesty without varnish or embellishment will be relieved that someone had the courage to tell the plain truth about how she got off course and found her way. Kerry acknowledges that this is a tenuous, unfinished journey and she takes it a step at a time.

Far too many stories of this type are afflicted by a fast-paced narrative and an over-the-top conclusion ("I saw the light and skipped off into the sunset"). This type of terminal silliness rings false because it's been overused and abused (e.g., "A Million Little Pieces"). I trust Kerry's story because it is so bare bones. As she began relying on herself and engaging with the creative process via writing, she was able to connect more fully with life. She points out that this is part of a lifelong journey. Rather than force a conclusion, she stops the story in an interesting place leaving the reader wanting to hear more from her.