Customer Reviews

The Lusty Lady

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

 

 

"the lusty lady" offers an interesting insight to the ongoings of daily life and relationships that form between coworkers at the lusty lady club. the photos are of good quality and erotic. the only downside to the book is that erika langley, both author and dancer, didn't reveal enough. you get the feeling that she knows the people too well and holds back information about her true feelings pertaining to her work and others working with her. the book offers a great overview of life at the lusty lady and how her life has changed but goes only skin deep to reveal them to the reader.......

As an ex-Lusty, I admit to having a bias while reading Langley's book. Through it, I re-lived the lusty sorority which took me through college and beyond, with a "wow, that's just what it was like," on every page. So I loved it because it was true to life. Take a look at this book if, as my fellow reviewers state, you want insight into the world of peep show life or a sense of how women can bond on a unique, intense level. The photos alone say it all. Unreachable female perfection isn't the point of the Lusty; instead, the attraction of the theatre is the psychological connection between customer and performer and between performers themselves. Langley's tour captures that perspective while vulnerably revealing her own lovely (and difficult) experience.

Brilliant, but I may be biased being an ex-Lusty! Erika Langley captures life at the Lusty Lady in Seattle perfectly. The pictures are beautiful, humourous and above all tell the story of the real women behind the peep show image. Langley's own diary entries and perfomer interviews give depth to the images...leave your preconceptions behind and find out what it's really like to be a "Lusty Lady".

This is one of these rare projects, where the photographer actually had the courage to jump over this so called journalistic objectivity, immersed herself into her work, became one with it. I believe any serious work in these surroundings can only be done by an participant, there is so much going on in the mind, which an outsider will never see, but will be essential to the endresult. That's why this book is a jewel. Adding to that is that her style in photography is so multilayered and emotional, great. There is one big minus. Shame on Scalo (the publisher)! How can they disrespect her work so much by binding the book so shoddily, that the cover started coming off when I first opened the book! The printing is dull and the layout is done without any skills, not doing justice to the great photos. All my respect to Erica, and shame on Scalo. It hurts me when a big publisher like Scalo is too stingy to give the right treatment to such an important photo project. Nevertheless, that book deserves five stars, and I don't regret it at all having bought it.

This book has a very specific audience... I don't think that it is for everyone! ...but if you've come this far then it just might be for you. It was interesting to read Erika Langley's personal text about the diverse individuals that choose to work in the alternative world of exotic dancing. What was most engrossing was that Erika crossed the line that seperated herself from the dancers, becoming an exotic dancer and not simply documenting them. Regardless if you agree with her decision, it certainly draws attention to how an outsider might perceive a situation differently than an insider and how that perception affects choices in their photography. I am a local of Seattle and certainly enjoyed learning more about this historic place of buisness. My interests in photography and feminism also influenced my enjoyment of this book

Langley has done a wonderful job of capturing the world of exotic dancing, not only with her text but with her photography. She delved deeply into the subject and has brought a first-person experience to the telling that paints a vivid picture.

Ms. Langley's book is intreging and causes the reader to question: Is it female empowerment? Is it exploitation - men of foolish women or women of foolish men? Or is it a symbiotic relationship? Is it about power at all? There is also a underline question as to how we as Americans define ourselves in our sexual roles. Whatever your answers to these questions are, Ms. Langley allows you to be a fly on the wall in a business that must protect its subculture from the outside world.
In my opinion, this book does not exploit the women who it is written about...

Erika has taken beautiful photographs of beautiful women and made them all very real to the reader. Her insightful and honest writing style, as well as the inside interviews with dancers tells us everything we want to know: how the dancers themselves view their profession, their customers, and themselves- very sexually empowering- i loved it!

Who decides to work in the sex industry, and why would they choose such an unusual job? Are these women unusual? Are they victims? Erika's exploration helps to answer these questions. This book offers the public a unique peek into the lives of women who were employed at Seattle's The Lusty Lady.

This book gives a full account of one woman's experiences- the good and the bad. While it neither defends nor damns the sex industry or its workers, it gives the reader a concise, easy to read, entertaining insight.