Sex Workers As Virtual Boyfriends [Paperback]

Joseph Itiel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2002

Beyond lust, create companionship with your sex workers!

Many more men are willing to buy sex than to admit the fact. Joseph Itiel is not only willing to admit it--he has the courage and style to create “virtual” relationships with hustlers. These ongoing professional relationships are a step beyond cold, anonymous sex for sale. Though the economic basis remains the same--an open exchange of cash for sex--the association is also honest, affectionate, and sexually fulfilling. He explains how you can do the same in Sex Workers as Virtual Boyfriends, a companion volume to his best-selling A Consumer's Guide to Male Hustlers (Haworth 1998).

From his own experience, stretching over four decades and many nations, the author suggests ways to transform the relationship between a client and his escort from a crass commercial transaction to a true camaraderie. Sex Workers as Virtual Boyfriends also offers an intimate glimpse into the gay lifestyle in San Francisco and around the world before the AIDS epidemic and in these days of safer sex.

Sex Workers as Virtual Boyfriends presents practical tips and real-life vignettes, including:

• an experiment to help you decide if you could be a sex worker (See if you measure up!)
• an appendix containing a comprehensive list of sex workers advertising on the World Wide Web
• seven guidelines for friendly relations with your escort
• a guide to the etiquette of negotiable affection

Sex Workers as Virtual Boyfriends is shocking, sexy, literate, and fun. It also can help you find the affection you want--at a price you can afford.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Full of wit and charm... A fun read!" - Hubert Kennedy, PhD, editor of The Ideal Gay Man; "Fascinating, informative and valuable" - Joe Hanssen, Top Reviewer, Amazon.com

About the Author

Joseph Itiel, author of A Consumer's Guide to Male Hustlers, likes to say that in his senior years he has been blessed with great (and affordable) sex workers. Having met his first hustlers - as they were called then - some forty years ago, he has had the time and perseverance to shape these commercial encounters into virtual friendships.

Product Details

• Paperback: 166 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (March 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560231912
• ISBN-13: 978-1560231912
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,529,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a sex worker's point of view, April 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Sex Workers As Virtual Boyfriends (Paperback)

As a former sex worker, I want to praise the author of "Sex Workers as Virtual Boyfriends" for his insightfulness into hustlers' lives. For two difficult years I put myself through college as a parking valet. The work was hard, the pay miserable, and I breathed in a lot of polluted air. Then I started escorting. The job was easy for the most part, the pay excellent, and my health was not in jeopardy. Like the author says, a few clients did also become good friends. ... Of course, it is older dudes paying for the services of the younger guys. They get paid *because* they are younger and nobody is being exploited. We, young escorts know exactly what we are doing, and the older clients spend their money to fulfill their needs. I highly recommend the book to anyone who wants to understand the life of sex workers.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Boyfriend of a Different Sort!, March 26, 2002

By 

Joseph J. Hanssen "Joe" (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sex Workers As Virtual Boyfriends (Paperback)

A fascinating, informative, and valuable in depth study about the interactions between a sex worker (formerly called Hustler) and a client that establishes the rules & requirements necessary to become "virtual boyfriends", and the positive results you can expect from this different sort of boyfriend relationship. This book is an indispensable aid for anyone seeking the services of a sex worker. Additionally, it is a valuable resource for sex workers who want to have a more meaningful and closer relationship with their clients. Joseph Itiel has amassed over four decades of experience with sex workers, and he relates his mostly positive experiences with a refreshing openness & honesty. Joseph believes meaningful relationships between a sex worker and client can be possible with considerable effort and that love need not be involved in the relationship. The personal stories he tells of his own and others' experiences with many sex workers are truly captivating reading.

In Chapter Two he explains the differences between hiring someone from an agency and on the internet, and the advantages & disadvantages of advance bookings. Chapter Six deals with sex plus relationships and how the relationship between client and sex worker can be more than an exchange of money for sex. It can be an intellectual pursuit, a spiritual practice, and a time of shared social activities. It may even become a nonsexual friendship beneficial to both parties. I thought Chapter 13 was extremely useful and important with it's seven guidelines to make the working relationship with a sex worker a more friendly, emotional and positive experience. All of the chapters are filled with constructive information that you can use. This book is complete with an appendix of sex worker's web sites to help you get started.

I guarantee you will not be able to put this book down once you start it, so plan ahead and keep a few hours open. This book is perfect for anyone considering a virtual relationship with a sex worker or as a helpful guide for an experienced client. Be sure and read Joseph Itiel's first book "A Consumer's Guide to Male Hustlers", another ground-breaking study and a primer for this book. Either book can be read independently, but make sure you read both for the complete picture. Highly recommended!

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally! Someone Got It Right!, May 22, 2002

By 

Bob Kane (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sex Workers As Virtual Boyfriends (Hardcover)

This is an absolutely wonderful book!!! And definitely a must read for clients as well as sex workers. I myself am a sex worker in San Francisco and I really applaud Mr. Itiel for writing this book. The very title is what caught my eye to begin with. As a sex worker, I have always strived to create the same type of "sex plus" relationships with my clients that Mr. itiel has created with his sex workers. So I am delighted to finally see a book that emphasizes what the client/sex worker relationship is really all about - a mutual respect for one another as well as a caring friendship, besides the obvious good fun! The book contains many interesting stories about Mr. Itiel's experiences over the years with various sex workers. I really only found 1 area in which I strongly disagreed with Mr. Itiel - he feels that, in general, sex workers charge too much for their services. While I feel that what a responsible sex worker can offer to his client certainly justifies the cost, I can also understand that, as the client, Mr. Itiel would like to be able to find sex workers as inexpensively as possible. And he has managed to do this quite successfully, proving there is a market for all of us.I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a greater understanding of the dynamics behind the sex worker/client relationship. I think both sex workers and clients will benefit from reading this book - and both will benefit from enhancing their relationships with one another.