Rent Girl (Paperback)

by Michelle Tea (Author), Laurenn McCubbin (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Review
""A modern-day Beat, a kind of pop ambassador to the world of the tattooed, pierced, politicized and sex-radical queer-girls of San Francisco. [She] dramatizes the hopes and hurts, apathies and ambitions of young lesbians looking for love in the Mission District."

Product Description
Publishers Weekly called Michelle Tea ""a modern-day Beat, a kind of pop ambassador to the world of the tattooed, pierced, politicized and sex-radical queer-grrls of San Francisco. [She] dramatizes the hopes and hurts, apathies and ambitions of young lesbians looking for love in the Mission District."" Rent Girl continues Tea's graphic and uncompromising autobiographical bender, telling the story of her years as a prostitute, with provocative and richly illustrated work by Laurenn McCubbin.

Product Details

• Paperback: 239 pages
• Publisher: Last Gasp; Perennial & 1 edition (August 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0867196203
• ISBN-13: 978-0867196207
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 7.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #457,591 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truth Behind Closed Doors, November 24, 2004

By	Little Old Me - See all my reviews

Michelle Tea never seems tired of writing about her life. If she keeps up to her to usual standards, there's no reason why the rest of us would ever tire of reading about it either. RENT GIRL focuses on Tea's history in the sex trade, a witty graphic novel/memoir that is not only humorous and inspiring but beautifully illustrated.

Tea is a fantastic writer who does not shy away from revealing the "mechanics" of her exploits to an encounter with a bad case of crabs. There is no "woe is me" monologues or angry tirades against an unforgiving society. She describes the absurdity of her clients, from a self-proclained warlock to cocaine-addicted business men. Her writing masterfully remains passively unapologetic and full of the witty prose that Tea is known for. The art work is spectacular. Laurenn McCubbin's eye for detail captures near-perfect facial expressions and the raw emotion of Tea's work. I hope the two will collaborate again.

RENT GIRL is simply amazing. Michelle Tea's personal accounts are simple yet complicated with jaded opinions and poetic verses about faked sex acts and looking for stability in a chaotic world. This won't disappoint.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IN "TOP TEN BOOKS OF 2004," FRONTIERS NEWSMAGAZINE, January 4, 2005

By	Clint Catalyst "Author and Public Nuisance" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This graphic novel is less about a working-class lesbian's foray into the sex industry and more about the liberation of life experience. Tea reinforces the fact that she's the real deal: Her prose is colloquial and well-crafted--typos notwithstanding. And McCubbin's illustrations? Each is a little piece of perfection: shimmering, warm, and bright.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dee in Sacramento, September 20, 2006

By	D. Francis - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book is written differently than any other book I have read so that caught me off guard at first. I learned to enjoy the way Michelle Tea wrote and was fasinated by her life. My only complaint is that it ended way too soon. I am going to purchase more of her work. The artwork is wonderful.