Memoirs of a Sex Industry Survivor (Hardcover)

by Anne Bissell (Author) "The online madam's message flashed across my computer screen: "My escorts make $80.00 for one hour, $120.00 for two hours, $250.00 for all night, and..." (more)
Key Phrases: sex industry survivor, recovering prostitute, industry survivors, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Colinas (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Anne Bissell's Memoirs is a powerful, important book... the sex "worker" is conveyed in realistic detail..." -- Lisa M. Najavits, PhD Director , Trauma Research Program, McLean Hospital Associate Professor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School (2003)

"Memoirs of a Sex Industry Survivor" is from the trenches!" -- Dr. Lois Lee Founder and President Children of the Night (2003)

Until I read Memoirs, I thought I was completely alone in my desperate attempts to heal from ... my past. -- Aspen Brock Former Porn Star (2003)

Product Description
For Juliet, the "life", or the world of prostitution, started off as a game. But then the "game" took over. First she became addicted to the fast, constant, easy money, then to turning tricks into "sugar daddies".

As Juliet begins to heal from her life as prostituted teen, she meets other sex industry survivors. Their similarities change her perspective on the sex industry for good. For most sexe industry survivors, prostitution is a re-enactment of childhood sexual exploitation.

Like Juliet, these women mistankenly believed that prostitution would help them regain the power that had been stolen from them. Ultimately, this decision often proved to be soul-destroying, self-destructive, and for far too many, lethal.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 299 pages
• Publisher: Cleopatra International Publications LLC (January 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974606006
• ISBN-13: 978-0974606002
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #624,330 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Voice of truth, March 2, 2005

By	Jennifer S. Ross (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a voice of clarity and truth amidst the cacophony of canned statements by sex industry representatives. Anne Bissell records with chilling accuracy the expendable nature of sex industry workers. Her characters grapple with the temptation to give in to society's demand for commodified female sexuality. Reading this book validated my own struggle to connect a sexually abusive childhood with my later work as a stripper. I recommend it to anyone who questions the death grip pornographers and "pimp culture" have on our society.
Jennifer Ross
former topless dancer

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars By the founder of Sex Industry Survivors Anonymous, April 12, 2004

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Anne Bissell [is] the founder of Sex Industry Survivors Anonymous and has taken upon herself the mission of de-glamorizing the global sex trade. While Bissell's Memoirs Of A Sex Industry Survivor is a fictional story, she draws upon very real situations and presents the unvarnished truth of the hardships and exploitations of prostitution. An utterly compelling read that draws one into an inherently fascinating narration of the oppressions sex workers endure, Memoirs Of A Sex Industry Survivor is unique, compelling, informative, entertaining, and strongly recommended reading.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Story of survival, August 19, 2004

By	C.J. Wilkes (Orem, Utah United States) - See all my reviews

I am a survivor of incest and have found this book very hard to read, but true. The hard thing about it is that it is not sugar coated in anyway, but that is the best part about it. I love that it does not make the reality of the sex industry any less or more than it really is. I love the way Anne Bissell was able to show how many girls do enter the industry and how it reflects the victims mental status before, during, and after. I really feel that this book can help others not to judge so quickly and to possibly think of the life that a person might have lived prior to making the decission to enter into the sex industry.
I have never been in the industry, but I know that with my own personal abuse that I very well could have chosen that road. I was amazed to see many of the struggles and feelings expressed in this book were similar to my own. I applaud Anne's courage and strength to write a very moving book that will, in my opinion, open the eyes of all who read it.