Diary of a Married Call Girl: A Nancy Chan Novel (Nancy Chan Novels) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this unnecessary sequel to Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, Nancy Chan;now 30-something and newly wed to WASP banker Matt;is still working. She pretends to be a freelance copyeditor studying French, but maintains her old apartment for clients; she's even in therapy on the sly. Juggling her fake life with her kinky one (described in raw detail, not for the squeamish), Nancy is increasingly stressed out. On top of her carefully choreographed days ("Hooking is like backgammon. Dating and marriage are like chess"), Matt is pressuring her to get pregnant, and her friend Allie, a sex worker activist, is about to blow the covers of working girls everywhere by seeking media attention for her cause. And Matt, it turns out, may have some secrets of his own. Quan makes Nancy eloquent on the vicissitudes of her sessions with clients, but tiresome dialogue, lots of banal Nancy-to-client and Nancy-to-husband e-mails, and a light plot pretty much sink the book. The cover calls this "A Nancy Chan Novel," however, which means there's probably more to... come.
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Review

“Winning and warm, this book is a gleeful romp through the world of the married call girl. Tracy Quan is a great talent.” —Molly Jong-Fast, author of Normal Girl and Girl [Maladjusted]

“Love, sex, money, marriage, lies, infidelity, shopping, and strap-ons. What more could you ask for in a novel?” —David Henry Sterry, bestselling author of Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent

“A delicious peek into a very secret world—sexy and suspenseful. I was pulled in from the start and absolutely fascinated—titillated!—until the end!” —Candida Royalle, author of How to Tell a Naked Man What to Do

“In this unique and sexy novel, Tracy Quan gives readers a rare peek at what it’s like to live a double life.” —Kyra Davis, author of Sex, Murder and a Double Latte

"A salty, saucy concoction" —The New York Times

"Chick lit, meet trick lit" —Time Out New York

"A new perspective on infidelity and modern marriage" —The Boston Globe

"Quan has a gift for turning out irreverent witty novels on the sex trade... probably the only chick lit writer to discuss indentured labor, sex worker rights and the proper purse in which to carry a dildo." —Reason

"Continues the vicarious sluttiness that readers enjoyed in the first book" —Washington Post

"A peccadillo-esque journey of titillating trysts, marital infidelity and financial prowess." —Our Town

"Satirizes the tricky dynamics between sex workers" —New York Press

"Addictive... unapologetically realistic" —$pread

"Quan has staying power and her book deserves a place in everyone's bedroom -- and bookshelf." —Ottawa X Press--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (September 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400053544
• ISBN-13: 978-1400053544
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #650,449 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, May 25, 2006

By	Pastan (Rome) - See all my reviews

Tracy Quan has a gift for slipping subtle and touching scenes into a light, frothy plot. "Nancy Chan" has been fascinating ever since her debut in the pages of Salon, and she remains so as she negotiates the unexpected terrain of "straight" married life. You end up realizing that the secrets a hooker has to keep from her unsuspecting hubby are a lot like the issues in any marriage where the two people are trying to maintain some kind of independent life. Just more colorful and, occasionally, kinkier. (The scene where poor Nancy has to pretend to be a dominatrix - when one of her colleagues is a no-show - is a hilarious twist on a stereotype.)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Married Girl has even MORE FUN (in it), May 28, 2006

By	Dana Friedman "DanaFalana" (New York NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I first read about these women in Nancy's life, it was in the pages of Salon magazine. Then they got fleshed out MORE in Tracy's first book, Diary of Manhattan Call Girl. And now, with "Diary of a Married Call Girl", I feel like I'm seeing old friends again...Delightful, interesting women...Some of the same johns, and some new ones. Juat as in everything else she's written, Tracy keeps me turnin' pages, while I relish every word.

Tracy's always had a gift for vivid, sensitive descriptions of erotic moments. The more I know of these women, the more I want to hang out with them. If you liked "Diary of Manhattan Call Girl", you'll LOVE Nancy as a married woman. If you didn't read the first one, it'll help, but you can still get a LOT of joy out of the 2nd book without the first.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Frisky and Fun -- Nancy Chan and the challenges of a double life, June 27, 2006

By	janeyb "janeyb" (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews

Nancy Chan is back, and this time she's juggling even more than before. Her day job -- as a high class call girl -- is kinkier than ever. Meanwhile, her nights, with new husband Matt, are filled with the prosaic pressures of married life -- like where to live, or whether or not to have a baby.

Tracy explores Nancy's life and background to a far greater degree in this novel. There are vignettes about Nancy's life as a youngster in Canada, of her time in London, and even about her unorthodox family in Trinidad. Better still, Tracy describes lively escapades between Nancy and her clients. Nancy is both enthusiastic and ambivalent about the two big relationships in her life. Her relationship with her husband and her relationship with sex work. She's a character filled with humor and nuance.

"Diary of a Married Call Girl" will intrigue anyone with a curiosity about the sex industry, life in Manhattan or the experience of leading a dual life. I recommend it highly for anyone looking for a frisky and fun read.