Reading for longer visits
Belle De Jour - The intimate adventures of a London call girl
Weidenfeld & Nicolson (7 Jan 2005), Further info from Amazon.co.uk
Image courtesy of Amazon.co.uk
A dip in to books that maybe worth a revisit this Xmas, as you shouldn't be buying yourself anything new just incase someone wants to buy it for you for Christmas, and we don't want to be responsible for xmas morning embarassment.
"The first thing you should know is that I'm a whore" the book opens, and readers of Belle De Jour's blog ( http://belledejour-uk.blogspot.com/ ) are probably already more than acquainted with her open upfront style of writing about her (mis?)adventures as a London call prostitute.
Those of you who missed the furore around Belle's blog, and subsequent media fame may have been spending a little too much time in the bathroom anyway. From Summer 2003, Belle started a blog charting her life, partners and clients. The numbers of visitors started quickly racking up, and just two years on, a blook of those posts was released to the question "Is she real? Is she a journalist? Is she a he?"
Controversy, it seems, is often an author's best friend, and copies flew off the shelves, often to the detriment of the blog, posts increasingly few and far between, but within months, the internet celebutant was a household name, for better or worse.
The book itself is ripped directly from the pages of the blog, so if you were a reader of the original digital version, you'll have little to enjoy here, but perhaps see it as an analogue paper based RSS feed - haven't caught up with her for a while? dip into the hardback.
A subsequent 'further' adventures book was released late this year, and is, we suppose, Belle 2.0 but would never dare to use such a punky phrase.
In terms of toilet material, hardback and handbag size, perfect sized posts, not too long, although you need to read it front to back, rather than dipping.
If you fancy something a little more meaty, try Michel Faber's "The Crimson Petal and the White" for a 19th Century take on the well read prostitute 'Sugar', who manages to rise up through society.
Matthew Knight
