Product Description

A fun, witty, sexy, page-turning novel written by a real-life, high-priced Manhattan call girl. This is the diary of Nancy Chan, busy career girl, in her thirties, newly engaged and trying to balance job and romance. But Nancy is a high-class call girl, a fact her banker fiance, Matt does not know (he thinks she's a copy editor) and Nancy wants to keep it that way. With one foot in the bedrooms of her rich and demanding clients and one in the world of her fiance and his family, Nancy demonstrates, in her inimitable fashion, that if you know the dance, you can keep those two worlds from colliding. At least for a while. This wonderfully intelligent, sexually frank, rollicking novel gives us fresh insight into the machinations and politics of being an expensive call girl in the modern world. Quan pulls no punches, gives no apologies, and has written one of the best and most honest books yet on the topic.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79268 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
'Bridget Jones with attitude' Guardian 'Chock-full of bad-girl secrets! tantalizing' Cosmopolitan 'Unexpectedly wise, observant and best of all -- fun' Los Angeles Times 'A new perspective on the world's oldest profession' Honey

Cosmopolitan
‘Chock-full of bad-girl secrets... tantalizing’

Los Angeles Times
'Unexpectedly wise, observant and best of all - fun’

Customer Reviews

S'OK...

This novel was lent to me by my brother's girlfriend, after a conversation about books, or prostitution, or something of that nature. I didn't expect the book to be particularly interesting, but I was disappointed anyway. It gets off to a very promising start with an in-your-face raunchy `scene' (by the way, this is to be made into a film, I believe!). I had best not go into detail! But it falls flat soon after this. The problem with this book is that the main character, a New York high-class prostitute by the name of Nancy Chan, isn't especially likable, and there is nothing, except how she earns how money, that is interesting about her. Because of this it is very hard to care about her, and the main `tension' of the book (will her fiancé find out about her line of work?) deflates. The plot is centred on her trying to balance her work and her love life. The dilemma of whether to give up hooking or whether to give up her boyfriend seems to be the core theme. Needless to say, as a reader, I was waiting for a big cheesy event (possibly at her dreaded wedding, with fellow prostitutes as guests) where her real job is exposed. This, let me tell you, doesn't happen. In fact, little does. Also, the author introduces encounters with a pro-feminist lobby aiming to legalise prostitution. Nancy's friend becomes involved with the group for `sex-workers rights', much to the disproval of her fellow call-girls, who would make much less money if their profession was legal and widespread. This had the potential to be the most interesting aspect of the book, and much could have been made of Nancy's changing views on these women, but it seems to only be there for comedic (or not) effect. There is also an awful moment when we learn of a young woman's ordeal of being black-mailed for money by a ten year old boy, and, shockingly, nothing further is mentioned of it! Despite the fact that at the time it appears to be a turning point. This is a novel that doesn't really go anywhere, and the ending, is an enormous anti-climax (one of those "What?...That can't be the end!" type of endings). Having said all this, this book does have its moments and it is quite good fun. Just don't expect anything more than a bit of a trashy, light read. Nothing wrong with that!

disappointing
I never expected great meaning from this book, but what I did expect was some light reading with a few engrossing plots, and a 'gossipy' feeling to it. But I was disappointed. Hardly anything mildly interesting happens in the book, until a couple of half-baked storylines near the end which go frustratingly unconcluded. I kept waiting for something to emerge which would capture me, but this never happened. The main character, Nancy, is, for me, unlikeable and it is hard for the reader to empathise or be put in her position. Overall, the book is crammed with irrelevant little details and dialogues, and tends to drag on relentlessly. There were foundations in this book for several riveting plots, and it was exasperating to see that so many oppurtunities were wasted. I would have liked to see a little more description where emotion was concerned too.
As for the end, it was as if the author ran out of time in a high school English exam. A real train wreck of an ending-completely unsatisfying.
I hate to say that on the whole, this is a poor book, although it's marginally better than reading the back of your ticket when you're bored on the bus.

Quick and easy read but with a disappointing ending
As I left for work this morning, I was about to pop "Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl" into my bag but then I realised that I had actually finished it. The reason it took me a second to realise this is that I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending - it was kind of like a three-course meal where you get an entree and only half of a main course.

The beginning and majority of the book is great; witty, funny and interesting. It provides an informative and unpretentious insight into the world of being a private call-girl. But as another reviewer commented, it seems like Quan didn't know how to wrap up the strands of the narrative and opted for a cop-out instead.

Overall: Interesting but unsatisfying.