Whip Smart: Memoirs of a Dominatrix

(Note: This is mainly for Elisabeth and our other bookworm friends)

Though I realize that the general public has some awareness that professionals exist and that our little "underworld" is not entirely private, I'm still always surprised to see it come up in mainstream media. I was listening to Fresh Air on NPR as I do every afternoon, and to my surprise Terry Gross was interviewing a woman named Melissa Febos who has written a new book called Whip Smart: Memoirs of a Dominatrix.

Febos is an academic with a graduate degree from Sarah Lawrence who works at a university now and she was candid and calm. She's cute too. She worked in NYC for four years in what she describes and an "upscale S&M house" where she earned $75/hr, but was also a heroin addict for three of those. She discussed sadomasochism in a way that wasn't sensationalistic, which I liked, but her commentary also made it sound like it came from a disordered, unhealthy place in the psyche, which I patently disagree with. I'm excited to read the book and very much want to hear how she explains the complex world of BDSM. Anyone want to have a book club?

You can hear the interview here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13

Dang, every time I get to hear "Fresh Air" they tend to discuss subject like Faulkner's use of the subjunctive.

Book Club? Yeah, great idea. Let's call it a book club.

I was being sincere. I really do want a book club! We could all subscribe to the same NPR podcasts too. Can we get a forum for that?

We could all subscribe to the same NPR podcasts too. Originally Posted by Miss Sophie Bella

I subscribe to "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" now. Let me know...

BTW, Wait Wait just did their first Houston show last month. Good stuff. Lots of talk about the strip clubs...

I was being sincere. I really do want a book club! We could all subscribe to the same NPR podcasts too. Can we get a forum for that? Originally Posted by Miss Sophie Bella

I think this is a great idea!!! We don't really need another forum for it but we could start something right here. BTW, thanks for sharing this show. I really didn't know anything about it (or the book) and when I called my dominatrix friend in RI, she knew about it and it was fun to discuss.

So Sophie, what book would you suggest starting with? I just got the book, "Venus in Furs" by Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch, which is a book that was suggested by a lady in another topic in this forum plus a book that I've been meaning to read for some time.

I don't know, though. Any thoughts?

Warmly,
Elisabeth

Book Club? Yeah, great idea. Let's call it a book club. Originally Posted by barneyrubble

Every woman just loves a submissive smart ass!


Elisabeth

I was being sincere. I really do want a book club! We could all subscribe to the same NPR podcasts too. Can we get a forum for that? Originally Posted by Miss Sophie Bella

Miss Sophie--I was joking, as in, yeah if I get caught with you we will tell everyone it is a book club. I'm sorry if I offended you. Sometimes jokes in writing just don't come across. A thousand apologies.

Miss Sophie--I was joking, as in, yeah if I get caught with you we will tell everyone it is a book club. I'm sorry if I offended you. Sometimes jokes in writing just don't come across. A thousand apologies. Originally Posted by barneyrubble

It's my wide-eyed guess that she knew that, Mr. Rubble. Just as my post to you was a joke as well.

Elisabeth

Dang, every time I get to hear "Fresh Air" they tend to discuss subject like Faulkner's use of the subjunctive. Originally Posted by Willen

You know, I would have liked to have heard about that topic!

Elisabeth

Well, if they don't like smart ass subbies, I ain't for them. I took your comment in stride, Ms. Elizabeth, so no worries.

Miss Sophie Bella...I haven't had the pleasure of spending time with you yet (but I know Ella). I'd love to join this book club. Are we starting with "Whip Smart"????

BTW, like you, I'm a top and I'm loving the threads in this "Realm".

Oh, BR...stop! You're just being sassy. You know I like your jokes.

Elisabeth and Jsparrow, let's do have a book club! I would love to read Whip Smart or Venus in Furs. I've also been wanting to read The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Chabon, which I hear is very sexy and fun fiction.

We could also write dirty stories about our mutual friend Ella, share them and call it a "book club"...

Oh, BR...stop! You're just being sassy. You know I like your jokes.

Elisabeth and Jsparrow, let's do have a book club! I would love to read Whip Smart or Venus in Furs. I've also been wanting to read The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Chabon, which I hear is very sexy and fun fiction.

We could also write dirty stories about our mutual friend Ella, share them and call it a "book club"... Originally Posted by Miss Sophie Bella

Yesterday, I actually ordered "The Crimson Petal and the White". You can get a gently used copy on amazon for less then $2.00 and shipping. But it's a TOMB of a book and written in the style of a Trollop novel (or worse for me, Dickens) and is almost 1000 pages long. I hadn't heard of the book before and so I did a quick trip to the round of reviews, etc. Sounds like a very interesting book but perhaps it's a little heavy for our first time out of the gate?

Any other suggestions? I don't mind getting "Whip Smart" since this topic and book was the catalyst for the book club idea to begin with!

Sofie ... would you mind starting a new topic about this book club for our group? I'm exceptionally excited about the possibilities and where this idea could ultimately lead! Great BRAIN FOOD for us, at the very least!

Sincerely,
Elisabeth

Well Sophie, you know us foreign musicians (or is Australia part of Texas? I am starting to have my suspicions :-) ) Baudelaire usually is pretty good (especially in the original French). Unfortunately literature in the 20th and 21st centuries has gone the way of the dodo. Why bother using your brain when you can go to a film and use someone else's? With that said, I think the book forum is a great idea.

And I agree about the NPR Podcasts. They are intelligent (not as intelligent as Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me!, but pretty damn smart never the less). As we all know, sex is 95% in the head, which is why intelligent people like Sophie are so damn sexy!