Anyone read "Paying for It" by Chester Brown?

LoveWomen's Avatar
Has anyone an opinion on the graphic novel "Paying for It" by Chester Brown?

Paying for It, "a comic strip memoir about being a john", is a 2011 graphic novel by Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown. A combination of memoir and polemic, the book explores Brown's decision to give up on romantic love and to take up the life of a "john" by frequenting prostitutes. The book, published by Drawn and Quarterly, was controversial, and a bestseller.

The book is concerned with Brown's conflicting desire to have sex, but not wanting to have another girlfriend after his partner Sook-Yin Lee breaks up with him. His solution is to forgo traditional boyfriend/girlfriend relationships and marriage. He takes up frequenting prostitutes, and comes to advocate prostitution as superior to the "possessive monogamy" of traditional male–female relations, which he debates with his friends throughout the book.

Brown presents his views in detail in the closing 50-page text section, which includes a 23-part appendix, end notes, and a note from friend and fellow cartoonist Seth. Despite being about the separation of sex from romantic love, Brown calls the book "a type of love story".[1]

He also has a new work (2016) titled "Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus",

It apparently is an interpretation of nine biblical stories of Prostitution...

Sounds interesting...
I didn't know this existed. I'll have to check it out.
JohnnyYanks's Avatar
I'm interested. Tell us more.
zeejoe's Avatar
JohnnyYanks's Avatar
Thanks for the link. I need to order a copy now.
Old-T's Avatar
  • Old-T
  • 04-14-2016, 12:37 PM
I will put it on my "to read" list. Thanks.
LoveWomen's Avatar
I got "Paying for It", read the whole thing in one sitting.

Very realistic, very accurate. Extremely thought provoking.

I often have wondered if I was simply rationalizing my participation in the hobby, but the author provides logical, practical reasons for the hobby to exist and prosper in the future.

Following is the New York Times review of the book written by Annie Sprinkle, author and prostitute for 20 years.

Highly Recommend this Book for fellow hobbyists and providers.

Next on our Eccie Book Club:

Annie Sprinkle, the author of “Dr. Sprinkle’s Spectacular Sex,” is an artist, activist and ecosex educator. She worked as a prostitute for 20 years.