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43rd out of 43 books
—
29 voters
Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl (Nancy Chan #1)
by
Tracy Quan (Goodreads Author)
Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl is a wonderfully intelligent, sexually frank, rollicking novel that introduces us to Nancy Chan, a turn-of-the-millennium call girl who lives and works on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Nancy is full of contradictory desires; she frequently has to choose between making love and making money. On good days, she gets to do both. Surrounded by...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
April 22nd 2003
by Broadway
(first published 2001)
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Well, this book definitely provided me with plenty of trashy entertainment and it was great! You can't expect a literary masterpiece when you pick up a book that has condoms on the cover. But it was a very interesting and I couldn't put it down. The author's writing style was very casual and concise. She included just enough detail, which is neccessary in a book about prostitution I guess. This book is an easy, enjoyable, entertaining, but kind of embarassing read (Come on, condoms on the cover?...more
Trashy, yes, but also funny, poignant, and even (at times) thought provoking.
I finished this book purely because I hate to start a book and not finish it. The main character is a very hard to like. This has nothing to do with her job. She is a self-obsessed narcissist and although the book centres around her trying to maintain a romantic relationship while being a prostitute, there is no warmth or connection with the character. She states her feelings so matter of fact that it feels almost robotic and disconnected. It paints an unfair description of her work too. In one...more
My Thoughts
I didn't really expect much from a book about a call girl with condoms on the cover. I guess it wasn't awful but it wasn't an easy read either. I think the most annoying part for me personally, was the fact the author tries to set it up as if the main character is writing in her diary, so each section starts out this way but eventually switches over to third person narrative. That inconsistency annoys me. That and the quick setup within the first few pages that make you realize the ga...more
I didn't really expect much from a book about a call girl with condoms on the cover. I guess it wasn't awful but it wasn't an easy read either. I think the most annoying part for me personally, was the fact the author tries to set it up as if the main character is writing in her diary, so each section starts out this way but eventually switches over to third person narrative. That inconsistency annoys me. That and the quick setup within the first few pages that make you realize the ga...more
Enjoyed re-reading this book as I read it so long ago I'd pretty much forgotten everything. Interesting book about Nancy, a call girl who wanted to be hooker from a very young age. She wasn't forced into it. Although she doesn't say it in so many words. I think she just liked the money. The only thing I don't get about her is why she ran away from home. She was turning tricks in her hometown. And she makes no mention of her parents being nasty or anything. I have no idea how she manages to keep...more
I was seriously disappointed by this book because Quan's short pieces on Salon.com were nothing short of brilliant, an intimate, real look at the life of a career call girl. The book took elements from those pieces and sloppily put them together to form a narrative that was completely unbelievable and unrealistic. I guess it would be OK as a beach book, but only if you get it from the library.
It always adds an extra bit of spice to a book when someone whose opinion you trust recommends a book to you. You think that this person who knows you reasonably well feels that reading a specific book is likely to resonate with you in some way, and that some sort of deeper insight into life is going to take place.
How empty, disappointed and even confused I feel therefore having struggled through this rather dirge like tome none the wiser as to why it was suggested I might find something from it...more
How empty, disappointed and even confused I feel therefore having struggled through this rather dirge like tome none the wiser as to why it was suggested I might find something from it...more
Written in diary-like format, which I always like a lot. Makes it super easy to read. The story went on and on and then wrapped up so quickly at the end, you weren’t even sure what happened, which was very very weird. So to sum it up, the ending sucked. Here is what happened before that. Girl is a hooker but her fiancé doesn’t know. She has crazy friends in the business and spends like half her time trying not to let her two worlds overlap. I wish she was more damaged. She wasn’t. I wish this bo...more
This book was pretty much as trashy as you'd expect, with an ending that was so abrupt that it left me wondering as if pages were actually missing from my copy of the book. Nonetheless, it was pretty readable throughout. If you think this book would appeal to you, you're probably right.
Bold, Frank and Naughty
I have to be honest I picked this book up at the thrift store. I could not resist the cover.. It had condoms on it for goodness sake. I have to say this book was a book of fiction thank goodness. I have to say the story I just did not did not think was remotely realistic (I like my fiction to have some realism in it). My idea of a call girl was not engaged to be married. The living two lives thing was entertaining however I must say that this book was not one that will sta...more
I have to be honest I picked this book up at the thrift store. I could not resist the cover.. It had condoms on it for goodness sake. I have to say this book was a book of fiction thank goodness. I have to say the story I just did not did not think was remotely realistic (I like my fiction to have some realism in it). My idea of a call girl was not engaged to be married. The living two lives thing was entertaining however I must say that this book was not one that will sta...more
I had my first and last attempts at reading "chick-lit" last year. I tried really hard but just couldn't get past all the slang and the clothes and shoe references about which I knew nothing. As I wish to remain in my nerdy ignorance I don't see myself dipping my toe into the shallow pool of chick-lit anytime soon. However, in saying all of this I made an exception for this book as it is about the erotic arts and could have proved interesting if I could have gotten past all the tragic designer r...more
Apr 06, 2013
Dark-Draco
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
chick-lit,
gave-up-reading
Well, I gave it a go. It's not really my genre, but I hate to see a book leave the house without trying it. I read the first 4 chapters, but when it came to picking it up again later, I realised that I just didn't care enough about the characters to carry on. Nancy, the 'heroine' has manufactured a very complicated life, with a fiancée that doesn't know she's a call girl and a colleague who's being stalked by one of her clients. The book was very well written, so no complaints there - I just don...more
So the title and the cover say it all. Literary fiction this is not. But it IS a fun read. What else could a book about a private call girl be?
Yes it's trashy, but you know that before picking it up and so if trashy isn't your thing you should be observant enough to steer clear. That said, if trashy IS your thing and you're in need of a fun escape from the stress that is life, you could do far worse than pick up this book.
It follows Nancy, who is questioning whether she wants to marry her fiance...more
Yes it's trashy, but you know that before picking it up and so if trashy isn't your thing you should be observant enough to steer clear. That said, if trashy IS your thing and you're in need of a fun escape from the stress that is life, you could do far worse than pick up this book.
It follows Nancy, who is questioning whether she wants to marry her fiance...more
I wanted to give this book 4 stars but because of the ending, I am torn between a 3 to 3.5 star rating.
I enjoyed reading this book, despite the stares and disapproving looks I got while riding the train or bus in the city, LOL. The whole call girl business and how women get into the profession is interesting to me in a voyeuristic kind of way. This book tells the story of Nancy Chan, a multi-ethnic/Asian woman who becomes a prostitute after running away from home at 14. She makes her way from pr...more
I enjoyed reading this book, despite the stares and disapproving looks I got while riding the train or bus in the city, LOL. The whole call girl business and how women get into the profession is interesting to me in a voyeuristic kind of way. This book tells the story of Nancy Chan, a multi-ethnic/Asian woman who becomes a prostitute after running away from home at 14. She makes her way from pr...more
Another book picked up in a hurry at LAX.
From the very first page I was wondering what scheme I could come up with, to be able to return the book (no scheme needed probably, I could have just walked back and returned it, huh?).
But then I kinda got used to it.
The story was VERY basic, although, thanks to the paranoid and detailed nature of Nancy, the main character, now I feel like I know everything about the High Class call girl etiquette.
Good to know…I will make a perfect call girl if I ever c...more
From the very first page I was wondering what scheme I could come up with, to be able to return the book (no scheme needed probably, I could have just walked back and returned it, huh?).
But then I kinda got used to it.
The story was VERY basic, although, thanks to the paranoid and detailed nature of Nancy, the main character, now I feel like I know everything about the High Class call girl etiquette.
Good to know…I will make a perfect call girl if I ever c...more
Mar 27, 2010
Charlotte (Buried in Books)
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
awful
Oh dear, oh dear oh dear. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't this. Do I really want to read 270 pages of therapy?? Of a call girl looking back at her life, talking about her friends and co-workers. I wanted to know more about the johns, what drove them.
Hearing about how Nancy - the call girl of the title, decided that she was going to be a prostitute at the age of 10 was a bit much for me. Add into that the fact that she's trying to keep her working life secret from her fiance, has neur...more
Hearing about how Nancy - the call girl of the title, decided that she was going to be a prostitute at the age of 10 was a bit much for me. Add into that the fact that she's trying to keep her working life secret from her fiance, has neur...more
This Book started out kind of slow for me but very interesting. As time goes on you begin to love Nacy and her crazy life! Trying to keep her life from her Fiance and his family. Things seem to fall apart and come back into place more than once during the book. All these things just come from the industry that she's in. Overall this book grows on you. Nancy seduces you with her hectic life and you can't help but sympathasize with her. When you finish there you get a nice little snipet of the nex...more
Ughhh, oh my god, what a pile of garbage. I mean, sure, it doesn't sound good from the title, but maybe it would be titillating in the manner of Diablo Cody's book? Um...wrong. So bad. For being a short book, it took me an awfully long time to claw my way through it. The only reason I continued to read it was because I'd started and stopped so many books by this point that I couldn't bear another failed attempt. I finished this to meet my goal of 50 books in one year, and I resent it.
I can't believe I read this whole book. The only reason I picked it up at a thrift store was because I really like the Showtime series "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" (based on the memoir that I'm waiting to read called Belle de Jour: Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl) and I was hoping it had the same flavor. I was wrong. It's not that I was looking for a book of any real substance, but this wasn't even high on the raunch-factor. There was no plot, no story, nothing. And the main character wasn't rem...more
I started to read it in December, but after one reading-sessions (where I came only until page 12) I left it on my bedside for some time and meanwhile read other books. I then picked up the book again, had to start from the beginning cause I forgot everything, and this time I stopped around page 25. The story (but what exactly is the story?) just doesn't seem to interest me, although it is really a refreshing idea to write from the view of a luxurous call girl in Manhattan.
I don't like giving a bad review, but have to be honest - I thought this book was utter tosh. I thought it might be kinda 'Sex and the City Uncut' or something, but I just found it uninteresting, unfunny and completely unsexy.
I don't think my lack of enthusiasm is due to the writing style as I've enjoyed 'diary' books before; but more due to the lack of plot and inability to feel interested in either Nancy's personal or professional life.
I don't think my lack of enthusiasm is due to the writing style as I've enjoyed 'diary' books before; but more due to the lack of plot and inability to feel interested in either Nancy's personal or professional life.
Upscale Manhattan call girl is in a quandary about getting married. I learned a lot about hooking in NYC, but I have serious issues with extramarital sex, even if it IS your source of income. Especially after you're married. I didn't feel I got to know Nancy except on the outside, and I certainly didn't feel sorry for her and her issues. I did want to see how it was resolved. Ick! I would not recommend this book even for chick lit.
I didn't really enjoy this book - usually I read a book in a day or two (possibly longer depending on the length) but this took me around 5 days because I just couldn't get into it. I didn't really care about the characters and I found it overall quite dull. I much preferred The Intimate Adventures Of A London Call Girl by Belle De Jour which is in the same vein.
Hideous. And it's so rare for me to criticize a novel. But really, the main character has no redeeming qualities, or even a pleasant personality. Whiny, shallow, sickeningly superficial - her clients were the only characters that held even a glimmer of redeeming qualities. The ending, which I held out for in hopes of some depraved drama at the narrator's expense, was sheer disappointment. Not even satisfying if I had been rooting for a "happy ending."
Really didnt enjoy this. Really didnt like the main person, Nancy, she made such a drama about such small things and i found it really unbelievable ... i mean who decides they want to be a hooker from age 10?? Really not someone i could warm to or relate to at all.
I have the second book which i will read at some point but i dont hold out much hope for it.
I have the second book which i will read at some point but i dont hold out much hope for it.
very interesting topic... actually written by a real former callgirl, it is too juicy to put down... i was a little embarrassed to bust it out in the doctor's office or the DMV though becasue the cover has two huge yellow comdoms on it! *LOL* but the story on the inside was worth having to be covert in public!
I have to say that I'm a little bit disappointed. What exactly happened with Allison and Jack? I'm not sure that a stalker just stops stalking you after he's tried a few times before. So yes, a bit disappointed.
Not a bad book though. I just expected more. I never stop reading once I've started, and I love reading, but this was just one of the books I had to force myself to finish.
Not a bad book though. I just expected more. I never stop reading once I've started, and I love reading, but this was just one of the books I had to force myself to finish.
Seemed like an awesome concept, sort of disturbing. I was put off by some of the visuals, and the age of the hooker. Escort. Whateevr when she started hooking. I was not too thrilled with this book, glad I didn't pay full price for it. I do not recommend. I will not be reading her books in the future.
Okay, it was a fun light read, but you can't just skip from peak of the protagonist's problem, the very climax of the book, to some happy moment after it has been resolved, and call that a novel. I could not help yelling as I put it down, "What?! You're not an author at all!"
Early days in this book but so far it's a bit Sophie Kinsella for me. Obviously a call girl is going to get caught out when she embarks on a serious relationship and getting engaged without telling your boyfriend - mad! The sexual requirements of her regulars are hilarious. I wonder how much research was needed on that one!!
Ideal for a bit of light reading when tired or chilling out. Never going to win a booker prize or indeed keep you hooked for more than an hour or two.
Ideal for a bit of light reading when tired or chilling out. Never going to win a booker prize or indeed keep you hooked for more than an hour or two.
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Tracy Quan is the author of the Nancy Chan trilogy.
Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl, her latest novel, is a 21st century adventure with a medieval twist. When Nancy travels to sunny Provence, hoping to escape her problems in New York, she discovers that the French countryside is 'ten times trickier than Manhattan.' Nothing in this temporary world is quite what it seems... Sex worker zealots. Mary...more
More about Tracy Quan...
Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl, her latest novel, is a 21st century adventure with a medieval twist. When Nancy travels to sunny Provence, hoping to escape her problems in New York, she discovers that the French countryside is 'ten times trickier than Manhattan.' Nothing in this temporary world is quite what it seems... Sex worker zealots. Mary...more
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Nov 15, 2011 05:40am