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Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore
by
In this scorching, mournful, often explicit, and never less than moving literary novel by the famed creator of the Easy Rawlins series, Debbie Dare, a black porn queen, has to come to terms with her sordid life in the adult entertainment industry after her tomcatting husband dies in a hot tub. Electrocuted. With another woman in there with him. Debbie decides she just isn'
...more
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Hardcover, 272 pages
Published
May 13th 2014
by Doubleday
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Warning: This review contains mature language, just like the book
This may come as a surprise to you: I hated this book.
With hatred that burned like a violent and virulent STD.
Am I the only 1-star here? I might be.
This time, I don't feel confused about why everyone else liked it but I don't I feel bad about hating this book, either. Today, I am full of self-righteous indignation and I am fine with that.
I chose this story on a whim, based solely on the title, cover, and author.
The title, a riff on ...more
This may come as a surprise to you: I hated this book.
With hatred that burned like a violent and virulent STD.
Am I the only 1-star here? I might be.
This time, I don't feel confused about why everyone else liked it but I don't I feel bad about hating this book, either. Today, I am full of self-righteous indignation and I am fine with that.
I chose this story on a whim, based solely on the title, cover, and author.
The title, a riff on ...more

Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore, is the first novel I've read by Walter Mosley. I know, I know. What rock have I been living under? And to begin with this? What about the Easy Rawlins novels that are more my speed?
Debbie Dare thrills the world with exhilarating pornographic scenes as a living. After filming a scene with a costar, she goes home to find that her husband has died in a "freak" accident involving an underage female, and a camera. You put two and two together. Almost immediately after ne ...more
Debbie Dare thrills the world with exhilarating pornographic scenes as a living. After filming a scene with a costar, she goes home to find that her husband has died in a "freak" accident involving an underage female, and a camera. You put two and two together. Almost immediately after ne ...more

A recurring theme in Walter Mosley's prolific career is an existential reawakening of his main character. Whether it be jilted Cordell Carmell's sexual awakening and subsequent odyssey in the erotic Killing Johnny Fry: A Sexistential Novel, 91-year-old Ptolemy reclaiming his life and purpose in The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, Socrates Fortlow's musings, or even Easy Rawlins's journey in the later books in his series. His new book with the awesome title, Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore, is in the sam
...more

Oct 19, 2013
Robert
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
robert-s-reads,
netgalley
Debbie may not do it anymore, but she was pretty damn good at it when she did it. She started out giving fifteen dollar blowjobs in her teens, living a life on the streets, and in the passenger seat of the latest motor vehicle, and offering up her own piece of heaven to the casual male observer who just happened to park his car in the parking lot and beckon her over. Her long platinum blond hair and crystal blue eyes along with the tattoo under her eye became her trademark in an industry filled
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My rating is actually 3,5 stars. Click here to see my video review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfpAV...
...more

Walter Moseley writes like a girl
Or more precisely Walter Moseley writes like a woman because he does a bang up job of getting inside Debbie’s head and soul. Be warned that there’s some adult material in this book since Debbie is an adult film star as is her husband and lots of her friends. That part is almost incidental though because this is a story about a woman growing up and becoming enlightened and determined to live a life more in keeping with her values.
Debbie can be tough, in her world ...more
Or more precisely Walter Moseley writes like a woman because he does a bang up job of getting inside Debbie’s head and soul. Be warned that there’s some adult material in this book since Debbie is an adult film star as is her husband and lots of her friends. That part is almost incidental though because this is a story about a woman growing up and becoming enlightened and determined to live a life more in keeping with her values.
Debbie can be tough, in her world ...more

May 01, 2014
Kate
added it
It's true. Debbie doesn't do it anymore. She does other things now. Most of them are boring.
...more

Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore is a great novel in the long tradition of great American novels, or even Great American Novels, but because it chooses to be great while also being about a porn star and containing multiple explicit sex scenes, I suspect a lot of people who would like it are going to ignore it. This is wrongheaded of them. If you only read one novel a year, you could do a lot worse than making it Debbie, because this is a book about race, gender, crime and justice in America, lust, f
...more

Clearly I need to read about porn stars more often because this book was hella awesome! I've also always wanted to read Walter Mosley so I'm glad I finally got around to it, this was a great introduction to his work. When I saw how friggin amazing the cover art was on this book I knew I had to read it. HAD TO. Seriously, just take a moment to appreciate the cover art, it's stunning. It makes you want to pick up the book. You can't stop looking! And once you find out it's about a porn star you ab
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This read was pretty good, the story was based on the many facets of Love, the evolution of one's life, and social climates, and as usual with most Mosley characters, self-realization and survival. Master of naming characters Mosley never disappoints.
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The writing, sentence flow and prose will keep the rating from falling below a 3, if not for these elements I would go 2. Unfortunately, the blurb gives away most of the plot so there really isn’t anything for me to spoil here.
Debbie, is a porn star who fell into the business at an early age and after having the big O on the set of one of her movies, she decides to quit the business. She intimates that she hadn’t had an orgasm in 10 years and this one was so intense it just really transformed s ...more
Debbie, is a porn star who fell into the business at an early age and after having the big O on the set of one of her movies, she decides to quit the business. She intimates that she hadn’t had an orgasm in 10 years and this one was so intense it just really transformed s ...more

What a souped up synopsis for such a boring book! The characters were boring & Debbie’s journey after the death of her husband wasn’t interesting. The writing was sooo dull which made the main character hard to empathize with. I kept saying throughout this book “I can tell that this was written by a man.” Whew, chile... I’m reclaiming the time I spend on this one.

Jun 29, 2014
Arlena Dean
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
4-stars,
a-good-book,
erotica,
relationships,
my-reviews,
mystery,
adult-fiction,
fast-paced,
african-american
Title: Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore
Author: Walter Mosley
Publisher: Doubleday
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: 4
Review:
"Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore" by Walter Mosley...
What is this novel about?
"In this scorching, mournful, often explicit, and never less than moving literary novel by the famed creator of the Easy Rawlins series, Debbie Dare, a black porn queen, has to come to terms with her sordid life in the adult entertainment industry after her tomcatting husband dies in a hot tub. Electrocuted. ...more

Debbie Dare Does Los Angeles - and then she doesn't. Even Walter Mosley's less satisfying efforts are still better than most.
Debbie Dare (Sandra Peel) is a porn star who comes home to find her husband electrocuted in the bathtub with a 16 year old girl. Dare then decides to turn her life around but as in true Mosley fashion there are lots of people who are preventing her from doing that. This is not your typical Walter Mosley novel but make no mistake about it this is pure Mosley - and that's a ...more
Debbie Dare (Sandra Peel) is a porn star who comes home to find her husband electrocuted in the bathtub with a 16 year old girl. Dare then decides to turn her life around but as in true Mosley fashion there are lots of people who are preventing her from doing that. This is not your typical Walter Mosley novel but make no mistake about it this is pure Mosley - and that's a ...more

****ARC generously supplied by DoubleDay/Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review****
Whenever I find myself being so enchanted by a story, to the point that I just can't stop reading, I know right then and there that I'm onto something awesome...

"Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore" was so amazing, that words can hardly describe how good this book was. Not only was it amazingly captivating, but the characters were absolutely phenomenal. Debbie/Sandra herself was a bright star in a universe full o ...more
Whenever I find myself being so enchanted by a story, to the point that I just can't stop reading, I know right then and there that I'm onto something awesome...

"Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore" was so amazing, that words can hardly describe how good this book was. Not only was it amazingly captivating, but the characters were absolutely phenomenal. Debbie/Sandra herself was a bright star in a universe full o ...more

As with most Walter Mosley's stories, I finished this one within 24 hours. Even during boring parts, his novels still makes you want to read on. The graphic sex may be off-putting. Yet, instead of being exploitative, they are important to the story. Here we see a young lady choosing the demeaning porn world, a world I was already familiar reading about. The book is almost as accurate as the stories and documentaries detailing the realities of the porn world. The real beauty is the book not being
...more

There is a Goodreads thread that asks whether the title or the cover of a book is more important in terms of grabbing attention. In other words, which is more likely to get you to pick it up and consider it? For me it is usually the cover that grabs my attention first, with the title a close second. I like to walk through the aisles of a bookstore from A to Z and pick up interesting looking things along the way. A good cover can stop me in my tracks. Not that a good title isn't important. It is,
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I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
When Bill Clinton was president, as he was either boarding or leaving Air Force One, the press noticed that he carried a book with him. It must have been a very slow news day, because the media was suddenly passionate to know what Clinton was reading. It was a novel, one of the Easy Rawlins mysteries, by Walter Mosley. Mosley was relatively unheard of in those days, but if Bill Clinton was reading him to pass his in-air time, surely ...more
When Bill Clinton was president, as he was either boarding or leaving Air Force One, the press noticed that he carried a book with him. It must have been a very slow news day, because the media was suddenly passionate to know what Clinton was reading. It was a novel, one of the Easy Rawlins mysteries, by Walter Mosley. Mosley was relatively unheard of in those days, but if Bill Clinton was reading him to pass his in-air time, surely ...more

This is the first book I've ever read by Mosley and I'm glad it was. It's a straight forward character study that pulls you into Debbie's world. It's a nice change to read a novel that isn't fantasy based. I enjoyed this book a lot and I know I'll be reading more of Mosley's books, both fiction and fantasy, in the future. Debbie is a very relatable character. She's just a woman who feels lost and wants to find her way. I loved all the side characters except Rash. His connection with Debbie led t
...more

This book was pretty weak. It gives off the vibe at the beginning that there is real peril or a challenge that the main character must go through to start a new life for herself but by the second chapter it seems everything just falls into place. Theres no real back story or uphill climb for this woman. All she really did was lose conciousness a lot and everything just sort of worked itself out. The ending also seemed a little tacked on and unnecessary. For a novel that seemed like it was steppi
...more

As is his wont, Walter Mosley jumps across genres in this fantastic romp of a read. I could not get enough of Debbie, a porn star who quits the endless loop just in time for her “producer” husband to die not only in his mistress’ arms but in a pile of debt. This book is snarky, sexy, and as unstoppable as its main character. — Hannah Depp
from The Best Books We Read In July: http://bookriot.com/2015/08/03/riot-r... ...more
from The Best Books We Read In July: http://bookriot.com/2015/08/03/riot-r... ...more

DEBBIE DOESN'T DO IT ANYMORE is definitely a 4.5 star novel.
Walter Mosley kept me fully engaged and I never wanted to put the book down. I was a tad disappointed with the ending; however, I really don't know how I'd prefer for it to have ended.
I'm glad I picked up DEBBIE DOESN'T DO IT ANYMORE and recommend the novel to others. ...more
Walter Mosley kept me fully engaged and I never wanted to put the book down. I was a tad disappointed with the ending; however, I really don't know how I'd prefer for it to have ended.
I'm glad I picked up DEBBIE DOESN'T DO IT ANYMORE and recommend the novel to others. ...more

Terrible. I really disliked the story, the protagonist, and the writing that never seemed to go anywhere. I kept waiting for something to happen. Did I mention how much I disliked the protagonist? And not because of her choice of career! Her actions never made any sense, and it was almost impossible to feel sympathy for her. The best thing about this book? The intriguing cover.

Honestly one of the most mindblowingly amazing works of literature. Please read this. Yes, it starts with very graphic sex and that is important. Yes, it will feel like someone punched you in the face when you finish. Yes, it will all be worth it.
There is a lot to unpack here and I think I need processing time and discussion. I will start on the rest of Mosley's work soon. ...more
There is a lot to unpack here and I think I need processing time and discussion. I will start on the rest of Mosley's work soon. ...more

From Debbie Dare To Sandra Peel
"Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore" (2014) is the latest novel of the famed and prolific African American -- Jewish writer, Walter Mosley (b. 1952). Although best-known as the author of the Easy Rawlins mystery series, Mosley has written other types of fiction as well, including this, his most recent book. Mosley's novel offers a rare and hard look at the multi-million dollar pornographic movie industry headquartered near Los Angeles. The central character of the novel ...more
"Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore" (2014) is the latest novel of the famed and prolific African American -- Jewish writer, Walter Mosley (b. 1952). Although best-known as the author of the Easy Rawlins mystery series, Mosley has written other types of fiction as well, including this, his most recent book. Mosley's novel offers a rare and hard look at the multi-million dollar pornographic movie industry headquartered near Los Angeles. The central character of the novel ...more

Walter Mosley's "Debbie Doesn't Do it Anymore" begins with a bang and ends with something approaching relief or resolution. Debbie Dare (formerly and subsequently known as Sandra Peel) is a star in the Los Angeles `adult-entertainment" industry. A woman of color she is known to her fans by her shockingly bright platinum hair and bright blue eyes, courtesy of the contact lens industry. The story opens with Debbie doing a routine `performance' that unintentionally and in violation of the industry
...more

I consider myself to be a Walter Mosley fan. My experience with his writings, though have been to mostly stay away from the Easy Rawlins works, which I could never really get into, and read every other book that he writes. I have greatly enjoyed all of those that I have read and this one is no exception.
In this book, Debbie Dare/Sandra Peel/Pinkney is a porn star who is resolved to leave the game after the unexpected and accidental death of her husband. However, her exit from the industry, of c ...more
In this book, Debbie Dare/Sandra Peel/Pinkney is a porn star who is resolved to leave the game after the unexpected and accidental death of her husband. However, her exit from the industry, of c ...more

I won this book from Goodreads, and it was my first exposure to Walter Mosely. I found the story to be a bit of a mixed bag. Anyone who picks this book up thinking it will be a sex story ala Fifty Shades, will be disappointed. Honestly the first 2/3 of this book is so much more than that. Debbie Dare, aka Sandra Pinkney, comes home from a day at the porn set and finds her husband has been electrocuted in her bathtub along with an underage girl that she had tried to help out. His death sets in mo
...more
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Walter Mosley (b. 1952) is the author of the bestselling mystery series featuring Easy Rawlins, as well as numerous other works, from literary fiction and science fiction to a young adult novel and political monographs. His short fiction has been widely published, and his nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times Magazine and the Nation, among other publications. Mosley is the winner of numero
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