Blogs and Stories
What Hookers Do on Valentine's Day
The idea of sex with a guy who normally gets paid for it began to unnerve me. "Professional courtesy" made our hypothetical encounter sound too much like a transaction. Would he think of me as a nonpaying customer? But I had every right to think of him that way! Two sex-industry egos colliding wasn't the answer at all.
R's reaction to my career had produced a romantic sizzle that was missing from my flirtation with Julian. I began to concentrate on my writing, but left my call-girl options open. I wanted to abstain from escorting—up to a point—and R was happy to support me. But when I wasn’t seeing customers I felt trapped. Flashing my bourgeois trophy around made me feel naughty and subversive, but settling down for real felt like defeat.
I started worrying about the logistics of our lives together and wondering if I could fit into R's world—the corporate wives were terrifying! What if word got around the office that R's wife had been a hooker since her teens? What would that do to his career? R thought having a baby would protect us: "Nobody wants to be seen bad-mouthing the mother of a guy's child." In other words, he wanted me to be the CEO of his DNA. I wasn't convinced.
Children and work began to divide us. R and I spent months in couples' therapy trying to connect the dots. There were things we never had the courage to talk about, but when we separated, it was a civilized, surprisingly tender parting of the ways.
As Valentines go, a diamond engagement ring is the ultimate trophy, and I still have the ring R gave me, but my trophy has become a souvenir of something more lasting—a lesson about the realities of love trumping the symbolism of a holiday.
Tracy Quan's latest novel is Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl, set in Provence and praised in The Nation as a "deft account of occupational rigors and anxieties before the crash." A columnist for The Guardian, Tracy's debut, Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, and the sequel, Diary of a Married Call Girl, are international bestsellers.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Obama, the Un-decider
Lee Siegel has written about culture and politics and is the author of three books: Falling Upwards: Essays in Defense of the Imagination; Not Remotely Controlled: Notes on Television; and, most recently, Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob. In 2002, he received a National Magazine Award for reviews and criticism.
Mary Magdalene and Me
Tracy Quan's latest novel is Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl, set in Provence and praised in The Nation as a "deft account of occupational rigors and anxieties before the crash." Tracy's debut, Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, and the sequel, Diary of a Married Call Girl, are international bestsellers. A regular columnist for The Guardian, she has written for many publications including Cosmopolitan, The Financial Times, and The New York Times.
Bedding the Boss
Tracy Quan's latest novel is Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl, set in Provence and praised in The Nation as a "deft account of occupational rigors and anxieties before the crash." Tracy's debut, Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, and the sequel, Diary of a Married Call Girl, are international bestsellers. A regular columnist for The Guardian, she has written for many publications including Cosmopolitan, The Financial Times, and The New York Times.
Bernie Made Off With My Wife
Tracy Quan's latest novel is Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl, set in Provence and praised in The Nation as a "deft account of occupational rigors and anxieties before the crash." Tracy's debut, Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, and the sequel, Diary of a Married Call Girl, are international bestsellers. A regular columnist for The Guardian, she has written for many publications including Cosmopolitan, The Financial Times, and The New York Times.
catch up on laundry
Don't get me wrong i love call girls as much as the next guy, but why would anyone care what one does on Valentine's day? This must be the beast's way of being daring and sophisticated.
Also, why would one want a hooker's opinion on anything? What next? Are you going to get a porn star's opinion on the bailout?
Journalism is dead.
Wait I know: Engage in sex for money! Just like on Christmas and Presidents Day.
Is this the "Sugardaddy" chick? Lately, the beast makes me feel like I'm 10 again, getting caught reading Cosmo. How have I come to like a 'news' site that holds whores & idiots (I'm talking to you, Meghan McCain) in such high esteem?
I'm guessing that it would be incredibly difficult to combine the oldest profession with a serious relationship, and I thought this article was interesting. The author seems smart and thoughtful.
I wonder how many people really make a living in this profession? I'm pretty isolated as things go, and it's not like the government publishes accurate stats on something like this. Hmmmm...
Valentine's is the holiday we celebrate prostitution. Men are encouraged to spend obscene amounts of money on women in the form of jewelry and flowers and women have sex with them as a reward. A call girl is the most qualified person to write on the the subject.
Entertaining trip through the complexities of dual life. Tracy Quan explains the inevitable entanglements like a heterosexual Proust.
bigwurzz, what's wrong with a "hooker's" opinion? Their opinions are not any less valid than yours, and in this case actually contributed to something, unlike your useless post here. I always wonder why people like you seek validation in criticizing someone else. Get a life.Tracy happens to be a very successful writer and author - far more successful than I bet you've ever been. So that "hooker" > bigwurzz.
Jessica150, many, many more than you might suspect. One estimate I've seen suggests that as many as 10% of college women will earn at least some income selling sexual services.
Journalism isn't dead - the Daily Beast is evolution of thoughtful information available to an age of cyberphiles. Do I know Tina? Nope, but I run a popular tour company in Princeton and respect any business that acts on a great idea when they see one! GO DAILY BEAST! YOU'RE MY DAILY BREAD!
Too many details missing. It sounds as if she only had enjoyable sex with pleasant men and woman. No persistent bores?
I would imagine that there are plenty of men who would want the services of a call girl on Valentine's Day. I was hoping to hear more about THEM. I like Tracy Quan and everything, but she's been out of the game for YEARS. I was reading her on Salon.com at least six years ago.
Oh, and she should have returned the ring.
Gosh, she makes prostitution sound like every girl's dream job. Is she actively trying to get young girls interested in being whores? Is everyone here so completely desensitised and liberal that they don't see the complete abject disgust inherent in being a prostitute? Why, Tracy Quan makes it sound so appealing I think I'll sign my daughters up straight away!
Absolutely nothing in this blog leads me to believe that this woman is real. A real ex- or current hooker, that is. I could have written as much, and I've never taken a dime from anyone for sex.
I'm thinking this author is one of the Gen-fraudsters that have made a career out of titillating memoirs -- all completely concocted.
Go over the blog again. There's absolutely zero in it that has the aura of authentic experience. Zero. She just got your imaginations going, that's all. And that's so easy to do.
The only thing that struck me was the writing. It sounded like a thousand women's magazine articles, that boring, generic tone.
And I agree with joymars, I suspect this was all made up. Where is the Daily Beast getting these people?
Try reading about the author. Its a single click. You can do it.
I second that; what is Tina Brown thinking?! Once, ok. It was funny. But now it's almost everyday--another Oprah moment.
And plus her writing style could be much improved.
I have to agree with joymars. For some reason, I was thinking the exact same thing when I read it. Her tone is way to candid for her situation...although perhaps that's exactly what she is going for: pumping up the "shock" value that we Americans seemingly love.
Initially, I thought TDB wanted to be taken seriously. What's next for TDB? Live video porn?
We know why young attractive people (often women) read news and biz info to us on TV - but the context never ventures from news and biz. CNBC's formula - "hot ladies talk money with bald dudes" as Jon Stewart once said, ultimately needs to have a focus on biz (otherwise, why bother with the bald dudes or even with the biz talk? Just get Tracy Quan.).
TDB seems to want to blend the two.
I guess TDB justifies this by the size of their audience.
I hear that gladiator fights to the death in Ancient Rome got pretty good audiences? Why not publish that? Times are tough. People might be desperate enough?
For those of you who don't like the fact that The Daily Beast is including blogs by hookers, why -- after reading the headline -- are you here?
It's one thing to say, "I personally wouldn't be a prostitute." It's really quite another to condemn another person's career choice.
Nonetheless, all of the "Outraged on Amsterdam Avenue" posters took the time to read the article and to comment on it.
Love this. And would love to hear a hookers suggestion for a Stimulus Plan!
jackbutler5555, I can only speak for myself.
The reason why such I'm still here despite TDB's decision to publish content like Tracy Quan's that I believe damages its brand is because the TDB article entitled "The Race to Run the GOP Gets Even More Ridiculous" by Ana Marie Cox was the BEST political article I've seen in a long time.
GOP sites aren't honest enough to publish an article like that and Dem sites are too partisan to portray the GOP as anything other that Hitler-lite.
For an Independent who simply wants the truth, Cox's stuff is a delight.
I don't want to see TDB shoot itself in the foot and trash its potential to produce Independent political analysis.
Dear Tracy,
ok, im old fashioned. i wouldn't want a prostitute for a girlfriend or a mate.
not just about dealing with the fact that the imagery is as unsettling as it can be when you're supposedly in love.
there's also the life-and-death STDs.
but anyway, that being said, i thought the content of your article here was adolescent and really, not very revealing. So, ok, you've earned a pat on the head.
Kudos for making a living with such a limited mentality.
Kilroy, I don't see how an interest in one story precludes an interest in the other.
You know what, either it's perfectly OK to be a whore, in which case you can disclose your occupation to your boyfriends, or it's not, in which case, get a different job.
You've got some rules for other people, I see. You can only choose an occupation you can disclose to your boyfriend or else you got to get another job. Maybe you should let other people make their own choices about that? I'm just asking. I hope you don't have a rule about my asking.
Thank you.
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