Rent Girl

Rating:
Summary: pictures better than and outnumbered by words
Review: I got this book because I've been exploring the graphic novel/comics medium for a while. I don't think it really fits in that medium. I'm not sure it fits anywhere.

There are way too many words for this to be a graphic novel or comic, IMHO. It's a so-so story about a dyke hooker with a nice picture on every page. One gets the feeling the pictures are what makes this sale-able--I can't imagine any house publishing the words alone. (Though if they were to do so, they might at least edit the really annoying grammatical errors throughout.)

I'm giving it three as a sort of benefit of the doubt--maybe I'm approaching it too narrowly and the picture book for grownups is coming back. The pictures are neat and do seem to flesh out (no pun intended) the fairly mundane narrative.

Characters--there are some. You don't really care about them very much. Conflicts aplenty, but of the "then this happened" variety. The plot seems to wrap itself up tritely and in a hurry as if the author were just tired of the pointless exercise. To presume themes or metaphor or anything literary would be overdoing it.

There are some charming narrative moments, however. And it's easy to read if you can ignore the dreadful lack of editing. (e.g. "Than" is always spelled "then", and sometimes it's as if the spellcheck stuck in the wrong word while trying to decipher a typo.)

Going into the book, I had some guesses: a dyke prostitute probably hates the johns, will probably have a hard time being girlfriends with the woman who got her into the game, will probably have some interesting insights into the oldest profession. The last guess was dead wrong--nothing here showed me anything hollywood hasn't already. I thought a memoir of a dyke would at least present a complex portrait of the sex trade, but the portrait of the prostitute was a callous as any a man would write.

When you buy a rent girl, you get sex. When you buy Rent Girl, you get a lackluster treatment of the lamest possible prostitute memoir.



Rating:
Summary: beautifully written, beautifully drawn
Review: Lyrical, insightful, honest, and rich with detail, Rent Girl provides an unvarnished, up-close look at sex work and hustling without ever being prurient or preachy. The story is fascinating, the prose is poetic, and the art is sensational. Fans of Eileen Myles and Phoebe Gloeckner will love this book. Just amazing.

Rating:
Summary: Truth Behind Closed Doors
Review: Michelle Tea never seems tired of writing about her life. If she keeps up to her to usual standards, there's no reason why the rest of us would ever tire of reading about it either. RENT GIRL focuses on Tea's history in the sex trade, a witty graphic novel/memoir that is not only humorous and inspiring but beautifully illustrated.

Tea is a fantastic writer who does not shy away from revealing the "mechanics" of her exploits to an encounter with a bad case of crabs. There is no "woe is me" monologues or angry tirades against an unforgiving society. She describes the absurdity of her clients, from a self-proclained warlock to cocaine-addicted business men. Her writing masterfully remains passively unapologetic and full of the witty prose that Tea is known for. The art work is spectacular. Laurenn McCubbin's eye for detail captures near-perfect facial expressions and the raw emotion of Tea's work. I hope the two will collaborate again.

RENT GIRL is simply amazing. Michelle Tea's personal accounts are simple yet complicated with jaded opinions and poetic verses about faked sex acts and looking for stability in a chaotic world. This won't disappoint.

Rating:
Summary: Boring, waste of money
Review: This book was a complete waste of money. It was so boring and really had nothing exciting in it. The only reason I actually finished the book was because I paid over $25 for it and I felt I had to finish it because of the high cost. You are really paying for the art. Please don't buy this book if you think you are going to get an interesting story.

Rating:
Summary: IN "TOP TEN BOOKS OF 2004," FRONTIERS NEWSMAGAZINE
Review: This graphic novel is less about a working-class lesbian's foray into the sex industry and more about the liberation of life experience. Tea reinforces the fact that she's the real deal: Her prose is colloquial and well-crafted--typos notwithstanding. And McCubbin's illustrations? Each is a little piece of perfection: shimmering, warm, and bright.