The Happy Hooker: My Own Story

by Xaviera Hollander, Robin Moore (With), Yvonne Dunleavy (With)

Overview

The 30th anniversary edition of one of the modern classics of the sexual revolution—with a new Afterword by the author.

An international phenomenon upon its initial publication in 1972, The Happy Hooker established Xaviera Hollander—previously the most powerful madam in New York City—as the world's best-known observer and commentator on sexual issues. A racy account of her life behind the brothel door, The Happy Hooker became an instant classic that marked the intersection between the Playboy generation and the sexual revolution of the feminist era. Hollander left no vice unturned, covering lesbianism, bondage, and other sexual appetites with a frank tone that left the reader with no doubt that they were listening to a master…or mistress, as it were.

Now restored gloriously to print in a first-ever trade paperback edition, The Happy Hooker will reintroduce a whole new generation to the carefree days of swinging in the '60s and '70s.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060014162
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/04/2002
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	372,700
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.76(d)

About the Author

Xaviera Hollander's first book, The Happy Hooker, was published in 1972; since then it has been translated into fifteen languages and sold millions of copies around the world. Hollander began writing the column Call Me Madam in Penthouse that same year — a role she fulfills to this day — and has been named the magazine's most popular columnist. Now a promoter of the arts in her native Holland and the author of more than a dozen books, she divides her time between Spain and Amsterdam.

Editorial Reviews

Xaviera Hollander has been writing a Penthouse column for 30 years. She chronicled her life as a "high-class New York madam" in 1972's The Happy Hooker: My Own Story, which now returns to print. Frankly discussing lesbianism, bondage, voyeurism and run-ins with lawyers and the FBI, Hollander's book was an international bestseller. In her new epilogue, Hollander rather questionably attests that although her stories may not be as shocking or taboo now as they were in 1972, "the business of sex [has] a new relevance" since September 11. Regan Books will also publish Hollander's new memoir, Child No More, in June (a review will run in an upcoming issue). Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Dutch madam Hollander scored big with this 1972 autobiography, which became a best seller 15 million copies worldwide. Although the book ended up in the hands of respectable readers, it's little more than smut, as Hollander recounts how she left Holland for a job as a secretary in New York, got bored, and became a prostitute and brothel manager (doesn't everybody?). Three decades later, when you can find raunchier stuff on prime-time TV, this is kind of kitschy. This 30th-anniversary edition contains a new epilog. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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