{"product_id":"pretty-baby-a-memoir-paperback","title":"Pretty Baby: A Memoir - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eChris Belcher\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ebsolutely not to be missed.\" --\u003ci\u003eVogue\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\"A muscular, canny memoir about labor and power and gender...I couldn't put it down. What a fucking gorgeous book.\" --Carmen Maria Machado, author of \u003ci\u003eIn the Dream House\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eA queer teen rebel escapes small-town Appalachia and becomes Los Angeles's Renowned Lesbian Dominatrix in this searing and darkly funny memoir that upends our ideas about desire, class, and power.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe dominatrix is the id of American femininity. She says the words that we all wish we could say when we find ourselves frozen in the presence of men. \u003c\/i\u003eNo\u003ci\u003e is principal among them.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSo writes Chris Belcher, who appeared destined for a life of conventional femininity after she took first place in an infant beauty contest--a minor glory that followed her around a working-class town of 1,600 people in rural West Virginia. But when she came out as queer, the conservative community that had once celebrated its prettiest baby turned on her. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA decade later, living in Los Angeles and trying to stay afloat in the early years of a PhD program, Belcher plunges into the work of a pro domme. Branding herself as Los Angeles's Renowned Lesbian Dominatrix, she specializes in male clients who want a domme to make them feel worthless, shameful, and weak--all the abuse regularly heaped upon women for free. A queer woman whom men can trust with the unorthodox sides of their sexualities, Belcher is paid to be the keeper of the fantasies that they can't enact in their everyday relationships. But moonlighting as a sex worker also carries risks, like the not-so-submissive who tries to turn the tables and the jealous client out for revenge. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs Belcher moves between the embodied world of the pro domme and the abstract realm of academia, she discovers how lessons from the classroom apply to the dungeon, and vice versa. Still, fear that her doctoral program won't approve burdens her with a double life. \u003ci\u003ePretty Baby \u003c\/i\u003eis her second coming out. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this sharp and discerning memoir, we see through Belcher's eyes how power and desire can be renegotiated--or reinforced.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 272\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.73 x 8.38 x 5.59 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e June 06, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51760972661024,"sku":"9781982175832","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/f77146300ca640a8125d231636026393.webp?v=1780195731","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/pretty-baby-a-memoir-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}