HOOKERS AND SEX WORKERS are known for their artifice in the world of pleasure, but the title of a new book written by those who play for pay is 100 percent perfunctory: Hos, Hookers, Call Girls, and Rent Boys: Professionals Writing on Life, Love, Money and Sex.This isn’t a sexy title—it sounds about as exciting as The Encyclopedia Britannica. But that’s just the title.The essays, articles, stories and poems aren’t at all the ho-hum, politically correct compendium of prostitution writings by whiny, anal-retentive social workers that feel sorry for the poor misguided hos. The prose in this volume is fresh and the tales are both heart-rending and hilarious, sometimes simultaneously.

What’s most striking about the volume is how relevant these intimate and detailed chronicles are for any reader, whether they’ve sold their bodies or just their souls. It’s not just about sex. Rather than ghettoizing prostitutes, strippers and porn actors, editors David Henry Sterry and R.J. Martin have brought together essays from a broad sampling of sex workers, keeping it balanced.There are gripping accounts of writers who struggle to pay bills and get their lives together, who have families, who are human beings. How this crew differs from the straights is they all opted for sex work rather than a drone job.

I recently attended the inaugural Sex Worker Literati reading hosted by Audacia Ray and David Sterry at Happy Ending, where some of the authors were there in the flesh. Ray is a sexuality rights advocate who has a chapter in the book about the days when she was a naked girl for hire. It’s a new series that’ll be held the first Thursday of the month; the reading is free but some portion of the booze goes toward sex worker rights groups. I felt lots better downing a Bombay and Tonic, knowing that I was helping a rent boy get better medical care.

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