Changes

I think it's important to note that this is not really your typical hooker / slapper book. I've enjoyed quite a few of those recently, from [[Belle De Jour's Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl]] to my new favourite, Abby Lee's [[''Girl with a One Track Mind]]''. Those books do have a place in my heart and on my bookshelf, but this is something different. It's more of a memoir that, simply because of the time period in the author's life that it covers, happens to have quite a bit of down and dirty action in it. As "a collection of one night stands" you would expect there to be some saucy details in it, and there definitely are more than a few of these, but the sex isn't overly explicit (partly because beyond a quick reference to anal beads it's pretty much of the vanilla variety), and the book is much more than just description and description of male genitalia. Starting with a moment in her childhood when she came face to face, or rather face to crotch, with her naked father, this book charts her progress through teen years into her current twenties and features some brilliant characters along the way. There's the handsome gynaecologist, Dr Luke who has a beautiful boat with massive sails, and no that's not a euphemism. There's Dumb Dumb, the 28 year old virgin and an unlikely flatmate of Chelsea's who she is determined to get laid, and Shoniqua, another friend, who tries to do the same for our heroine during an unseasonably dry spell. And then there's the men: Carter, the limp biscuit. Peter, with his penchant for Asian women. Lupé, who (shudder) liked to snuggle. Tyrone who sent her reeling into a black-man phase and Jerome who swiftly ended it shortly afterwards. The barnyard phase that saw the rapid progression of blokes named Turtle, Chicken and Rooster. As the staff at The Bookbag said when they sent the book on to me, "enjoy Chelsea... .everyone else seems to have done". This girl gets around!