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I picked this book up for a couple of reasons; first, I keep hearing buzz about Diablo Cody, who wrote the screenplay for Juno, and second, because I spent several years waitressing/bartending/DJ-ing at a Deja Vu club in San Diego. I know that SD is unique in its approach to "gentlemen's" clubs- clean to the extreme, entertainer's licenses and all- so I'm always interested to hear stories about what the industry is like in other parts of the country (Cody dances in Minneapolis). I figured since this was a memoir, maybe for once there would be a realistic depiction of a strip club instead of the dreck you see in movies like Striptease and Showgirls.

Candy Girl is and isn't that depiction. Cody admits that she never quite fit in at the clubs where she danced. She isn't a good dancer, doesn't put much effort into her appearance, and she doesn't ever connect with the other dancers or staff at the clubs. She is almost an outsider looking clinically in, an undercover blogger who is in the clubs because she's looking for a "transgressive experience." Reading her descriptions of her co-workers, I felt like I was reading about an anthropologist describing exotic creatures, rather than someone who was truly one of the "peelers" talking about her experiences.

Cody does, however, describe the inner workings of a club fairly accurately. This is the first time I've ever seen the payout system really addressed- if anything, I'd like strip club patrons to read the book, so they understand why it's important to pay the girls and to tip them. I also appreciated that Cody didn't stick to just the high-end clubs; she ventures from the upscale Scheik's to the grimy arcades of an adult superstore, and she does embrace her time in these places fully. I just wish that the tone of the book had embraced the story she was telling in the same way.

Overall, though, I really liked Cody's narrative voice. She has a very clever way with words, and I read the book mostly in one go, largely due to the almost conversational style in which it was written. I would absolutely read another book by her, and I do want to see Juno. If I put aside my own concerns about the strip club industry and how the people who work in the clubs are depicted, the book was quite good. It just wasn't totally what I was hoping for.