Whip Smart: The True Story of a Secret Life, (Paperback)

from fieldnotes

Febos writes about becoming a dominatrix with maturity and compassion--prerequisites, as far as I'm concerned, for deserving a readership in spite of using sex to sell your prose. She avoids taking cheap shots at the men who she dominates and avoids using her book as a condemnation or an apology....

from jvalka

The author writes about the four years she spent working as a professional dominatrix in New York City. She started when she was a college student, curious about the lifestyle and enticed by the money. She also happens to be an intravenous drug user, shooting cocaine and heroin speedballs in betw...

from noranydrop2read

Whip Smart by Melissa Febos: When I heard about this memoir of a professional dominatrix, I was skeptical. I could see a publisher hearing the pitch "It's a memoir that gives a rare look into the world of dominatrices!" and falling all over themselves to sign it, blinded by the potential dollar s...

from Rebecca.Jane

Well written and entertaining, this book had me enthralled for hours. Stories of Justine's submissives somehow did not end up repetitive, although many of the stories had the same central theme. I was surprised by the drug content and her path to sobriety- I knew absolutely nothing about this boo...

from satyridae

The writing is decent, but the author's contempt and disgust with her chosen profession ruined the book entirely for me. I picked it up thinking I would be getting an autobiography of a dominatrix who liked her job, or if not her job, at least her clients. Febos instead gave me a claustrophobic t...