Secret Diary of a Call Girl

by Belle de Jour

Paperback, 2008

Publication

Grand Central Publishing (2008), Edition: Media tie-in, 304 pages

Description

The bestselling and infamous diary of a high-class call girl, as seen on the show starring Billie Piper. Belle de Jour is the nom de plume of a high-class call girl working in London. This is her story. From the summer of 2003 to the autumn of 2004 Belle charted her day-to-day adventures on and off the field in a frank, funny and award-winning web diary. Now, in her Intimate Adventures, Belle elaborates on those diary entries, revealing (among other things) how she became a working girl, what it feels like to do it for money, and where to buy the best knickers for the job. From debating the literary merits of Martin Amis with naked clients to smuggling whips into luxury hotels, this is a no-holds barred account of the high-class sex-trade, and an insight into the secret life of an extraordinary woman.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member 52Betty

After reading the first few pages of Belle de Jour, I felt like I'd had all my innocence removed. Like so much of the material that's recommended as erotica, the focus of this book is a woman with an insatiable sexual appetite, and a decidedly masochistic tendency. Which is all very well and up to

her...except that I'm a bit bored of the implicit suggestion that I'm somehow supposed to aspire to this if I'm to become a properly liberated woman.

My concern was not about Belle's activities as a prostitute, but her private relationships. Men seem drawn to bruise her, humiliate her and threaten her; she presents this without analysis. Even though I read this after the 'real' Belle had supposedly revealed herself, I couldn't help but feel that this was all a carefully-constructed work of pornography, the same old stereotype of the woman who absorbs abuse with pleasure, and is not too concerned about her own orgasm.

Belle came across as a joyless, manipulative cypher whose relationships (even friendships) centre on sex alone. There is nothing aspirational about her or her sexuality.

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LibraryThing member stephmo

Based on her blog, Belle de Jour, follows a few months in the life of a twenty-something Londoner as she embarks in a career in prostitution. No, she is not addicted to drugs. Yes, she enjoys sex. And being a temp just doesn't cut it when one wants to enjoy living in London.

Belle is frank and

graphic, expect less and you'll be easily shocked. Of course, if you're expecting a gal who spends her days as a sex worker to be turned on by pedestrian pursuits in the boudoir perhaps you've picked up the wrong book. At the same time, there's enough about family and friends and enough wit to carry the diary through to the end.

What can drag the book down is Belle's self-involvement. There's a certain level of confidence needed to take this sort of job, but the Belle we meet in this book is ridiculously oblivious to the idea of consequence. A good portion of this book is spent reading about Belle's own search for a stable relationship - and as it progresses through a breakup and then the dating scene you find yourself saying to the book, "I know that most folks aren't all about exclusivity after the first date and all, but I imagine the whole professional prostitute thing is going to be an issue." I'm not asking for her to fall down and beg forgiveness and recant, but a basic understanding that Choice A means that certain options will be more difficult would have been nice.

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LibraryThing member elmyra

Picking up a used and discarded copy of this in Newcastle airport may not have been the best idea I ever had - it's stained, and one does wonder. ;-)

This was a fairly quick read and entertaining enough. Despite the cover and the hype, the book barely qualifies as erotica, let alone porn. And let's

face it, 300 pages of porn would be extremely boring (unless, maybe, written by Alan Moore). Most of it is social commentary. Belle's occupation does gives her a unique perspective on a few things, and there were a couple of moments that were laug-out-loud funny. I came across Belle's new book in a shop the day after I finished this one, though, and it would appear I don't care enough about her as a character to want to read more about her adventures. Ah well.

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LibraryThing member clarasayre

Having watched the tv show first, but also following Belle on Twitter and reading her online blog, I was very interested in reading her book. Really loved it...it gives you a perspective on call girls that, I'll admit, I've never read before: that of a woman who wasn't forced into prostitution, who

doesn't have a manipulative pimp, and who, on the whole, leads a fairly normal and productive life. And she makes it clear that not every woman has this experience, obviously.

Very sexually graphic, again obviously, so I suppose if you're faint-hearted, you may not want to read it....but I would highly suggest it to anyone who holds an interest in the sex trade
discussion as a viable resource for the other side.

Anyone who has seen the show will recognize various scenes in the book, but the book is quite different than the show. Being a fan of both, I don't feel that anything is taken away by this, however.

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LibraryThing member kelpops

Not so sure about this book, didnt finish reading it. It was good, but not good enough to keep me drawn into it. Maybe i didnt give it a good enough chance. Absolutely nothing like the tv show on itv 2.

LibraryThing member PocketPet

Still reading, maybe, but now I remember why I stopped reading her blog: "the boy." People who say "the boy" to refer to their significant other come across as a) insecure and b) not fooling anybody about the long-term prospects of that relationship. Also, they're as annoying as a toddler

discovering a new word.While I can award 9 out of 10 for her maintaining focus on the (theoretically) titillating bits that (theoretically) everyone wants to read, where is the human side of Miss BdJ? Does she have any feelings beyond mild amusement and mild annoyance?Then again, you have to respect a book that inspires you to put it down and get your housework done. Thanks!Update (2 days later): I'm giving up. What with not being trapped on a deserted island, I can't think of a single reason to push through with such an "on" yet empty character when there are thousands of books on the "to do" list.

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LibraryThing member emhromp2

A shocking book, at times erotic, but also very funny. It gives a clear look into the life of a call girl. But that's not the only thing. You are starting to hope that things bill work out for Belle de Jour, relationship-wise etc. Apparently a lot of men weren't happy with this book :D

LibraryThing member mydogatebob

I found this quite boring. The format, as with all these diary style books, works well, but Belle's dry writing can be hard to get into. I found her hard to relate to. Very funny and frank in places, it makes an interesting read, but not necessarily enjoyable overall.

LibraryThing member miyurose

I first became interested in reading this book when I started watching Secret Diary of a Call Girl on Showtime. I really like Belle’s voice. She’s frank, often funny, and not at all a bad writer. Do I think all of her stories are true? Not hardly, but who cares? This was a fun, escapist read.

But if you don’t enjoy detailed and explicit talk about all manners of sex, this book is not for you. If you’ve read this book and enjoyed it, I recommend the Showtime series. They’ve managed to capture the voice and attitude perfectly.

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LibraryThing member verenka

Book No. 3 in my self imposed sexual politics curriculum. I read about a New York Call girl, who I thought focussed on the career aspect of sex work. She slept with rich older business men on her terms and seems to lead a fairly content life. Anything unpleasant about her career from before she was

a high end call girl was carefully left our.
The masseuse in Berlin focussed more on the money aspect of sex work - it's a way to make a living if you don't know anything else, don't have a work permit and need to support a family. She wanted to get out but felt forced to do it to be able to support herself.
The London Call Girl on the other side focusses on the sex. The other two books hardly contain sexual content. Belle du Jour is graphic about her work and her private life and says at some point that she doesn't want to do anything for money, that she wouldn't also do for free.
She use the internet to find a suitable agency because she wanted to minimise her risk and she seems to have a lot of fun doing her work. Of course it's not all fun and games, especially the balance of work and private life.
The book is a selection of posts from her blog, by the way.

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LibraryThing member Jadesbooks

Here's what I learned from the book, not all call girls are in the business because of some sort of drug/alcohol addiction. It was written like a journal which always makes the story better I think. Who wouldn't want to read someone elses journal and see what secrets they put down on paper?! The

woman wrote on an annomious name, and she pretty much kept that theme for all of her friends and clients. It was rare to come across a name of someone she actually talked to, which was rather nice to see. Some of the passages were just hilarious and some were more graphic that I expected (but then again I shouldn't have been shocked seeing as how it's about a call girl!).
This is not something I would recommend to everyone though. I enjoyed it, and am glad that I read it, but it is not something I would loan my mom. So, if you want a little risque read, this will do it for you, but it's not overly graphic throughout the entire story.

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LibraryThing member Psylk87

I have read several books like this and I even watched the show that was inspired by it. I really really wanted to love but I just couldn't. Something about the writing just never sucked me.

LibraryThing member Glorybe1

This book was not what I imagined at all! It was written by an itelligent, sophisticated young woman. Who got into the sex industry simply as a way of paying her bills. She wasn't pushed to do it but couldn't find a job that she really wanted to do!
She is witty, funny and entirely down to earth.

The sex scenes (if you like) were not horrific and she didn't go into too much detail about the sex as such and she certainly seems to enjoy her job and thats just what it is to her, a job.
She talks of her everyday life trying to find Mr Right and her day to day life with friends and ex boyfriends quite candidly, which is sometimes more interesting!
I wasn't shocked or offended by her story at all, she came across as the girl next door type girl but with a job in the sex industry.

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LibraryThing member ladymink

Belle is an amazingly honest woman witha witty writing style. Her story of being a London call girl is interesting indeed, peppered with tales from her personal life as well as the obligitory recounting of her off-the-wall work encounters.

If've you read her blog, you might be a little bored,

because Belle basically copied and pasted her web-diary into a book, with only a few additions here and there before putting it out onto the shelves.

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LibraryThing member Cassandra2020

Trashy quick read - nothing special

LibraryThing member purseproblm

Not much like the showtime show, but still pretty good.

LibraryThing member purseproblm

Not much like the showtime show, but still pretty good.

LibraryThing member Sovranty

This book isn't just about the sex, about the girl and the tricks, about the sex-selling lifestyle. It is also about a real person that makes up the adventures of a London Call Girl. While the stories and emotions don't tip the scale at either end of the spectrum, there is a sense of jumping from

fetish to fetish, personal relationship to daily monotony in an attempt to keep things balanced.

Entertaining, quick, and well written. Lacking deep character development to continue reading other adventures.

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LibraryThing member Ken-Me-Old-Mate

Belle de Jour: Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl I've read some of the other reviews here on this book and I think some of them miss the Englishness of this book. The English are so loose and casual about sex. I don't mean in its execution, more in the attitude towards it. I think the English lack the

puritanical aspect that seems to dominate other nations, particularly America and its hypocrisy about sex.The sex scenes are described more like a mechanic talking about a days work. Note the lack of shame, self-disgust and judgement, just the plain facts ma'am, with a touch of respect for her clients.As a story, I liked the well spelled out relationships that she inhabits, how friendships are most times more solid than romantic relationships. All up a good read, nothing earth shattering in the sex either, as she says, anal is the new black. I'm old enough to remember when blow jobs were new to the middle class burbs and that was a long time back.The oldest profession! Well written with a terrible ending. Loved it

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