Get your first unruly read for just £9.95 (£13.00) when you select monthly rolling. Use code BOOKLOVER.

  • Pretty Baby

Footnote Press

Pretty Baby

by Chris Belcher.

  • £12.99
  • Available
  • Paperback published on 17/08/2023
  • Page count: 272 pages
  • ISBN: 9781804440643
Add to book bag
Synopsis

I couldn't put it down. What a fucking gorgeous book' CARMEN MARIA MACHADO'Entertaining' New York Times'Absolutely not to be missed' Vogue'A gripping story' EsquireChris Belcher appeared destined for a life of conventional femininity after she took first place in an infant beauty contest - a minor glory that followed her around her small, working-class town in rural West Virginia. But when she came out as queer, the conservative community that had once celebrated its prettiest baby turned on her.

A decade later, living in Los Angeles and trying to stay afloat during a PhD program, Belcher plunges into a double life as both student and sex worker, branding herself as L.A.'s Renowned Lesbian Dominatrix. As she moves between the embodied world of the pro-domme and the abstract realm of academia, she discovers how lessons from the classroom can apply to the dungeon and vice versa. In this searingly funny and perceptive memoir, we see through eyes of a dominatrix-turned-academic how power, shame and desire can be explored and subverted.

About the author

Chris Belcher is a writer, professor, and former sex worker. She completed a PhD in English at the University of Southern California, where she is now assistant professor of writing and gender studies. Under her working name, Natalie West, she edited the acclaimed anthology We Too: Essays on Sex Work and Survival. Born and raised in West Virginia, she now lives in Los Angeles.

This book can be found in:

More books published by Footnote Press

Footnote started in 2022 as a mission-oriented publisher committed to driving social and narrative change. We seek to centre marginalised stories and perspectives — other ways of thinking, being and organising that forefront diversity of...

View all books by Footnote Press

Good Book Club is a monthly book subscription
Subscribers Perks

Join Good Book Club from as little as £10.83* per month and enjoy exclusive member perks – like unlimited free delivery across our site.

Good Book Club is a book subscription that makes it easier for you to indie books the mainstream tend to ignore.

Exclusive member perks:
  • Free and unlimited delivery across our bookshop.​
  • A brilliant newly-released book from an indie publisher delivered every month.
  • Free access to author events online and in-person.
  • Monthly extras you actually want – like signed copies and notes from authors.
Join now

Got a questions? See our FAQs.

*Price is for annual subscription.

Membership will auto-renew every month (if you choose a monthly membership) or every year (if you choose an annual membership) beginning on your enrolment date, using your selected payment method.

Added to book bag

1 items | £