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Professional Reviews

So this anonymous working mother walks into a bar (okay, small theatre) and hands a manuscript to an allegedly progressive political satirist. It makes him reconsider his own beliefs and teaches him that the phrase “a woman’s choice” needs to be expanded to include another issue that calls to mind back allies, exploitation, and conspiracies of silence. The next time I call a politician a whore, it will be a compliment.

Barry Crimmins, Author of Never Shake Hands with a War Criminal

Reviews from Readers

I bought A Woman Whose Calling is Men because I liked Working, My Life as a Prostitute, by Dolores French. I bought both books, and I highly recommend it. Like French, Aphrodite Phoenix is proud to be a whore, but she also has a certain kind of moral agenda that I’ve never seen before. Phoenix believes that prostitutes should be exceptionally caring. She feels that any prostitute who isn’t should not be allowed in the work. She also has many surprising things to say about the clients, most of it very positive. Her books are full of eroticism and expose the work as it is, but she adds something very unique. She stands out because she’s a mother. Her motherhood makes me think of her as a kind of Everywoman, and her spirituality makes me think of her as a leader. Everyone should read her books, no matter where they stand on prostitution or paganism. Phoenix reaches out powerfully to everyone pro or con.This may be the sex worker/author who finally breaks the ice. And does she ever go after the abolitionists! Yowch! I’m glad I’m not one of them.

S. Altman, Coventry, R.I.

This is not another book by a self-serving callgirl. This is about a single mother who found a way out of poverty and depression. This author gets pretty feisty, and her reasons are totally righteous, mostly anger at the outlaw status that whores are forced to live in. She’s a dedicated mother and into the healthy lifestyle, not the kind of prostitute people usually picture. She became a prostitute for all the right reasons, to provide well for her family and also to feel self-empowered. She speaks out to everyone, wives and feminists, the media, and men and other prostitutes. She shows anger to those who deserve it, but compassion and kindness are her main qualities. It was very eye-opening to read about how prostitution and healing can be so interrelated.

Andrea Morgan, Fort Collins, CO

FASCINATING!!! This is the best description of personal experience that I’ve ever seen written by a prostitute. Phoenix has experienced some soulful transitions on the level of born-again. The fact that it happened while she was in sex work is what makes her interesting. Her treatment of men is so full of compassion that at one point I actually cried. But she’s no pushover, either. I would not want to be a sociopath trying to mess with her! What really gets me is her ability to sympathize with men and see the goodness in good men, in spite of her relationships with abusers.

I’m also impressed by her total dedication to the healthy, self-healing way of life. Who woulda figured a prostitute would do that. But then again, why not?

Jim Becker, Andover, MA

Aphrodite Phoenix is a passionate humanist and insightful progressive who just happened to reach the fruition of her gifts on the path of the magnanimous whore. She glows with the fire of the born mediator. Also, she writes beautifully.

Nancy Tanner, Scottsdale, AZ

This is the most relentless defense of prostitutes’ rights that’s ever filled a book. Relentless and convincing. I thought this would be just another raunchy book by another happy hooker, but every place I opened Book One, I didn’t want to stop reading. The same thing happened with Book Two. This is a truly great writer, who knows how to get your attention, and keep it.

S. J. Ciretti, Portland, ME

When I read Books One and Two, I couldn’t shake the conviction that sexual promiscuity is just plain old-fashioned wrong. Call me a prude, call me moralistic, but even this brilliant writer doesn’t sway me. Professional promiscuity is just as wrong, even when it’s as responsible as Phoenix would like it to be. But I have to admit after reading her books that regardless of my moral objections, I can see the importance of legalizing prostitution. The profession will always be with us, and pretending it’s not is detrimental to women. We should keep it right in front of us, protectively regulated, because to look the other way is irresponsible and cruel.

I saw that Phoenix is actually very monogamous. I felt relieved but more than a little confused when I saw that she’s devoted and even self-sacrificing when it comes to love and marriage. I have trouble understanding how a woman so morally twisted could also be such a great thinker and wife. But I realize the fault might be mine. That’s what makes her books powerful—she makes me look hard at my own learned attitudes.

Dawn Silverman, Arlington, VA

From one Boomer to another: THANK YOU!!! Your books are the proof that we’re not all just a bunch of burned-out old farts, thinking of nothing but our retirements and assets. Thank you for pointing out the injustice, hypocrisy, greed, gluttony, and pharmaceutical dependency that makes the world disrespect America! Too few of us have done enough lately to make our culture better, or ourselves. You’re a powerful and beautiful voice for us all, not just the sex workers.

Harry Rosenbaum, Brooklyn, NY

On the website it says that this book set will make you “laugh, cry, and come”. That’s a pretty strong claim, I wanted to see if there’s any truth to it, and there is. But most of all, these books made me think. I consider myself a fairly well read person, and I have to say that no other author has left me with so much to think about. I definitely don’t feel the same way about prostitution. I never knew until now that it can empower any woman, she just needs the right attitude and a decent place to do it. I never knew until now that the kindest woman you’ll ever meet could actually be a whore. Aphrodite Phoenix is a very talented writer, and also must be a great sex worker, and obviously a great person. However, her older age is unusual in such a young women’s profession. That bothered me until I realized how much she could mentor young prostitutes, and how much that’s her point.

Mark Patterson, Rossford, Ohio

I never thought that prostitution should be legalized, but Aphrodite Phoenix makes me think twice. She advocates what’s needed in any great service, high standards for customer care. She wants to remove hate between the sexes, starting with the profession where men and women and sex intersect, and then she moves on to give useful advice regarding relationships. I think that anyone who reads her books will feel very touched and moved, even if they don’t like prostitution. I think that any reader will feel connected with this woman. This is the story of a courageous single mother who overcame terrible adversity, and never became bitter toward men, even though a lot of women would have. These books are damn sexy, too.

T. Breene, Harwich, MA

This is all very dangerous. If everything this author wants becomes lawful, women will be much more liberated than anyone ever imagined. I don’t know whether that will be a good thing or bad thing for society as a whole. But one thing for sure is these books are very engrossing. They are very well written, they are very erotic (in parts) but also very thought-provoking. They are definitely worth what they cost.

Charlie Hughes, Friendswood, TX

I always thought prostitutes are tragic and disgusting. Now I know so much more about them. Now I know there are healthy-minded prostitutes. These books have shown me an alternative lifestyle for women that seems really good for some women, in many ways if they’re cut out for it. The multiple-choice test to see if I’m qualified is very eye-opening, it made me face my deepest feelings about men and sex.

Mary Lynn Petrowski, Cheektowaga, NY

I’m an escort (callgirl) at work on my graduate degree. I’ve read everything written by prostitute activists, and this is the best thing yet. I hope the whole world reads these books.

It’s impossible to express all that Phoenix is doing for sex workers, and for people in general.

L.H., Seattle, WA

What a great writer. She changed me with regard to prostitution. She writes in a way that makes me feel like I’m watching a movie. I’ve read both books and they are all page-turners. Even Book Two which gets a little wordy, it kept my attention because Phoenix is so passionate, she has so much to share. She’s very intellectual, but she’s also very moving. Sometimes she moved me to tears.

Kaitlin Moriarty, Marco, LA

This woman is twisted. She thinks she can make a whore moral. I was raised very conservative, so someone like her is shocking. This is a truly free country, don’t ever doubt it if someone like her can publish ideas like that. I have to admit however, she is a very good writer. I read the first book, and I then I bought the second book, because I was very intrigued. In some ways she makes a lot of sense.

Steven Wickson, Coppersville, MI

Congratulations to Aphrodite Phoenix! Her book set is an epic-sized shot in the arm for the movement for prostitutes’ rights. I’ve read every book by every English-speaking prostitute that’s been written since the nineteen seventies. I’ve also read the writings by feminists who support sex workers’ rights. It was a little redundant to read so many quotes, but just the same I applaud this author for every page she’s written. Her work is politically compelling and psychologically gripping. She has collated many of the voices in the movement, in two books of eloquent narrative, with an emotional honesty that stuns and inspires, and with brilliant presentations of her arguments. Sometimes she gets a bit shrill, but that has to come with the territory — one can’t defend something illegal, treated with such prejudice and hypocrisy, without becoming enraged. But Phoenix also shows humor — she knows a true leader must.

The books were hard to put down. Every single time I thought of a rebuttal that the opposition might attack with, when I read on, I saw that she had it all covered. There’s nothing she leaves unsaid, no argument posed by the Religious Right or feminism or erotophobic minds that she doesn’t deeply consider, and respond to with disarming logic. I especially like her ideas for high moral standards for prostitutes. No one before her has presented that objective—not with such ambition, conviction and vision. She even offers a multiple-choice test to determine whether a woman is morally qualified! The “true whore”, as she describes the ideal, is by anyone’s standards a powerful woman, empowered by compassion most of all.

Kathleen R. Ferguson, feminist, Pasadena, CA

I think that a prostitute is an immoral woman. A woman should have sex with one man, only the man she loves. But I have to say that I like these books, even though I disagree. Aphrodite Phoenix is the kind of writer who keeps you interested. She’s really not so different from me. I don’t approve of sex work, but I can sympathize with all the problems that caused her to get into it. We all face the same challenges in life. Besides, I realize that this is a free country and if a woman wants to do that kind of work she should have the right to. After reading A Woman Whose Calling is Men I can see that prostitution might be right for some women. I never thought I would say that but now I know that it’s true. I also did not know that men are so nice to callgirls. Book Two is much longer and informative about everything that goes on in the callgirl business, and everything sex workers have to put up with that’s unfair and hypocritical. I read Book Two to satisfy my curiosity, but I also get angry when I read about how unfair things are for prostitutes. I used to think they deserve what they get, but now I know that’s wrong.

Michelle LaFontaine, Plymouth Meeting, PA.

Now I know the Antichrist is female.

Rick Sommers, Tallahassee, FLA

To tell the truth, I was looking for something really trashy. All I wanted to read about is a girl having lots of sex. I figured a book about a hooker would deliver, but this book is a class act. At first I thought too much class. Or I should say, these two books. I read the first book, and it was sexy as hell in some places. But when I read about her family her feelings and bad times, I wasn’t bored like I thought. I wanted to see how she made out. She made out great, and I enjoyed it. I like what she has to say about men. I just ordered the second book.

Mike Pelligrini, Trenton, NJ

I have been a callgirl for nine years, and these books are my bible. I got rid of the agencies and I’m starting to see my clients in much better lights. It is all because of those books. My father left when I was four and my uncle abused me sexually. It is a big job for me to really like sex work for the right reasons and understand men but I am learning. I am also doing much less recreational drugs and I started to work out and eat better.

N. T., New York City

I would like to be this woman’s bodyguard. She is going to need one, because she speaks the truth, and too many people can’t handle the truth. I would like to meet her and protect her.

Bobby St. James, Corpus Christi, TX

While I read this I thought, this woman is morally perverse. But she’s actually very principled, in ways that are other than sexual. She made me understand that a sex worker can shake off the moral restraints that society imposes on women, but remain very steadfast as nurturing, responsible, and bright. We are wrong to assume that the woman in sex work is just plain depraved or bad. Phoenix is proof of how wrong. She shows that a woman can go out every day and do something (for damn good money) that most women consider profane, but also be devoted to a healthy lifestyle and good parenting, and also be spiritual.

What I admire the most about Phoenix is she has kept her presumably discordant roles from causing her psychic pain. She has a lot of integrity. “I soon understood … that the money wasn’t the only thing that would maintain my sense of worth … unless I developed a very high standard of caring [for the clients], I would lose respect for myself. I would cheat the goals of nurture that had always shaped my self-esteem.”

Her pain comes from our culture’s refusal to accept the women in sex work. Also from her predisposition (in relationships) to chose men who let her down. But I would be quite a hypocrite if I criticized Phoenix for that. That’s something a lot of us do to ourselves.

Marie Santoro, Goodyear, AZ

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