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Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent
Chicken SelfPortrait of a Young Man for Rent
Author: David Henry Sterry
I walk all the way up Hollywood Boulevard to Grauman's Chinese Theatre: past turistas snapping shots; wannabe starlets sparkling by in miniskirts with head shots in their hands and moondust in their eyes; rowdy cowboys drinking with drunken Indians; black businessmen bustling by briskly in crisp suits; ladies who do not lunch with nylons roll...  more »Here is a story like no other: The unforgettable chronicle of a season spent walking the razor-sharp line between painful innocence and the allure of the abyss. David Sterry was a wide-eyed son of 1970s suburbia, but within his first week looking for off-campus housing on Sunset Boulevard he was lured into a much darker world -- servicing the lonely women of Hollywood by night. Chicken -- the word is slang for a young male prostitute -- revisits this year of living dangerously, in a narrative of dazzling inventiveness and searing candor. Shifting back and forth from tales of Sterry's youth -- spent in the awkward bosom of a disintegrating dysfunctional family -- to his fascinating account of the Neverland of post-sixties sexual excess, Chicken teems with Felliniesque characters and set pieces worthy of Dionysus. And when the life finally overwhelms Sterry, his retreat from the profession will leave an indelible mark on readers' minds and hearts.
ISBN-13: 9780060528515
ISBN-10: 0060528516
Publication Date: 3/1/2003
Pages: 256
Rating:
  • Currently 4.8/5 Stars.
 2

4.8 stars, based on 2 ratings
Publisher: ReganBooks
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 1
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

animlgrl avatar reviewed Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent on + 84 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Oh my gosh....this is somewhat reminsicent of Strip City +/- Running With Scissors. It is about a 17 year old man who comes to Los Angeles, then finds out he has no place to live. He gets a job as a male prostitute (call boy?) and the book is his memoir of this time. Can be VERY graffic....violent, and sad. But another example of things that are going on in this world while we blissfully wear our blinders.....
Read All 1 Book Reviews of "Chicken SelfPortrait of a Young Man for Rent"


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