“Healthy eating, daily yoga, a determined mental attitude and getting a lot of money off of wasted men on weekends is the key to success.”
Jobless, heartbroken and broke, new college graduate Laila Lucent packs up her car and drives alone across the country to her new life as a Las Vegas stripper.
In an empowering, intelligent and hilarious memoir of self-discovery, 22-year-old Laila takes us deep inside the best, most infamous, strip club in Las Vegas, the Spearmint Rhino.
From living with homeless drug addicts, to practicing yoga on the beaches of Costa Rica, from threesomes with wealthy foreigners, to dancing at the best music festivals in the world, The Yoga Stripper is a wickedly funny reverse fairy tale where morality is flexible, money is fast, and clothing is discouraged.
Wahoo! In my trip to Italy a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of devouring this book. I had gathered several memoirs to absorb during the editing of my own sexual searching empowering memoir.
This one was the best. I have been doling out 5 star reviews SO rarely, that the last review was in August 2012, over six months ago! It really means a lot.
Why I love this book:
1. It’s real.
It’s tempting to gloss over things in memoir. Like illegal stuff for instance. After treking across the country to Vegas with no contacts and only a bit of money, Laila doesn’t hide smoking pot with her recovering heroine addict roommates, or the drugs she took at raves. She doesn’t gloss over the fact she accepted money to spend a day and night with a couple with relationship issues.
2. It’s revealing.
Laila not only has the courage to reveal herself, but she casts a bright light on the people around her. The guys, the industry, the crazy paradox that men start out life on the breast only to have to pay to see them later. She doesn’t take shit, and she doesn’t hold back. It’s courageous, entertaining and I like it. I know that this takes guts!! It is so easy to get into a protective mode of other people, but when it come’s down to it, it’s her life and her story.
3. It’s empowering.
Laila’s story isn’t the story of a miserable girl choosing to strip in a deadend bar. She has a degree. She chose to live the life knowing it paid, and knowing it would be an adventure to talk about later. She quickly gets a job in one of the biggest places in Vegas, the Rhino. She describes her learning the stripping talent as one of a predator not a victim. And in her story, mostly those guys were asking for it.
4. It’s funny.
Laila is an entertainer in a number of ways. She writes well, with sarcasm and humor, and points out the ridiculous paradigms that keep women ashamed of their bodies in a way that I can’t help but laugh. Laughter is medicine for the soul.
Thank you Laila Lucent!
xx Sofia Wren
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