Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
dungeons and drag queens (or at least a few crossdressers), 17 Feb 2003
From bossy big-sister to whip-wielding Amazon-for-hire, Kenney's memoir is a unique coming-of-age tale told with insight, wit and absolutely no pretension. Even though her characters are Washington bankers and lawyers acting out charades in fancy dress (or some stage of undress), she manages to keep it real.A reader might get the impression that some of her clients were higher-ups in the Washington establishment, but Kenney is no Kitty Kelley in bondage gear and this is no tell-all expose. You won't 'hear the click of her stiletto heels in Washington's halls of power', but you'll hear yourself laughing aloud more than once. I Was a Teenage Dominatrix is engagingly written and chock full of pithy anecdotes - from an outcall with an angry giant in redneck Virginia to Kenney's bizarre 'birthday cake' slave. It has its bawdy bits and the occasional gruesome detail, but its references are more Generation X than Triple X. And while she shares fascinating little details of the trade, it's no 'Domination for Dummies.' Kenney subverts the stereotype not with innovations in knot-tying or nipple-twisting technique, but by showing both the humourous and human side of a world so often portrayed only in caricature, glamourised or glossed over as salacious or trashy. Having said that, if you want to be a fly on the wall of an S&M dungeon without having to fear an angry mistress's flyswatter, this book is still for you. In the end, the kind of discipline she champions the most doesn't involve hog-tying some fat judge but working hard to realise your dreams - which for Kenney were putting herself through university and becoming a successful writer. She even beats this ideal of self-empowerment into some of her more pathetic clients so regularly - and with such sterling results - that she muses on starting a 'reform school for losers'. Motivational seminars with breaks for golden showers and canings for wrong answers? Tough love indeed. The Marquis de Sade hasn't had such good PR since that film with Geoffrey Rush. And this is much funnier. The only negative thing I can think of is that it was too short!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lighter than I expected, but entertaining, 5 Dec 2002
This was a book I couldn't put down until I'd read the final page. Our protagonist comes across as both likeable and inspirational - she's totally dedicated to achieving her goals, very organised, is always ready for a bit of fun, and doesn't care about society's silly standards. A combination of that, and the opening chapters providing a desire to see what bizarre or scary situation she ends up in next and how she deals with her problems made for compulsive reading.The description is vivid, without being weighty or repulsive. Usually, I'm thoroughly disturbed by mentions of certain sexual practises it covers, but they're mentioned with a light and humorous touch which prevented me from treating the book to a roman shower. (Its terminology was somewhat educational too.) Problems? Too short - I finished it in two hours and was hungry for more - and, contrary to my expectations, her profession didn't seem to give her much cause for soulsearching - I would have found a more in-depth look at the good and bad features of her chosen lifestyle interesting. Having said that, that would have interrupted the flow of the book; its intention was to entertain, and that it certainly did.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book, 22 Dec 2002
Intrigued by the title and after reading a good review i bought this book, finished it in one sitting, its funny, dirty in places and makes you feel like you have known the author for years, my only complaint is the fact its so short.
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