Creating a persona as a literary device is nothing new. Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of Sleepers, claims his story of horribly abused children in a New York State Correctional facility is true, while the correctional authorities and the Manhattan District Attorney deny this story. Notably erotic novel Story of O's author was clouded in mystery, first believed to be a man, then recognized as a woman, eventually claiming she wrote the book as a series of love letters to her lover; yet her non de plume was itself, a non de plume. Most recently, the scandalized account of Girl Boy Girl, how I became JT Leroy, when it was revealed that the gay-male-ex-truck-stop-prostitute-turned literary-wunderkind was really the actual author's sister-in-law.
My point is, that it hardly matters from a literary standpoint; these are great stories. Some of them are great writers. However, most likely, we would have never paid attention to them if we had not been beguiled to believing them to be TRUE stories by the people who lived them.
That being said, Belle du Jour is a helluva book. It's also, as David Cross's voice echoes in my ears, 100% total bullshit.
In Belle du Jour's case, I'm going to consider this the Nancy Drew Syndrome. Many of my readers are male, so let me familiarize you with the detective. Nancy Drew is an independent young woman who gets into all kinds of crazy trouble investigating potentially dangerous dancing puppets and hidden staircases. Her circle includes a doting, rich father, no mother to bother her, a loving boyfriend and two gal pals, one of which is tom boyish Georgia "George" Fayne and super girlish Bess Marvin; read dyke and lipstick femme. What a wonderful life! Also 100% bullshit--obviously, as fiction--but appealing to teems of young girls for whom Nancy Drew has everything--also, a doting housekeeper. The whole thing is just too good to be true, Nancy and Belle just have way too many cool adventures with a doting entourage. My claim of 100% bullshit is based on two basic principles: 1) there isn't enough time to do all the things claimed to have been done and 2) there are too many fantastic things going on to have all actually happened.
First, there does not appear to be enough time for all events to occur. Every time she mentions a lover, it's something along the lines of: I dated him several years ago for several years. How old is this brood? Not to mention all the amazing sexual encounters she had before becoming a sex worker. The fact that she posts daily, because everything is supposed to be happening in real time, makes it easy to overlook the obvious time problems, but they still exist.
Second, it does not seem plausible that so many fantastic things occur. I believe its possible to have a group of close male friends. I believe its possible to remain friends with old lovers. I believe its possible to have a steady boyfriend who is okay with his girlfriend's sex work. I believe its possible to love anal sex. I believe its possible for an escort to also domme. I believe its possible for a grown ass woman to call her father "Daddy." I believe its possible to have an encounter with another sex worker in the bathroom of a pub where she pours her heart out to you, a stranger, about her "notorious" attack SEVERAL YEARS AGO. I just don't believe its possible nor bloody likely for all these things to co-exist in one body, that of Belle du Jour.
However, going beyond the Nancy Drew Syndrome, I believe she (or he) used new media to get into classic print. I contend that this entire blog was pre-written and posted daily with the hopes of eventually getting it published as a book. The writing itself is very good, beyond standard sex worker memoir or even blogger writing. It is professionally done, it is amazingly done. And it was definitely pre-written--pre-meditated even.
Don't get me wrong, I think there are many intelligent, highly educated sex workers out there loving their jobs and having amazing sex on and off the job, Belle du Jour just isn't one of them. Enjoy the fictional memoir--I did. It was sexy--particularly appealing to me were her kinky encounters were she subs. It was funny--when a client asked her how to make her cum, she told him it would take six goats, an old press and the proper alignment of the stars. It was smart--it just isn't true.
And if I'm wrong, if Belle du Jour actually exists and is so wonderful as she so claims, then, at least she should be capable of defrosting her freezer.
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