Assuming the Position: A Memoir of Hustling

This book is extremely thoughtful in its insights, and cautious in the drawing of conclusions. If you are looking for a tightly-plotted page-turner, or a humorous romp a la Augusten Burroughs, you have come to the wrong writer. However, I much prefer Whitaker's clear, careful consideration of his past, which leaves one with more to think about and less to know. Most of all, Whitaker wants wants us to consider our own lives, our own hustles, our own self-denial in light of his near-miss with self-destructive oblivion. My favorite sentence: "If hell is other people, I like to think that the time I spent with all those men, and their often bizarre idiosyncrasies, gave me some knowledge that, if only by way of contrast, hints at some qualities of heaven."

I picked this up whilst doing some research for a film I am making on Rent Boys and expected a depressing and salacious read. What I got instead was a gentle, insightful book that was at times poetic, and always a pleasure to read. As a gay man with some experience on the scene, I though the author described perfectly the impulses and emotions that lead you into behaviour that could be labelled sex addiction. Whenever faced with the plethora or remarkable sights and experiences that can just seem to drift passed you as a gay man I have always uttered the response "Life is Complex". Well I think this book fully describes the complexity. In a way it reminded me of "Bright Lights Big City"....but whereas I found that book rather sad in its litany of excess, this has a wistful, laid back quality that always seems positive even when describing the negative. This is one of those rare books...like the Tales of the City series, that I think I will find myself reading again and again.

I had a roommate who was a call boy. He would come home high on cocaine, rambling incoherently about this "celeb" and that celeb who had paid him for his services. My roommate never made much sense, but his ramblings were always interesting in a pathological sort of way. Rick Whitaker's experience with the profession is vastly more coherent, but I'm not sure if it is more interesting. Nonetheless, he is a remarkably talented writer, and I look forward to hearing more from this surprisingly sensitive and intellegent young man. Most importantly, he breaks stereotypes with this book, and he broke my heart with his honesty. I think I fell in love while reading this....

What are the reviewers of this book thinking? The author never said it would be erotic or "hot"--it's not about his sex life so much as his experiences as a hustler in NYC and his drug addictions, etc. And the guy can WRITE really well! The way he deals with morality and having his own principles--and losing track of them along the way, as we all do at some point (don't we?)--I was very impressed and deeply moved by it, and I highly recommend it.

After reading this book, and then some of the reviews, it's clear to me that the reviewers are far more jaded and cynical than the author. An addictive "type," if there is such a thing, Whitaker fell into prostitution. He tells about it. Now, if readers are disappointed the author doesn't come up with some tremendous mea culpa, expressing overwhelming regret for what happened, that's their hang-up. If you want to know what the life of a hustler must really be like -- told by someone as merciless in his assessment of others as he is of himself -- then this is your book. It strips away the fantasy, so don't go looking for an idealized portrait of a messy business.