The Art of Lap Dancing Book

No one can fault Altman for writing and researching Thanks for Coming with a lack of earnestness. At its best, the memoir is a broad expose of a scattered grassroots industry emerging to promote women's pleasure, whether through direct physical means or by the promise of boosted self-esteem, with plenty of combinations of these on the offer. And indeed, we soon realize that Mara's problem isn't anything physical, but rather confronting the demons that prevent her from feeling comfortable with her own body. I didn't relate to the process, much. Perhaps I failed to get the cultural message that declares parts of the female body horrifying and shameful. In any case, most of the book is a memoir of how, while refusing to engage in any of the behaviors that typically give most women orgasms, the author fails to have an orgasm, and once she tries one of these methods, she succeeds in her quest.

For sure, there's a lot to enjoy here. It's well-written, funny, and I think Altman would make a great lighthearted weekly columnist somewhere. Her descriptions of the strange cast of characters she meets along her journey are unparalleled. This did not, however, prevent me from wanting to reach into the book and shake her when she asked people around her for the thousandth time how to have an orgasm--even lamenting the lack of advice provided at a family Thanksgiving dinner!--while proceeding to ignore anything they actually suggested.