Michelle Gurule combines a frank and provocative personal account of her experience as a sex worker with pointed commentary on class and power structures in Thank You, John, her wry and insightful debut memoir.
In 2015, at the age of 24, Gurule started stripping to offset her tuition bills and help her quirky, financially strapped family. While doing so, she met her "John," a much older businessman who offered her thousands of dollars a month (plus bonuses for expenses such as dental work) for sex. Gurule struggled with feelings of shame and revulsion but accepted the arrangement and her role as John's "sugar baby," sharing her secret with only her family, about whom she writes with tremendous warmth. Despite her discomfort, the money proved irresistible and, within two years, Gurule had paid down her student loans and medical bills, was accepted into an MFA program, and had stashed away a decent nest egg. It was only after a manipulative writing professor, with whom Gurule had become involved, suggested blackmailing John for larger sums of cash that Gurule realized it was time to leave sex work behind.
With nuance and sensitivity, Gurule examines the power imbalance between the moneyed class and the people they can afford to buy. Moreover, she is unsparing in her appraisal of her own behavior and motivations. At every stage in her two-year arrangement with John, Gurule was able to make her own choices. Ultimately, though many of those choices led to painful situations, she is happy with her decisions. Unflinching and wise, Thank You, John is a compelling debut and Michelle Gurule is a writer to watch.--Debra Ginsberg, author and freelance editor