I didn't like this book as much as I hoped I would. It sounded like a great idea, following the exploits of a guy who gets paid to report on crazy sex acts. But there's too much of his everyday trials and tribulations and not enough about the craziness. It's a promising set up: inexperienced British guy moves to the US and pretty much lucks into a job at Nerve that has him meeting people for all manner of sexual activity. And the things he is willing to do for the sake of his job range from a bit of kink to what the hell are you thinking. But between the accounts he writes about his near-homelessness, poverty and immigration issues... quite honestly, making the overall tone a bit of a downer. You get the impression by the end that he didn't do any of this because he was actually into it; it was all a means to a paycheck. It would have been better had the author been more engaged in what was going on and actually seemed to enjoy some of it. (On a technical note, I'm reluctant to believe that the author actually wrote the majority of this book or didn't get a hell of a lot of editing help and rewrites. Numerous times he references the fact that he's not a writer and hadn't written anything before getting the job.)
I came away from this book feeling like this guy had been victimized by the sex trade. He initially takes the job because he's working on a foreign visa and wanted to stay in the United States. He worked completing humiliating scenarios for the same reason that many women prostitute themselves, they have few to no other options. His stories of his various experiments weren't titillating so much as told in a way that made me queasy, because it never really felt like Grant was fully consenting to the sex acts he was engaging in. Grant also came off as rather callous and without a lot of skill at self-reflection. For instance, why did he immediately dump his girlfriend after they participated in the orgy together? Isn't that what memoirs are for, to analyze one's responses in retrospect and illuminate the reader? It sounded to me like a case of slut shaming the girlfriend for being game enough to accept *his* invitation to the party and actively participate. (This would have been a great opportunity for him to analyze the emotional consequences of free-wheeling sexuality, but he didn't.) It was a fast read, but overly fairly shallow. There are much more insightful books on similar subjects out there.
Straightforward, chronological memoir of Stoddard's arrival as a sex writer with Nerve.com. Interesting for me as he is a Brit who always felt more affinity for the US than his home country. I can completely relate to his attitude to the UK and how he is treated by fellow Brits he meets here.The prose is matter of fact and self-depricating and in places, very funny. Can't help feeling that the sort of things he gets up to ultimately leave him unsatisfied, lonely and sad. This is probably what he is going for and if so, succeeds very well. It doesn't sound like a lifestyle to aspire to frankly!
—Jerry Smith
An enjoyable read. Light and silly, as expected. The author, is a virginal Britt who comes to America, and finds himself working at a kinky website. Hilarity ensues. Almost. The book left me feeling a little cheated. Throughout, the author tries to make sense of his crazy life, and find his niche in the wacky American Dream. But by the end of the book, he seems frustrated, and so was I. I feel like it could have been better if he would have written it ten years later, and been able to say, "this is where my crazy adventures got me, and this is what I learned." But he's just to emmersed in his own turmoil for any moments of clarity. But I did enjoy the book. What can I say...some of it was hot.
—Luke Hogan
"Working Stiff" is the amusing tale of Grant Stoddard, a rather normal English guy with an unsuccessful love and sex life who moved to NYC in the 1990s and stumbled into a job with Nerve.com as a sex writer, basically acting as a guinea pig for the site by placing himself into a number of crazy sexual situations. The author is very self-deprecating and the book an amusing light read. Recommended to me by my girfriend as a vacation read, I was not expecting much from the writing, but found it to be competently written and rather witty at times with wry descriptions of the author's childhood and life in NYC. Stoddard's observations of English and American life are often spot-on and amusing. And some of the situations he gets himself into are bizarre and funny. An entertaining quick read. Hate the cover though, embarassed to carry it around. Bad publisher!
—Colin N.
