Brothel

In Brothel: Mustang Ranch and its Women, medical student Alexa Albert explores the secretive world of legalized prostitution. As a research project, she lived at the Mustang Ranch for months, and visited other brothels, to understand the day-by-day lives of the women who worked there.

To my surprise, many of the prostitutes had pimps: men who brought them into the trade and received a significant fraction of the women's incomes. The author describes how other women deal with boyfriends, husbands, or children while living at the brothel. She summarizes the kinds of men who visit the brothel, and how many of the women take pride in their ability to please them. She reveals the social dynamics between the women, ranging from animosity to close bonds.

The book is a very humanizing and accessible portrayal of life in a brothel. The author starts off hostile to prostitution, but ends up much more sympathetic to it. Whatever your opinions, Brothel provides a fascinating view of a subculture rarely exposed to outsiders.