Product Description

In this sexy, darkly funny, and surprisingly poignant memoir, famed New York call girl Natalie "Natalia" Mclennan tells her full story for the first time. A cautionary tale about a bright, confident young woman who sells her future for easy money and glamour, "The Price" takes readers inside the world of the twenty-five-year-old-girl "New York" magazine labeled "The $2,000-An-Hour Woman."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #320439 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-25
• Released on: 2008-11-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From Publishers Weekly
McLennan, purportedly the highest paid Manhattan call girl of her time, has an interesting story no doubt: topping out at $2,000 an hour, she made headlines in 2005 when she landed on the cover of New York magazine. In this memoir, however, the 28-year-old Montreal resident is unfortunately reticent regarding the emotional and psychological details of her sex- and drug-fueled former life. Drawn by fast money and drugs, would-be actress McLennan hooked up with Jason Itzler, owner of the New York Confidential escort service and self-proclaimed "King of All Pimps." She writes with detachment and nonchalance about both the idea and the experience of selling her body for cash (she brought along an imprint machine for clients who preferred to pay by credit card), keeping any part of the business from becoming very interesting. Published in part to capitalize on McLennan's associations with Ashley Dupre, the escort whose liaisons with former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer led to his resignation, this memoir adds little insight.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
In 2004, NATALIE McLENNAN (born in Montreal) began working under the name “Natalia” for the escort service NY Confidential. Since that time, Natalie has been a featured guest on the Today Show and Larry King Live, and has appeared in such print media as the New York Times, New York magazine, New York Post, and the Daily News.

Customer Reviews

Surprisingly Well Written
When I ordered this book I thought it was about Ashley Alexandra Dupre, the sex escort that brought Eilot Spitzer's political dreams to a blazing crash landing. It wasn't, but it was about her co-worker and friend Natalie "Natalia" McLennan. It was easy for me to get the two of them mixed up because when the Spitzer news story first broke Ashely was trying to stay out of the spotlight--at least until she could turn the publicity into a boost in her singing, acting and modeling career. Natalia on the other hand was sought out to appear on "Larry King Live," "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Today Show." This book seemed at first like it was stealing Ashely's thunder, but while that may have been one of the reasons for it's publication, it will probably only help sell Ashley's own memoir when it is eventually published?
The book's "Prologue: When Natalia Met Ashley" introduces the two soon-to-be very high priced and successful call girls to each other and describes in minute detail how Ashley was easily recruited into the business by Natalia and her pimp Jason to become an important part of the "New York Confidential" Agency.
After that introduction of Ashely, Natalia begins her own tale of her journey into the Sex Escort business. As is the case with so many women caught up in the sex trade, her downfall was drug addiction. However, in Natalia's case she was pretty much a druggy before she began selling her body.
This is the story of relatively shy girl from Canada who dreams of becoming famous and eventually gets swallowed up the meat grinder of New York City. As the National Tap Dancing Champion of Canada she danced with Gregory Hines at the Montreal Jazz Festival and then began her "off-off Broadway" acting career. She is basically mesmerized by the shiny, false glitter of NYC nightlife. She was soon making $2,000 an hour by renting her body.
Anyone who finds this story interesting, which reads much like a Country Western Ballad, will probably enjoy reading "In Good Company: The Escort's Guide," "The Business Side of Escorting II: An Escorts Guide to Intelligently Running Her Business in the Cyber Age," "Call Girl" by Jeannette Angell and "The Last Madam: A Life In The New Orleans Underworld." All of these non-fiction books are surprising well written, as is this memoir. In all of those books the authors warn of the dangers of drugs and advise not falling prey to living the high life and to save money for their retirement, which will be arriving sooner than they think. (Feel free to read my Amazon Reviews of all those books). Even the most successful sex workers, some of whom actually make more money than the President of the United States is paid by the taxpayers, need to develop savings and retirement plans.
It's a shame that Natalie didn't benefit from this common sense advice, but like most people who have never made big money, she thought it would last forever. This is a good read and when Ashely's story is eventually published I'll read it as well. There are some very interesting and unexpected details about the life of a sex worker included in this volume. Sex always sells. Ask Eliot Spitzer!

Breezy Account of Manhattan's Rich and Horny
This is a curious book, a memoir by one of Manhattan's top escorts who happened to have introduced Elliot Spitzer's escort into the business.

For those of you looking for a high-end look at the high life, with bars, brands, shoes, stars, lots of sex and name-dropping galore, this book is for you. It's light, fun, and easy to read, despite the rather depressing account of Ms. McLennan's slide into addiction and incarceration.

And yet it is that very contradiction that makes the book so curious. Despite reading and enjoying Ms. McLennan's tale, I found myself knowing very little about her as a person, her interior life, motivations, desires, and personality. I think perhaps that is because she wrote this book too soon, and her publisher is rushing it out to cash in on the Spitzer scandal.

Accordingly, I don't think Natalia has fully come to grips with her life, and how she wound up where she is. It's that piece that I would like to know more of. Instead, she is encouraged to write about the lifestyle of the rich in Manhattan, or at least those who partied with her or employed her services. And that is all fun and enjoyable.

Still, it's only in the final chapter do I sense that Natalia is attempting to self-reflect on her life, and to share some of herself with the reader. I personally would have liked more of that, and hope she has another opportunity to check in with us and let us know how she is doing on her road to recovery.

Lackluster
I had a hard time with the style that this book was written with. Some of the book was written in a very casual tone, almost like the author was talking to one of her girlfirends. These portions were filled with emotion, and made you just fall in love with Natalia and really relate to her. Unfortunately, most of the book seemed to be written from a distance. More like Natalia was simply stating the facts and the order that they happened in, instead of really inviting you into those moments with her. Towards the end of the book it started to get confusing, I don't know if this was intentional to mirror the drug induced confusion in her own life, but overall it was uncomfortable to read. Natalia has an interesting and entertaining life, I just wish that she had a better editor.