Vanilla Slim: An Improbable Pimp in the Empire of Lust
On December 8, 2002, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article by "Insight" contributor Bob Armstrong titled "Zen Dolls: Confessions of a Pimp in the Pod." In the article, Bob briefly recounted his adventures running an "escort" service before being arrested on March 27, 2002, on one count of pimping and two counts of selling drugs, all the while working as a freelance journalist. He spent time in the county lock-up where fellow inmates dubbed him "Vanilla Slim," but with a clean record he got off with 19 days served and three years probation. Articulate, argumentative, engaging, and witty, Armstrong is the philosopher-pimp: a college-educated, 50-something-year-old man, hip to San Francisco's various ethnic and cultural scenes, and hip to the city's history. Beautifully described in a kind of Bukowski-esque style, Armstrong relates the stories of his Zen Dolls with compassion and insight. Charging 500 a session, he's a cultural and sex industry critic, whose need to live a life of danger led him to think there was some good money and good times to be had by running a high-end operation. Armstrong's rise and fall is a rollercoaster ride through a life lived on the edge.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0786717017
ISBN13:9780786717019
Release Date:December 2005
Publisher:Carroll & Graf Publishers
Length:234 Pages
Weight:2.50 lbs.
Dimensions:0.7" x 5.6" x 8.2"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
San Francisco, the other view
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 17 years ago
The author describes running a small contemporary escort service in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, as well as producing erotic camcorder flicks, featuring the most beautiful of his contractors, and her answering trivia questions related to world history. This entertaining book is short (but succinct) on the voyeuristic side. It gives a compassionate view of the seedy part of the city, the action and follies of its inhabitants, sex-seeking visitors, those catering to them, and of the cities legislators and cops. Streets, buildings, and shops come to life, as does some of its recent history and art, the drug scene, and the authors days in prison. The "language" is mixed: direct and often beautifully poetic. This book parallels in a way John Steinbecks Cannery Row; I found it at least as much fun to read.
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