We wrote last week of the Eliot Spitzer scandal side media trend of examining the lives of actual prostitutes and the phenomenon of prostitution in general (cf. Newsweek talking to the D.C. Madam, Newsweek talking to Heidi Fleiss, Diane Sawyer's newly-relevant prostitution special, the LAT talking to Heidi Fleiss, Anderson Cooper and CNN's report on the realities of the sex industry, Fox News talking to Heidi Fleiss). But before there was Heidi Fleiss, there was Xaviera Hollander — and we'd wondered when she would pop up.
Well, kudos to New York mag's Duff McDonald for taking the initiative to reach out to the legendary Ms. Hollander, well-known to tabloid readers, Penthouse aficiandos, discerning moviegoers* and furtive schoolchildren everywhere. Hollander told McDonald that she was not related to Emperor's Club booker Tanya Hollander, and was less surprized by Spitzer's peccadilloes than she was about what the girls were making to fulfil them (i.e. $4,300 per the going rate for Ashley Alexandra Dupré, aka "Kristen"). "Is that what they get paid these days?" she asked. "I was in the $100 bracket." She also admitted to having had "dealings" with the White House in her time, saying Newsweek had offered her "a lot of money" to admit she'd serviced Sinatra. (Way to stay on the beat, Newsweek!) Hollander said that she'd kept her lip zipped — if little else — though she did refer obliquely to "a crooner from New Jersey." Oh, Bon Jovi, how could you?
Hollander is currently running a "bed and brothel" in Amsterdam (her website offers to be your "Happy Booker" for a reservation) and even has recipes ("Happy Cooker"). We're sure she would have done fabulously on Amie Street.
(By the way, I was one of those furtive schoolchildren mentioned above, and I'm sure my parents would like to personally thank Ms. Hollander (and Jackie Collins, and the people who wrote "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask" for making me charming dinner-table company during those years.)
Totally Safe For Work!
Excerpt: "The Happy Hooker" [Amazon]
(Oh, calm yourself, it's not even half as dirty as that Auden poem.)
The Web's Best Source For "Happy Hooker" Rhymes and Puns:
Xaviera Hollander's Website [XavieraHollander.com]
*There was a guy in this movie named John Wadd. Think it was an alias?