Book #3: Some Girls

When I was browsing the bookstore shelves last week, I spotted Jillian Lauren's memoir Some Girls: My Life in a Harem. The synopsis on the back of the book mentions that Lauren was a young girl living poor in NYC when she took an offer to go to Brunei to basically get paid to look pretty. Turns out the circumstances were a bit more complicated than that, and she ends up in a prince's harem.

The actual book, which I got from the library now that I'm back in town, takes a wider view of Lauren's experiences as a harem girl. She gives some of the major events and life choices that lead up to her decision to fly around the world, and she gives some of the details of what happens after she leaves that world. Although her voice and bluntness could be a bit crass for my taste, it was interesting to read about how a modern harem (oxymoron?) actually works. I did occasionally get annoyed with her passive aggressive moments in which she thinks she's not blaming her parents for her upbringing and choices, but she actually is. Her extreme self-consciousness also seemed a bit contrived at points; I couldn't quite tell if she was trying to find a succinct meaning her actions for her readers' benefit or for her own.

Regardless, I ended up staying up later than I had planned so I could finish the book. While Lauren is absolutely nothing like me, perhaps that's part of the appeal of the read--just like with reality television, you kind of want to see how this tailspin of seemingly bad choices will resolve. Overall, I'd say Lauren's book, though interesting, is more of a trashy beach read than anything else.