Book ~ "Take it Off" (2012) Taylor Cole and Justin Whitfield

From Goodreads ~ Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes in a male strip club? Are those guys gay? How do they stay so ripped? Do they stuff their trunks? How did they get into such a business? How much money do they make? Do they have wild sex every night? 

This book takes you backstage and into the lives of two successful male strippers over a span of twenty years in the business. From their rookie days to their wild sexcapades and practical jokes, Take It Off! is a laugh-filled, action-packed joyride. 

Justin Whitfield and Taylor Cole are the stage names of male exotic dancers who have performed for women in Europe, the Caribbean, South America and Canada, as well as at various casinos, on cruise ships and in hundreds of clubs across the United States. Both have been featured on television and radio, as well as in newspapers, calendars, and magazines. Both are also official Ellora’s Caveman cover models and appear on their erotic romance covers and at their conventions and tradeshows.

Justin and Taylor are male strippers who give us an apparently honest account on what happens behind the scenes in the male stripping industry .  I found this book a fast (less than 80 pages) and interesting read (though it's been many years since I've been in a male strip club).  Not surprising, the language is for mature readers.

It's written in first person point of view and some of the sections have their names so you know whose voice it is.  Most of them don't so you don't know who was doing what to whom.  I found the writing style a bit arrogant.  The chapters include:

• Life cycle of a male stripper
• Backstage with the guys
• Tricks and tools of the trade
• Sexacapades
• Stripper legends and tall tales
• Working out - the secrets

Given that these guys are in their thirties, it was a bit odd to hear them refer to women as "chicks" most of the time.  But I guess that shows the respect (or lack of) they had/have for the women they encountered in the clubs and on the road.  I cringed at how easy it was for these guys to pick up someone they liked in the club and two seconds later it was wham-bam-thank you-ma'am in the bathroom or a car (sometimes two at a time ... sometimes more than one in a night).  To make more tips, they would prey on and cultivate their regulars.

It would have been interesting to get a little more follow-up on where they are today re relationships and whether stripping and sleeping with everything that moved affected how they got into and out of these relationships.  Given their experiences and how they look, I wonder how huge their egos are and if they would be hard to live with.