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In the recession-scarred landscape of 1990s New York City, a young writer and dancer faces a brutal economic reality: no one will hire her, not even to bus tables. When she impulsively takes a job as a topless dancer, Stoehr begins a nine-year journey through the misunderstood world of sex work—a journey that runs parallel to her struggles for artistic recognition and personal autonomy. From the
neon-lit stages of New York City to the debauched clubs of San Francisco, Stoehr chronicles the dualities of creating art while being objectified, and of finding camaraderie among fellow dancers while enduring an increasingly abusive marriage. With unflinching honesty, Stoehr dismantles the stereotypes and stigma surrounding sex workers, revealing the humanity, resilience, and sisterhood that flourish behind the curtain of societal judgment.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Shelley Stoehr is the author of four young adult novels, including Crosses (1991), the first YA novel about self-injury. She publishes internationally in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction and has received awards from the DeGroot Foundation, The North American Review, New Millennium Sunshots, Writer's Digest, WOW: Women on Writing, The New York Public Library, and the American Library Association.
In her work, Shelley explores the complex and often unspoken challenges that marginalized girls and women face, providing readers with a window into subjects that they might not otherwise have encountered or understood. Shelley seeks to challenge societal stigmas and to encourage open dialogues about issues that are often shrouded in silence. Ultimately, her goal is to create stories that not only engage and entertain but also inform and empower readers. Shelley identifies as disabled and is a former sex worker. She teaches writing at Southern Connecticut State University, Gateway Community College, and the University of New Haven.
Free Reader's Guide and Discussion Questions are available at the author's website:
www.shelleystoehrauthor.com
Praise for Girls Girls Girls
"Coming of age as a self-supporting female artist in the nineties is just as complex, exciting and heartbreaking as Shelley Stoehr's Girls Girls Girls describes. When living a double life—one of which is in a strip club—it's counterintuitive to think that the club can be both a harrowing place and a safe-haven, supported by a sisterhood of powerful women. Stoehr illustrates this with raw honesty and compassion." ~ Jill Morley, writer/filmmaker of Stripped, Fight Like a Girl, and Squirrel Wars
"Shelley Stoehr’s Girls Girls Girls is everything a memoir should be: forensic, inconclusive, by turns gripping and humdrum. Stoehr captures life on the artistic margins on the West Coast during the 1990s brilliantly. But more importantly, her book is an exceptionally realistic and truthful account of the invisible lines between the traps we create for ourselves and the dragging effects of cultural exclusion and economic precarity. Read it now."~ Chris Kraus, author of The Four Spent the Day Together
"Girls Girls Girls peels back the shiny and occlusive image of The Stripper to show the raw, hopeful beating heart of a dancing girl, aspiring artist, and free spirit on a quest to find her true self. As a narrator, Shelley Stoehr is probing, compassionate, and brimming with a quality of sisterhood. I’d follow her anywhere." ~ Lily Burana, author of Strip City: A Stripper’s Farewell Journey Across America