Chester Brown’s Paying For It: Chi, NYC, Mtl, Van & Seattle
Official Press Release
CHESTER BROWN’S PAYING FOR IT IN STORES NOW
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR STARTS TOMORROW!
SLIDE SHOW, CONVERSATION & SIGNING
ON THE MOST TALKED ABOUT GRAPHIC NOVEL OF 2011
WEDNESDAY MAY 11 | CHICAGO | QUIMBYS | 7 PM
THURSDAY MAY 12 | NYC | THE STRAND | 7 PM
WITH TRACY QUAN & BENJAMEN WALKER
SATURDAY MAY 14 | MONTREAL | D+Q LIBRAIRIE | 7 PM
WEDNESDAY MAY 18 | VANCOUVER | VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY | 7 PM WITH LUCKY’S
THURSDAY MAY 19 | SEATTLE | ELLIOTT BAY | 8 PM
JULY 22-25 | SAN DIEGO | COMIC-CON INTL
SEPT 10-11 | BETHESDA | SPX
“Brown’s subject is inherently fascinating—who’s not a little curious about other people’s sex lives?—and his cartooning skills are as sharp as ever.”–ONION AV CLUB
“[Paying for It] registers less as a memoir than as a thoughtful, if contentious, treatise.”–WALRUS
“[Paying for It] somehow manages to be about more than just its author’s journey into john-dom, wrangling with issues such as the nature of love and sexual attraction, all thanks to Brown’s almost-fiendish command of the medium.”–GLOBE & MAIL
“Chester Brown’s graphic novel Paying For It is that rare thing, a john testifying outside of the courtroom.”–NATIONAL POST
“PAYING FOR IT is as personal as you can get. It’s a clear-eyed, not-even-slightly-erotic, compulsively
readable, sometimes painfully honest account of his time, reasons and experiences paying for sex…
PAYING FOR IT is the kind of book that will engage your mind and force you to think about things in ways you may never have done before.”–NEIL GAIMAN
“In PAYING FOR IT, Chester Brown not only makes a compelling case for the decriminalization of sex work but he also seems like an excellent client. Sex workers and sex worker rights advocates couldn’t ask for a better ally. A must read in the canon of sensible and sensitive voices making a case against prurient ideology-based rhetoric about consensual sexual behaviour.” –SASHA (Nationally syndicated sex columnist)
“Chester Brown is perhaps the most transparent, honest and relevant voice remaining in contemporary comics, and this is, to my mind, his most powerful and affecting work to date. PAYING FOR IT explores life in the world’s oldest customer-base, and does so with heart, intelligence, and a complete lack of sentiment or self-justification. Rewarding repeated readings, this book will love you long time.” –ALAN MOORE
“PAYING FOR IT is a great comic book, maybe Chester Brown’s best work to date.” –R. CRUMB
Chester Brown has never shied away from tacking controversial subjects in his work. In his 1992 book, THE PLAYBOY, he explored his personal history with pornography. His bestselling 2003 graphic novel, LOUIS RIEL, was a biographical examination of an extreme political figure. The book won wide acclaim and cemented Brown’s reputation as a true innovator. Featuring an introduction by R. Crumb, PAYING FOR IT is a natural progression for Brown as it combines the personal and the sexual aspects of his autobiographical work with the polemical drive of LOUIS RIEL. Brown calmly lays out the facts for us of how he became, not only a willing participant, but a vocal proponent of one of the world’s most hot button topics —prostitution. While this may appear overtly sensational and just plain implausible to some, Brown’s story stands for itself. PAYING FOR IT offers an entirely contemporary exploration of sex work from the timid john who rides his bike to his escorts, wonders how to tip so as not to offend, and reads Dan Savage for advice, to the modern day transactions complete with online reviews, seemingly willing participants, and clean apartments devoid of cliché depictions of street corners, drugs, or pimps. Complete with a surprise ending, PAYING FOR IT provides endless debate and conversation about sex work and will be the most talked about graphic novel of 2011.
