Puta: An Erotic Coming of Age Novel

by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

A poignant, beautifully written erotic novel from the bestselling author of The Dirty Girls Social Club, PUTA describes the life of one woman, Carmen Noa, through the sexual encounters she had from the age of 16 to 41. By turns sexy, sensual and devastating, this book shows that sex, for modern women, can be much more meaningful, dangerous and, at times, healing than most pop culture portrayals of it, informing every aspect of our lives.

Genres: Fiction

409 pages, Paperback

First published July 12, 2012

About the author

Hello! I'm Alisa. I'm a writer and musician from New Mexico. I got my start writing in newspapers for nearly a decade, and then made the move to novels. I write in a variety of genres, though all of my work tends to have something to do with the things that interest me. Whether I'm writing young adult novels or historical fiction for adults, my stories are alike in that they seek to un-erase erased people, cultures and events, and there's usually something supernatural involved, as well as a general awe and reverence for the natural world. Fairness is important to me. Kindness is important to me. Holding monsters accountable is important to me. I try to write about all of that but also to keep things funny. Lots of labels have been placed on me over the years by a staggering variety of sleepwalking souls, but I don't tend to consider myself within such confines. I had a Near Death Experience in 2015 that changed everything for me. Now I know I'm a spirit living temporarily in a body, like everyone else. So I'm sort of existing, listening to the stories that exist all around us, allowing them to come through me to you. That's all. Sometimes my books sell. Mostly, they don't. Writing's a crap way to make a living, especially in this new era of fascism and billionaires. Ah, well. Keep loving those closest to you.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

An autobiography is always a dangerous thing. It opens the author up to criticism and unfair judgements. It also gives the reader a singular and myopic look into the writers life from one perspective and usually focuses on a similarly tunnel visioned aspect of the authors life. So it's no surprise to see this novel, Puta, written from the same perspective and in first person, but it was written from the dispassionate perspective of another author who wrote HER autobiography. Let me explain. Alisa is an amazing author, if her editor is not (punctuation and incorrect words abound), but I don't particularly care because the subject of her novels are ALWAYS so enjoyable. Puta is no different. Carmen is the principal and she focuses her story on the sexual awakening of a woman who was interacted with one abuser after another. Physically. Emotionally. Sexually. Spiritually. Carmen has great trouble navigating the waters but tended to always remain dispassionate, frantic, calmly observant and fully immersed all at the same time. I could not help but wonder if this "Carmen" is actually Alisa after all since the ages, places, people and educational experiences so closely mirror Alisa's own life. I was successfully confuse and i saw why when Alisa quoted '... It is a writers duty to betray everyone they ever loved...' And Alisa truly loves her readers. Alisa. I thank you for the betrayal and I will come back for more and more every time you publish anything.

I will say I truly became afraid for Alisa when I got to the chapter that described her research into authors that died at their own hands. In that chapter, she saw how closely her life resembled the French girl who also penned a novel of the same name. Though she worked very hard to show how different the two authors creations are, the human connection was undeniable.

Alisa had many great parts but few summed up the heart center of the book better than this passage:

'....I didn't know jack ---- about being mentally and emotionally healthy then, and it was a journey I had to take, and because some parts of it were incredibly sweet and exciting I will share it with you now. I also share it because, as with all the stories I share in this memoir, I am fascinated in retrospect by the way the people we choose to love or have sex with always reflect the psychological needs and issues we faced time, albeit usually subconsciously. This is why we must be emotionally and mentally healthy and stable if we are ever to find partners who will be good for us. Otherwise, our subconscious mind will continue to sabotage us.'

This passage was so poignant and introspective it was here that I started to think of the life of Carmen as not a sexual escapade through youth. But a real attempt to understand the choices we make in life. And why we make them when we make them. Her choices were wildly different from one partner to the next. Husband was one who especially challenged her even more then Aaron did. Husband was a living cautionary tale in bipolar-istic relationships.

'..push and pull and push and pull. We throw each other off the cliff, we rush to the bottom to do CPR. ...'

Alisa also has a closing chapter partially dedicated to the teachable moment. But the teaching was throughout. Thankfully. I especially was taught when she wrote that '...sometimes - no, almost all the time - women give up their power to men in their lives. We discount our own greatness at every turn...' In this passage I think she was speaking as much to us as to herself. Lesson learned.

Alisa is a master at manipulating the heart and crafting a turn of phrase. This book was titled provocatively on purpose to draw the reader in. A good title should do that. The whole sex sells thing was fully on display. But what I learned in between the romps on a futon was that sex is sometimes, all to often, used as a salve to soothe deeper wounds. To cover up the scars that never really healed. Sex is a weapon and a salvation. Sex is what makes us think we after superior to animals where we are yet animals ourselves. Self discovery in this novel was viewed through the lens of sex. Fine. But I find that though Alisa dispels any notion that this one book will make her readers her friend or give us a real understanding of her as a person, Alisa is still on her journey of self discovery. And because she is and because she literally MUST write about her journey, I for one, will not hop off of the funhouse ride anytime soon. Thee are still mirrors to see myself in. Roller coaster to scream on. And there are pages yet to be filled.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life changing and so beautiful

[Akisha Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Editing choices aside, a satisfying read!

I'll start by saying I am a fan of Ms. Valdes' work. It took me a while to get into this one, but was intrigued with the idea of a veiled memoir, a chance to view a bit further into her world, and I wasn't disappointed - in the story.

Let's start with (not really) Spoiler alerts:
1) This is NOT erotica. Ms. Valdes provides great detail in to Carmen's experiences, but if you're looking for a formulaic fantasy story of girl who somehow saves/is saved by hot, complicated guy they and they ride off into the sunset, keep looking.
2) She's a human who's just as messed up as the rest of us. Parent drama - check. Relationship drama - check. Internal struggles - check.

Whew! Now that you know what you're dealing with, if even half of Carmen's story is true (or close to it), I have so much respect for anyone being able to navigate that life and still come out on the high side. Bonus points for representation of a woman who is unapologetic and unashamed of sex!

My only frustration was in the editing choices - cities identified as "BigAssCity" or "City Y", people as "TeacherMan". I understand the concept of obscuring the actual details, but it read as a draft and made the story so much more difficult to follow than having given alternate names. There was one slip in the names when the protagonist is called "Alis-er" which sent me flipping to make sure I hadn't overlooked something in the name choices. I guess it was a slip.

In the closing sequence lies a sentence I was happy to see since it reinforced with my experience reading this piece of work:
"I really hope most of you have read my story with morbid fascination rather than heartfelt identification."

While I had passing thoughts, attempting to place details, they were fleeting. The title provoked me into taking a glimpse into another woman's experience, and having done so, I wish the best for all the Carmen's of the world in the next phase of their stories.

[U. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow!!! Very interesting story!!!

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so good! I couldn't put it down. I can relate to Carmen in so many ways. Definitely recommend this book!!

[Sonia Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

So raw and pure

[Melissa Martinez]

Meh...