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Ivy League Stripper: A Memoir
Heidi Mattson successfully united sex and scholarship to realize a '90s version of the American Dream by becoming a smart, sassy, self-confident stripper while attending Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Intelligent and ambitious, she grew up
306 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 31, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 18, 2019
This book is about a young woman, Heidi, who went to an Ivy League school and got the money (or some of it) b y working as stripper. She wrote this book and I wanted to read it. It seemed interesting.
That was before I read it.
So the book WAS interesting in some ways. I was interested in Heidi's small town life in Maine and how she got to Brown University. I mean..y ou have to be pretty smart to get there. And she does come across as smart.
But the book read almost as a love letter to strip clubs. She glosses over so much it is really tough to take this book at all seriously whatsoever despite the premise which I did find interesting.
And the other thing is..her descriptions..not of the club where she worked but of herself. To quote another reviewer, "if she could, she would kiss herself". I cannot even count how many times she mentions he r own beauty and how men found her attractive. You cannot turn the page without reading about her golden hair and beautiful eyes. If someone else was describing her fine but it is a bit odd, reading of her own obvious self love and obsession with her own beauty. It made the book tough to engage with.
I do not like the positive light she puts on dancing either. I have had friends who danced in the past and their experiences were pretty dismal. She makes it sound like a never ending party. It turned me off.
So..two stars. An interesting premise but the book let me down big time.
That was before I read it.
So the book WAS interesting in some ways. I was interested in Heidi's small town life in Maine and how she got to Brown University. I mean..y ou have to be pretty smart to get there. And she does come across as smart.
But the book read almost as a love letter to strip clubs. She glosses over so much it is really tough to take this book at all seriously whatsoever despite the premise which I did find interesting.
And the other thing is..her descriptions..not of the club where she worked but of herself. To quote another reviewer, "if she could, she would kiss herself". I cannot even count how many times she mentions he r own beauty and how men found her attractive. You cannot turn the page without reading about her golden hair and beautiful eyes. If someone else was describing her fine but it is a bit odd, reading of her own obvious self love and obsession with her own beauty. It made the book tough to engage with.
I do not like the positive light she puts on dancing either. I have had friends who danced in the past and their experiences were pretty dismal. She makes it sound like a never ending party. It turned me off.
So..two stars. An interesting premise but the book let me down big time.
July 19, 2013
It takes a lot to get me to actually write a review, and I had to after finishing this book.
I've been on a memoir kick lately and this is by far the best one I have read. Heidi brought her own story and reality with out concern for what others would be expecting from the book. She is always candid, and at times funny, introspective, and self-deprecating -- like any normal person. She also brings in some feminist theory which adds an extra level of awesome.
It is a very real story of a woman struggling to make it on her own and finding out that sometimes, you have to just turn the tables and keep your headon straight in order to get ahead.
I've been on a memoir kick lately and this is by far the best one I have read. Heidi brought her own story and reality with out concern for what others would be expecting from the book. She is always candid, and at times funny, introspective, and self-deprecating -- like any normal person. She also brings in some feminist theory which adds an extra level of awesome.
It is a very real story of a woman struggling to make it on her own and finding out that sometimes, you have to just turn the tables and keep your headon straight in order to get ahead.
January 22, 2008
Allow me to begin by quoting Chris Rock:
"You know 'the stripper myth.' The stripper myth is: 'I'm stripping to pay my tuition.' No you're not! There's no strippers in college! There's no clear heels in biology! Shit, I didn't know they had a college that only took one-dollar bills. If they've got so many strippers in college, how come I never got a smart lap dance? I never got a girl that sat on my lap and said 'if I was you, I would diversify my portfolio. You know, ever since the end of the Cold War, I find NATO obsolete.' I haven't met her yet. If I do, she's gonna get a big tip."
Well, apparently Heidi Mattson is the stripper myth. After attempting to work several jobs on and off campus and taking three years of financial leave, Heidi finally decides to earn quick cash at teh Foxy Lady to make ends meet.
Her story, while entertaining, doesn't seem entirely credible. For example, she can't doesn't aduequately explain how/why she lost what seems like an un-losable lawsuit against the unviersity - and then decided to re-enroll anyway.
So the book was a great subway read, but I can't imagine others finding it as interesting as I did unless they also went to Brown.
"You know 'the stripper myth.' The stripper myth is: 'I'm stripping to pay my tuition.' No you're not! There's no strippers in college! There's no clear heels in biology! Shit, I didn't know they had a college that only took one-dollar bills. If they've got so many strippers in college, how come I never got a smart lap dance? I never got a girl that sat on my lap and said 'if I was you, I would diversify my portfolio. You know, ever since the end of the Cold War, I find NATO obsolete.' I haven't met her yet. If I do, she's gonna get a big tip."
Well, apparently Heidi Mattson is the stripper myth. After attempting to work several jobs on and off campus and taking three years of financial leave, Heidi finally decides to earn quick cash at teh Foxy Lady to make ends meet.
Her story, while entertaining, doesn't seem entirely credible. For example, she can't doesn't aduequately explain how/why she lost what seems like an un-losable lawsuit against the unviersity - and then decided to re-enroll anyway.
So the book was a great subway read, but I can't imagine others finding it as interesting as I did unless they also went to Brown.
March 31, 2018
A clunky "personal journey" book that nonetheless contains some good stories. I enjoyed the local Providence, RI details.
January 5, 2018
As a former dancer myself, I was expecting more grittier details and some insight on Heidi’s life, emotions, feelings, SOMETHING that would make me identify with her. Instead what I got was a VERY vanilla tale of a strip club called the Foxy Lady and too much information on dancers that I didn’t care to know about. I wanted to know
more about Heidi. NO woman becomes a stripper without other motivations or problems. I don’t think the book had one curse word in it. I skipped over most of the banal drivel until almost the end when she starts to shed a tiny bit of light on what dancing was doing to her emotions but even then she didn’t show me anything. She claims that she became a professional stripper. Ok. What the hell does that mean? And then ending? Are you fucking kidding me? I thought my kindle was perhaps missing some pages but alas, this tale of a stripper who essentially spends the whole book describing other strippers at her club ended with no resolution nor epilogue as to what the hell she did afterward. Perhaps she should have stuck to stripping and bypassed writing because this book sucks. Enjoy!
more about Heidi. NO woman becomes a stripper without other motivations or problems. I don’t think the book had one curse word in it. I skipped over most of the banal drivel until almost the end when she starts to shed a tiny bit of light on what dancing was doing to her emotions but even then she didn’t show me anything. She claims that she became a professional stripper. Ok. What the hell does that mean? And then ending? Are you fucking kidding me? I thought my kindle was perhaps missing some pages but alas, this tale of a stripper who essentially spends the whole book describing other strippers at her club ended with no resolution nor epilogue as to what the hell she did afterward. Perhaps she should have stuck to stripping and bypassed writing because this book sucks. Enjoy!
May 23, 2008
"Ivy League Stripper" is so wholesome and modest that Matteson could have been writing about paying her tuition by teaching Sunday school or rescuing cats from trees.
January 18, 2018
Taboo, sure ~ but the author mentioned from the get go that her dream was to one day get a college education in order to resemble the image of a powerful business women she found in magazines. After financial struggles and some close call accidents in her starting years, she takes on the lucrative and scandalous lifestyle of a foxy boxer. Taking her new job day by day and staying focused on being self sufficient by any means possible, she acknowledges the dangerous nature of her work. She does so not only in terms of safety as a woman exposing herself to animalistic crowds, but as a woman trying to hold onto her goals and identity amid a "get rich quick" scheme. She has fond memories, but does not glorify what is a difficult environment. I did not get the impression she would recommend this lifestyle to any woman; but does not seem to carry regrets for the choices she made that helped her survive.
July 22, 2024
It's really interesting. The writing is not exactly on point, but it's a memoir. You're not reading it for that, quite.
She has some wild setbacks that are wildly unfair, and it really sets you up to see she didn't have any other choice.
And, big reveal, once she's doing it, it hardly seems like that big of a deal.
It does seem like the world of strip clubs was a lot more innocent in the 90s.
It's also slightly weird that she only ever worked at one place, the first place she ever walked into. Having read a few books about strippers, folks are usually more peripatetic.
You'll be really, really mad at Brown U. as you read it, I promise you.
She has some wild setbacks that are wildly unfair, and it really sets you up to see she didn't have any other choice.
And, big reveal, once she's doing it, it hardly seems like that big of a deal.
It does seem like the world of strip clubs was a lot more innocent in the 90s.
It's also slightly weird that she only ever worked at one place, the first place she ever walked into. Having read a few books about strippers, folks are usually more peripatetic.
You'll be really, really mad at Brown U. as you read it, I promise you.
June 23, 2024
Mattson provides an interesting look at the relatively unknown sides of a divisive but highly prevalent industry. Her determination and tenacity towards living her own life and staying true to her morals despite the hardship she endures is admirable. It’s a pity that she’s not a better writer. The story structure is hardly engaging, characters appear and disappear out of nowhere so that it’s hard to keep track of who’s who, and the ending doesn’t even qualify as an ending in my books. I respect that she did research on feminist theory and absorbed enough of it to form her own opinions, as all good readers should, although some of the quotes felt rather shoehorned in.
December 21, 2020
Entertaining and fun read. Long live legs n eggs!
April 24, 2023
Wrote a review here:
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April 8, 2020
I wish I could do half stars, because this would be a solid 3.5. Definitely an interesting and enjoyable read.
May 23, 2011
This was such a fun book! It really went into the trials of someone trying to pay for an ivy league education with no money to do it. It was interesting how it pointed out that Brown allotted a certain amount that would be "donated by family" toward her tuition. Her family didn't have anything to give, and I imagine there are many families of potential ivy leaguers or any college student that don't have the funds to donate. She went into good depth to explain the process of how she eventually turned to topless dancing, and that was really fascinating to me (since the majority of women cannot relate to that line of work).
I also enjoyed that while you got a good look into the inside bits of the industry, the book more focused on her mindset throughout the years she was in college and using the dancing to pay for tuition. It was more about her focus on remaining a normal, well adjusted student as well as a clear headed woman.
If you like getting the inside scoop on various roles on the sex industry, this is a good book to pick up.
I also enjoyed that while you got a good look into the inside bits of the industry, the book more focused on her mindset throughout the years she was in college and using the dancing to pay for tuition. It was more about her focus on remaining a normal, well adjusted student as well as a clear headed woman.
If you like getting the inside scoop on various roles on the sex industry, this is a good book to pick up.
April 16, 2008
I think she wrote this book to make herself feel better about her college career choice. If she was never too money hungry then why write her story to sell? It is an interesting read because she lets you in on the lives of strippers.
April 15, 2009
Fun book to read. Includes some brief commentary on her responses to fem theory. Made it more enjoyable and interesting that I was familiar with all the places around Providence and at Brown she talked about, including the Foxy Lday.
December 10, 2009
I liked this book... Not completely what i expected... A little far fetched with certain aspects... Well written though... Very entertaining... A bit enlightening... Overall a very fun read... I reccomend it...
February 20, 2008
Definitely a different type of book and interesting way to get through college. Yes, still seems she could have made some better choices along the way.
Want to read
November 18, 2008christmas 2005 present from Jose)
July 11, 2015
This book drove me nuts and I couldn't finish it.
May 13, 2011
I think this book is highly unrealisitic and the ending is so random. I think it's great that she finaced her way through school bt WHAT did she do with her life after??
July 10, 2013
This book was very intriguing and an inside view on a field of work I'd previously known little about. The author writes with great tact.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews