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The Art of the Pimp: One Man's Search for Love, Sex, and Money
Dennis Hof, proprietor of the world-famous Moonlite BunnyRanch brothel and the P.T. Barnum of prostitution, charts his path to fame and infamy, while dispensing homespun wisdom about sex, sales, money, and how to live as the country’s most recognizable pimp.
In The Art of the Pimp , Dennis Hof offers a hilarious, insightful, behind-the-scenes look at life as the proprietor of The Moonlight BunnyRanch, the world’s most famous legal brothel, and recounts his chaotic life as the king of America’s sex industry. Hof, the star of HBO’s critically lauded series Cathouse , reveals the tricks of turning tricks, the secrets of his outrageous marketing stunts, and scandalous details of his friendships with porn stars, prostitutes, and politicians. Readers will learn how Hof’s “girls” negotiate the highest prices for sex, the dirty little secrets of getting men to fall in love with them, and the inside tales of “The Girlfriend Experience,” the #1 requested menu item. The Art of the Pimp will take readers on a wild ride through his countless sexual conquests, romantic failures, and business successes.
In The Art of the Pimp , Dennis Hof offers a hilarious, insightful, behind-the-scenes look at life as the proprietor of The Moonlight BunnyRanch, the world’s most famous legal brothel, and recounts his chaotic life as the king of America’s sex industry. Hof, the star of HBO’s critically lauded series Cathouse , reveals the tricks of turning tricks, the secrets of his outrageous marketing stunts, and scandalous details of his friendships with porn stars, prostitutes, and politicians. Readers will learn how Hof’s “girls” negotiate the highest prices for sex, the dirty little secrets of getting men to fall in love with them, and the inside tales of “The Girlfriend Experience,” the #1 requested menu item. The Art of the Pimp will take readers on a wild ride through his countless sexual conquests, romantic failures, and business successes.
373 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 17, 2015
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498 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
November 12, 2015
Big Pimpin
You know I - thug em, fuck em, love em, leave em
Cause I don't fuckin need em
Take em out the hood, keep em lookin good
But I don't fuckin feed em
Oh my! I don't know what I was getting into by reading this. To be honest it started out interesting, how a certain dead celebrity gave him his first boner at the age of 8 was the peak of this book and then like a really fast roller coaster it went down hill from there.
The Art of the Pimp is well interesting, egotistical, boring, boasting, annoying and dull all wrapped up in a "Why the hell am I reading this" kind of way. I admit the cover kind of grabbed my attention, that's about all this book has going for it except a man in love with his dog (who is barely mentioned), thinks he has the golden staff for a penis and that blonde women with red lipstick is a conquest for him to climb upon.
Pimping ain't easy. Especially if you sleep with the workers (5-6 times in an afternoon) or so you say, Dennis. But to call your self a Saint Pimp. I think you took it a step too far. Sure, you cleaned up the places and got "prettier girls" and took half what they made, plus half of their tips. Saint hood is not really in this picture. Just sayin'!
Seriously though, it was like a bad porno that had no ending insight, thankfully this book did. Ron Jeremy makes an appearance, as the best friend. Come on, you have millions of dollars made from pussy (sorry for being crude) and you hangout with a greasy, annoying porn star. Dude, you could do better. But then again I'm not in the sex industry so that might be the better.
If brothels are your thing, having sex with a porn star, or are a dirty old man then this book might be for you. As for me. I'm done. I had a few good laughs and many eye rolling moments that I'm pretty sure that's how I woke up with a headache.
You know I - thug em, fuck em, love em, leave em
Cause I don't fuckin need em
Take em out the hood, keep em lookin good
But I don't fuckin feed em
Oh my! I don't know what I was getting into by reading this. To be honest it started out interesting, how a certain dead celebrity gave him his first boner at the age of 8 was the peak of this book and then like a really fast roller coaster it went down hill from there.
The Art of the Pimp is well interesting, egotistical, boring, boasting, annoying and dull all wrapped up in a "Why the hell am I reading this" kind of way. I admit the cover kind of grabbed my attention, that's about all this book has going for it except a man in love with his dog (who is barely mentioned), thinks he has the golden staff for a penis and that blonde women with red lipstick is a conquest for him to climb upon.
Pimping ain't easy. Especially if you sleep with the workers (5-6 times in an afternoon) or so you say, Dennis. But to call your self a Saint Pimp. I think you took it a step too far. Sure, you cleaned up the places and got "prettier girls" and took half what they made, plus half of their tips. Saint hood is not really in this picture. Just sayin'!
Seriously though, it was like a bad porno that had no ending insight, thankfully this book did. Ron Jeremy makes an appearance, as the best friend. Come on, you have millions of dollars made from pussy (sorry for being crude) and you hangout with a greasy, annoying porn star. Dude, you could do better. But then again I'm not in the sex industry so that might be the better.
If brothels are your thing, having sex with a porn star, or are a dirty old man then this book might be for you. As for me. I'm done. I had a few good laughs and many eye rolling moments that I'm pretty sure that's how I woke up with a headache.
June 2, 2015
Originally a time-share salesman, Dennis Hof took his team-building and marketing expertise and applied it to his hobby to create the Moonlite Bunny Ranch where women competed directly for every john's business. Granted, negotiating was a revolutionary concept for the brothel industry, notorious for locking down women until their contracts are fulfilled, but most of Hof's lifestyle is fairly predictable. Sure, he calls Ron Jeremy his "bitch", but all the gorgeous girls and boyish antics appear to be covering an inability to love. On the plus side, Hof tells an amazing American Dream story, which is only slightly undermined by some of the negative portrayals given by his former lovers or coworkers. I also liked getting a more comprehensive view of the brothel industry as most memoirs are from prostitutes and not owners.
March 12, 2016
This is such a bizarre book. I'm a now not-so-secret viewer of HBO's Cathouse and so I loved the insidery nature of this book. It's also really fascinating because there are little essays from women who eloquently break down why they hate Hof after dating him and a notable therapist dissects him after they meet. I'm pretty impressed he let his memoir be broken up by detractors, but at the same time he's pretty blind to his own negative attributes. Mostly I think it's genius structure brought to you by his talented ghostwriter.
July 1, 2015
Here is what this book is about:
Dennis is very good at everything except Monogamy. He has lotsa sex. The end.
Seriously, I just saved you precious money and time. You're welcome.
And for those of you who still want to give it a go let me just point out that this book was written by a 300+ pound, 60-some-year old who firmly believes he gave a 23 year old woman 11 orgasms before lunch and 9 after. Yup cuz that happens.
Dennis is very good at everything except Monogamy. He has lotsa sex. The end.
Seriously, I just saved you precious money and time. You're welcome.
And for those of you who still want to give it a go let me just point out that this book was written by a 300+ pound, 60-some-year old who firmly believes he gave a 23 year old woman 11 orgasms before lunch and 9 after. Yup cuz that happens.
March 20, 2015
Review to come.Have the flu and I can't think straight.
January 29, 2021
The book is surprisingly enjoyable. It's the autobiography of Dennis Hof, someone who has turned the seedy sex industry into a proper service business. The way he runs his brothels, motivates his working girls (who are independent contractors) is exactly like the way one would run a successful real estate agency business. In fact, when he talks about it, it reminds me of the legendary Glengarry Glen Ross (movie) which is about few real estate salesmen.
I could understand where the bad ratings come from. But to me, the book is very honest. He chose to include the negative interviews/feedbacks of people who were close to him but fell out with him in the end, eg his ex.
I could understand where the bad ratings come from. But to me, the book is very honest. He chose to include the negative interviews/feedbacks of people who were close to him but fell out with him in the end, eg his ex.
April 7, 2017
Rating - 8
You start off envious of the life that Hof experiences but as the same story keeps happening & reading how others feel about him, it loses his tarnish; Feel sad near the end as his life seems incomplete
Nice correlation between selling sex & corporate leadership/sales - further validates consulting is prostitution of the mind; Some of the corollaries are unsettling during this transitional period of my life
You start off envious of the life that Hof experiences but as the same story keeps happening & reading how others feel about him, it loses his tarnish; Feel sad near the end as his life seems incomplete
Nice correlation between selling sex & corporate leadership/sales - further validates consulting is prostitution of the mind; Some of the corollaries are unsettling during this transitional period of my life
Want to read
March 8, 2015I haven't read it yet, but I got an email from amazon that is should be here on the 23rd. It will be a interesting read and I am looking forward to see what is in it. I just love how people love to refer us as "Hookers" How about business women that earn a pay worth of a CEO of a big company.
April 26, 2015
Entertaining from start to Finish! A fast & fun read.
October 25, 2018
As I continue my studies in Deviant Behavior and Criminology, a must read book was this entry by the legendary owner of the BunnyRanch and recently deceased, Dennis Hof. This book is a very well written, fascinating expose into the lives of Hof, the girls, his girls, the patrons, and assorted characters of this world apart. Kindle version, the hardcover is very expensive and apparently a collectors item.
February 22, 2018
Certainly not my usual type of book to read. But a friend gave it to me as a joke, but I decided to read it. It was a look into a world I do not know a lot about. It was interesting. Of course it is written by Dennis, so it is very pro-prostitution, but there are many accounts included by people who tell of the downside. It was a quick read.
May 23, 2018
Meh. While the rise of Hof is fascinating, his relationship struggles becomes a repeating pattern chapter after chapter. The sidebar from a scorned ex-rancher and the psychological evaluation at the end were, by far, the most eye-opening bits overall.
July 25, 2017
Alot of repeating but I enjoyed this, although perhaps from a mental health perspective.
June 5, 2018
I enjoyed the perspectives of those that Dennis mentions throughout the book.
February 22, 2020
Very entertaining 😁
May 29, 2022
One of the best book I've ever read in my life.
Truly outstanding!
Truly outstanding!
January 13, 2024
Well… the only reason I didn’t like this was because he is just boring, and morose. It’s a trivial, one sided (delusional) story about someone who could’ve been interesting, but decides not to be.
November 15, 2015
I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway in return for my honest review.
My husband thought I was crazy reading a prostitution book but it turned out not to be all about sex. It turned out to be about Dennis Hof the businessperson. From the book, I discovered Mr. Hof is an excellent salesperson, starting in the business of timeshares moving onto brothels. He took his team-building and marketing expertise and applied it to create the Moonlite Bunny Ranch. The reason his ranch was different from others is he allowed the women to be independent contractors who worked for themselves with him getting a cut of the money. These parts of the book showed the reader how you could apply the same techniques to any type of business. Another great part is how Dennis Hof refers to his Dale Carnegie training throughout the book. As a Dale Carnegie graduate myself I enjoyed his positive attitude on life.
Throughout the book are numerous personal accounts written by secondary characters in his life. This part of the book was definitely needed to see both sides to the events of Dennis’s life. I found it very interesting and learned more about these famous people as well.
This book is not a norm for most readers. If you want to read something a little “outside the box”, I would recommend this book.
My husband thought I was crazy reading a prostitution book but it turned out not to be all about sex. It turned out to be about Dennis Hof the businessperson. From the book, I discovered Mr. Hof is an excellent salesperson, starting in the business of timeshares moving onto brothels. He took his team-building and marketing expertise and applied it to create the Moonlite Bunny Ranch. The reason his ranch was different from others is he allowed the women to be independent contractors who worked for themselves with him getting a cut of the money. These parts of the book showed the reader how you could apply the same techniques to any type of business. Another great part is how Dennis Hof refers to his Dale Carnegie training throughout the book. As a Dale Carnegie graduate myself I enjoyed his positive attitude on life.
Throughout the book are numerous personal accounts written by secondary characters in his life. This part of the book was definitely needed to see both sides to the events of Dennis’s life. I found it very interesting and learned more about these famous people as well.
This book is not a norm for most readers. If you want to read something a little “outside the box”, I would recommend this book.
May 14, 2015
So...this book was funny, not humorous but funny in that anyone who is literate could grasp the fact that Dennis Hof is a total narcissist. I actually put this book down a few chapters in because his own ego stroking was too much. I ended up finishing it because I don't like to leave things unfinished and I figured there might be something interesting in it beyond the ego stroking. Ultimately, this book is quite dull and is composed of multiple points of views; of Madame Suzette who runs the daily operations of the Bunny Ranch, to some of the girls, to Ron Jeremy (Hof's Bromance partner), to surprisingly one of the girls who had nothing positive to say about her experience at the ranch nor Hof. The multiple point of view helped me finish this book, to be honest. However, the end is a psychiatrist's determination on Hof which, as I opened with, is hilarious because you'd have to be blind to not see his narcissism, etc. That they had his psych eval in here cracked me up, it was a waste of pages, like the majority of this book.
December 22, 2015
(3.5) - I've read better memoirs but I must admit: Dennis Hof is probably one of the most interesting characters I've read about in a while. He's a consummate salesman (as most successful pimps are) and even if you don't have even a vague familiarity with his Cathouse show, you will definitely leave this book having a strong opinion of him.
My favorite parts of the book were first-hand essays from people who know him personally - and they were not all kind. They have fair assessments of the man, which seemed to mix well with the bravado of his text throughout the rest of the book. Heidi Fleiss, Ron Jeremy, Tucker Carlson, Mancow, and one particularly disgruntled ex of his all contribute to the book.
If you have an interest in the sex industry, reality shows, or solid sales strategies (because Hof could TRULY sell water to a whale), this is an intriguing read.
My favorite parts of the book were first-hand essays from people who know him personally - and they were not all kind. They have fair assessments of the man, which seemed to mix well with the bravado of his text throughout the rest of the book. Heidi Fleiss, Ron Jeremy, Tucker Carlson, Mancow, and one particularly disgruntled ex of his all contribute to the book.
If you have an interest in the sex industry, reality shows, or solid sales strategies (because Hof could TRULY sell water to a whale), this is an intriguing read.
March 29, 2015
Aside from the sex stuff
I found dentist's life story as fascinating to me as Ted Turkey's life story. Both men found their business inch in life and made a fortune. Yet dennis Hoffman literally had no serious education. Almost hard to believe.
Just like the shrink said in the book dennis sex drive is fundamentally too much testosterone
.I was truly fascinated by the comparison between the schemes to sell time shares and the same schwm to sell sex. Tremendous analogy. And the fact that dennis could teach the girls this scheme to me was the best part of the book. I think all sales people should read that section. Memorize. And re-read time and time again. It was the true object lesson dennis imparts to us all not the sex stuff. Bob
I found dentist's life story as fascinating to me as Ted Turkey's life story. Both men found their business inch in life and made a fortune. Yet dennis Hoffman literally had no serious education. Almost hard to believe.
Just like the shrink said in the book dennis sex drive is fundamentally too much testosterone
.I was truly fascinated by the comparison between the schemes to sell time shares and the same schwm to sell sex. Tremendous analogy. And the fact that dennis could teach the girls this scheme to me was the best part of the book. I think all sales people should read that section. Memorize. And re-read time and time again. It was the true object lesson dennis imparts to us all not the sex stuff. Bob
June 17, 2015
It was an interesting memoir about the owner of a famous legal brothel in Nevada. I actually enjoyed the way he intertwined numerous personal accounts written by secondary characters in his life. I'm inclined to believe the majority is true given he even included a scathing account by one of his ex-girlfriend's (also a prostitute and employee). The last chapter was the most intriguing: a psychological analysis of Dennis, written by a psychiatrist he seemingly saw for this purpose. It was almost a sad way to end the book,; Dennis didn't attempt to respond but simply added it in the end.
June 5, 2015
Pimping Ain't Easy, But It Sure Is Fun
Stars off weird with the Marilyn Monroe fantasy. At the end it gets to be ridiculous? What man wants to see another man's sex game? It's weird, but whatever makes you happy. Cammi's story cleared the vision on who Dennis is. The book is interesting, but you will get sick of it. Until then, enjoy.
Stars off weird with the Marilyn Monroe fantasy. At the end it gets to be ridiculous? What man wants to see another man's sex game? It's weird, but whatever makes you happy. Cammi's story cleared the vision on who Dennis is. The book is interesting, but you will get sick of it. Until then, enjoy.
August 25, 2015
Boring. When you are a pimp, having a relationship with a woman might be difficult. I get it. I did enjoy his how to succeed in business ideas and recommendations.
June 30, 2015
Great book brush up on my skills...Big pimpin on a bunny ranch leave you with quote for the book "Its not just that I get all the pussy I want. I also make money on all the pussy you want"...
November 29, 2015
Won this here on goodreads. Not really my kind of book, but thought I would give it a try. Interesting peek into the sex industry.
April 18, 2017
Just an autobiography, unless your very interested in the lives of this particular kind of person then there is little interest in it.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews