Chester Brown: Paying For It (2011)
Nope, just because it’s told in drawings, it’s not necessarily for children. This is a weighty contribution to the debate about whether prostitution should be decriminalized. Through the account of his own use of prostitutes (or is sex workers a better word?) Brown reflects on the many aspects of paying for sex, including his own and his surroundings’ reactions to it. It is also an interesting argument against what he calls “possessive monogamy”. I’m not sure I agree with all of Browns points, but Paying For It was certainly enlightning and thought-provoking. And this was the first drawn book I’ve read that had 23 appendices – and notes for them.
I came across the title among the nominations for the Danish award Ping-prisen (go and have a look if you want inspiration for cartoons/graphic novels) and picked it up in (sigh!) Barnes & Noble at Union Square, NYC.