100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed

100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed
by Melissa P.

100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed
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Book Summary Information

Author: Melissa P.
Translator: Lawrence Venuti
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-09-22
ISBN: 0802117813
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: Grove Press/ Black Cat

Book Reviews of 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed

Book Review: A rare and fascinating look into a precocious mind.
Summary: 5 Stars

I was entranced by the extraordinary perspicacity displayed by Melissa P. in this beautifully written and immensely eloquent examination of her adolescence. I was continually struck in reading her remarkable reminiscences of my own youth and how ignorant I was of the world-I was lucky to have known that the Earth was round rather than flat much less to be aware of all that transpired through Melissa's young life. She knew of the possibilities-whether she acted upon that knowledge was totally of her own decision and I'm not sure that it should be our business to judge those decisions. For us it is more a matter of deciding the merits of the memoir she has allowed us to read than to evaluate those decisions based on some preconceived outmoded social restrictions passed down to our times through mythology.

Her story as presented to us is one of personal discovery-discovery that lets us share the breakdowns and occasional flat tires of an arduous journey undertaken with an all too open heart but with a wonderfully clear mind. I was continually conscious of her age as I read of this journey and I marveled at her knowing and her ability to express herself so well. It's difficult to believe that one so young could, not only experience all that she did but who could also articulate her memories of all that had happened so brilliantly.

I found Melissa to be extraordinary, as did Claudio, her last lover. He told her on page 166 at the very end of the journey [book], "... you should never allow me to be the sole purpose in your life. You're going to be a great woman..." And that is how I will remember Melissa P's "100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed".


Summary of 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed

An instant blockbuster in Italy where it has sold over 700,000 copies, and now an international literary phenomenon, 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed is the fictionalized memoir of Melissa P., a Sicilian teenager whose quest for love rapidly devolves into a shocking journey of sexual discovery.

Melissa begins her diary a virgin, but a stormy affair at the age of fourteen leads her to regard sex as a means of self-discovery, and for the next two years she plunges into a succession of encounters with various partners, male and female, her age and much older, some met through schoolmates, others through newspaper ads and Internet chat rooms. In graphic detail she describes her entry into a Dante-esque underworld of eroticism, where she willingly participates in group sex and sadomasochism, as well as casual pickups. Melissa's secret life is concealed from family and friends, revealed only in her diary entries.

Told with disarming candor, Melissa P.'s bittersweet tour of extreme desires is as poignant as it is titillating. One Hundred Strokes of the Brush Before Bed is a stunning erotic debut, a Story of O for our times.

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