Bright is one of America's most vocal sex-positive advocates, offering her sexual liberation message in advice columns, personal appearances and books (Susie Bright's Sexual Reality
, etc.). This collection of 22 sketches written during the first 12 years of her daughter's life covers a variety of topics: her daughter's problems at school when she reveals her mom works as a sexpert, how nudists look when they age, the ubiquitous use of Viagra, her feelings about a friend's suicide and even a recipe for cherry pie. The material is uneven at best. The essay "Dirty Bookstore Docent," a field guide to the old-fashioned porn shop, is vintage Bright—she knows who's in that back booth and just what they're doing. Other pieces read more like thinly veiled bids for admiration. "Intern Phobia," for example, supposedly about why Bright won't hire interns, ends with "Somewhere there's a groupie heaven, but it can't be at my house," making the piece more of a reminder of what a star she's become. In "The Randy Bellboy," Bright ponders the methodology of seducing hotel staff, with such self-absorption she doesn't waste a minute considering the workers' rights—or dignity. While Bright acknowledges that some people have difficulties reconciling her "sex goddess" image with her mommy role, the problems with her motherhood essays are far more mundane. In "The Birthing Day Party," she describes tucking in the guests at her daughter's 10th birthday sleepover party with a graphic—yes, illustrated—discussion of her daughter's actual birth. Even die-hard fans may be put off by Bright's overt egotism and self-congratulatory writing. (Jan.)
