Paying for It - Chester Brown

Paying For It is a natural progression for Brown as it combines the personal and the sexual aspects of his autobiographical work with the polemical drive of Louis Riel. Brown calmly lays out the facts for us of how he became, not only a willing participant, but a vocal proponent of one of the world's most hot button topics - prostitution. While this may appear overtly sensational and just plain implausible to some, Brown's story stands for itself. Paying For It offers an entirely contemporary exploration of sex work from the timid john who rides his bike to his escorts, wonders how to tip so as not to offend, and reads Dan Savage for advice, to the modern day transactions complete with online reviews, seemingly willing participants, and clean apartments devoid of clich depictions of street corners, drugs, or pimps. Complete with surprise ending, Paying For It provides endless debate and conversation about sex work and will be the most talked about graphic novel of 2011.