Photo by Agaton Strom
By Rebecca Keith
When Melissa Febos told me she used to make $1,500 to spank a record executive’s girlfriend for an hour, I briefly considered a new line of work. For a writer, what could be better than a flexible schedule (and minimum “office” hours) for maximum pay? As we continued on the N train to teach a high school writing course together, she filled me in on some of the details of her four years as a professional dominatrix in a Midtown Manhattan dungeon. She must have had this same conversation hundreds of times with other curious friends and classmates. In retrospect, as genuine as Febos is, it was a brilliant sales pitch for her memoir.
