Melissa Febos is the author of the memoir Whip Smart, which came out in paperback on July 19th. I first became aware of Febos because we are both women writers in recovery for drug addiction. Her book intrigued me because it’s about her four-year stint as a dominatrix in a dungeon in Manhattan’s Midtown, as well as her drug use and recovery, and anything that combines sexuality – particularly the stranger aspects – with drugs sounds like a good read to me. And Whip Smart was – surprisingly so.
I expected it to be interesting, funny, and strange, and it was indeed all of these things. But I was pleased to discover that Febos’ book was more than an amusing chronicle of shocking events. Instead, she meticulously questioned and analyzed the motives and driving factors behind her own actions, as well as those of her clients and coworkers. And this unflinching eye was at once empathetic and unforgiving – which, of course, is a difficult line to walk – ultimately making Whip Smart a rewarding and touching first book that is, as Darin Strauss said, “a true story (in both senses of the word).” I recently interviewed Febos about the book, as well as the novel she’s currently working on.
Julia Jackson: What part of your book were you most frightened of having your mother reading?
Melissa Febos: The explicit drug-use passages, and the submissive sessions. My family knew I was in recovery, but I had spared them the gory details of how I got there, so I knew those would come as a shock, that it was impossible to spare them the inevitable “what could we have done?” questions. And who ever wants their parents to read anything about their sexual experiences? Not me.
