Books on Brothels and Bordellos

OK, I like alliteration. I confess.

The night we went to Sun Studios, we went to King Palace (is this right?) for dinner and a long walk after to aid in digestion. We walked down Beale to G.E. Patterson and then back toward the river. We decided to walk down to The Arcade Restaurant to see if we could tell where the old Arcade Hotel used to be.

The walk along Main was nice. The sun was hanging low in the sky and darkness descended gradually as we made our way further south. There were lofts along the way, and Doug told us about how many of them were occupied. Henry Turley has definitely made some money off of those old buildings - most of them belong to him, though I did see a couple of new names on the leasing signs. There were also art galleries and a couple of working studios. We saw the most beautiful paintings of nothing in one little studio; I've been trying to figure out a way to get one of them onto my wall.

There was a section of Main where all of the parking meters were eclectically decorated. Every one was different - all unique, and they were signed by the artists. The doors and windows were also decorated; even one pillar was decked out in sparkly mosaic style.

As we walked, we talked about Memphis' history. Memphis has such a rich history, filled with illicit things that tickle the imagination. I think that's what makes it so rich, personally. Something that has always piqued my interest, both in Memphis and in general, is Bordellos and Brothels. Whorehouses. I know that this is perhaps, not the most wholesome interest, but sometimes a person has little to say about what grabs their attention.

I think one of the reasons I have always been interested in such an unseemly topic is that my sister was a prostitute. I loved her more than anything in the world, and she loved me back just as fiercely and unconditionally. I miss her every day - perhaps this is my way of being close to her. Michelle was a very complex person, as I'm sure that many prostitutes through history have been too.

I decided that night that I'm going to write a book on - you guessed it - Brothels, Bordellos, and Whorehouses. Possibly just in Memphis, if I can find enough information; possibly all of Tennessee, or The South, or The US. We'll see. What I do know is that it will be titles "Brothels, Bordellos, and Whorehouses..."

I'm pretty excited about it. I hope people will read it, because although it *is* an unseemly subject, it's definitely a part of our history, both right here in Memphis as well as all over the country.