October 1, 2019
A former internet live-action "camgirl" divulges the secrets and the snags of the provocative lifestyle. In Mazzei's debut memoir, she describes growing up in Santa Monica, California, as the daughter of a hip, bipolar cinematographer and an alcoholic makeup artist. After an earthquake and subsequent fire damage forced the family to relocate to Colorado, they thrived until her mother's addiction became unmanageable. From a young age, Mazzei's biggest desire was to be the center of attention, and, almost as a diversion from her home life, she attracted attention by being the "strangest girl in middle school," embracing a seductive alter ego, "Isa, Queen of Boys," and seducing her male classmates. Later, the author also began exploring different aspects of her sexuality, including an attraction to women, sex work for wealthy men, and a stealth introduction to "camming." Mazzei writes about her online adventures with a self-assured, casual flow and never skimps on the details of her racy, erotic two-year tenure as a camgirl. She explains how she developed a unique, arousing identity named "Una" and began amassing donated "tokens" from fans for her increasingly sexual group and private room virtual interactions. Readers interested in the fascinating world of online chat-room hosts will get a fully guided tour courtesy of Mazzei's intimate, interactive broadcasts. Her early on-camera fumbles with tangled garter belts and random insecurities ("was I really going to masturbate in front of three hundred strangers?") gave way to a dominant yet playful online persona whose content's intensity increased as she networked with other girls and promoted her cam profile page on Twitter. Mazzei ended up creating a mini empire for herself and banked thousands of dollars. Only in the concluding chapters does the author openly reveal her lifelong issues with self-control, anxiety, and depression, which resurfaced during a mental breakdown at the height of her cam business and contributed to its closure. A vivacious chronicle of how Mazzei channeled her sexuality into a lucrative business, which became an epiphanic experience as well.
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Starred review from October 15, 2019
Modern technology has enabled anyone with a camera to broadcast virtually anything that anyone desires. This raw memoir brings to the forefront a young woman's decision to become a camgirl, a woman who performs live-streaming sexual acts on camera for money. Mazzei starts off her narrative describing herself as the product of a white, wealthy family, raised by talented but indifferent parents. When she asked for a birthday cake decorated with the word whore, her mother complied. She chronicles her sexual manipulation of both males and females and her compulsion to be the center of attention. Not satisfied with a sugar daddy, she takes advantage of her sociopathic succubus tendencies to earn more money broadcasting sexual acts online. She settles on the name Una, meaning the only one, and quickly rises up the rating ranks in her first month, netting an initial paycheck for $15,877.10. Readers get a detailed account of what goes on in her shows, which range from inane to downright violent. Now a writer and producer with the Netflix film CAM to her credit, Mazzei presents a candid book that reveals a lot about sex workers and the consumers who indulge in these exchanges, exposing the complex emotions experienced on both sides of a scene.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)