"Out of all the disturbing things we see and hear, there's none so strong as hearing someone called to the stage whose stage name is your actual daughter's name while wasted at some god awful hour of the night."

This is the world of stripping-vile and hilarious, heartbreaking and hustling, jarring and numbing, random acts of kindness or abuse. Author N.P. Anne shares her time baring it all in the "sisterhood" of strippers-an alternate life in the dark where the women who are paid for their time by-the-minute are equally marginalized and harassed by management, left to learn to defend themselves from unwanted attention, and all the while learning as quickly as possible to retain their sense of self.

These anecdotes and musings explore that range, shedding light on places where not even laser strobes go and exposing us to the life beyond tacky carpets and clear heels.