Madam Millie: Bordellos from Silver City to Ketchikan - Tapa blanda

"The story of Mildred Fantetti Cusey sells itself -- a memoir about a strong, resourceful survivor in an age of self-made entrepreneursa" "Millie's is the quintessential American success story." "There aren't many subjects more titilating than good old fashioned whoring." ." . .the life of 'Madam Millie' is the saga of the West as it played itself out in bedrooms and back alleys." The story of Mildred Fantetti Cusey sells itself a memoir about a strong, resourceful survivor in an age of self-made entrepreneurs. . . . . . . authentic narratives by prostitutes and madams are rare, and Cuseys raucous recollections are an important addition to the literature. . . . the book does deliver its promise: A complete picture of the prostitution business as it was actually practiced in the western states . "Millie's story is an important one, highlighting as it does that prostitution in the West is not just a nineteenth-century phenomenon. . . . The book is an intersting combination of journalism and biography." ." . .novelist Evans tells the rollicking true story of Mildred Cusey, a resourceful orphan, former Harvey Girl, and astute businesswoman who for nearly a half century lived happily and well off the wages of sin." Local color is an ever-present element in this story, from crooked cops to belligerent johns, and Millie herself stands larger than life as the prime source of energy, humor, and business acumen that made her efforts successful.

Mildred Clark Cusey was a prostitute, a madam, an entrepreneur, and above all, a survivor. The story of Silver City Millie, as she referred to herself, is the story of one woman's personal tragedies and triumphs as an orphan, a Harvey Girl waitress on the Santa Fe railroad, a prostitute with innumerable paramours, and a highly successful bordello businesswoman. Millie broke the mould in so many ways, and yet her life's story of survival was not unlike that of thousands of women who went West only to find that their most valuable assets were their physical beauty and their personality. Petite at five feet tall with piercing blue eyes, Millie captured men's attention by her very essence and her unmistakable joie de vivre. Born to Italian immigrant parents near Kansas City, she and her sister were orphaned early and separated from each other. Millie learned hard lessons on the streets, but she never gave up and she vowed to protect and support her ailing older sister. Caught in a domestic squabble in her foster home, Millie wound up in juvenile court with Harry Truman as her judge. This would be only the first of many brushes in her life with prominent politicians. When physicians diagnosed her sister with tuberculosis and recommended she move West to a Catholic home in Deming, New Mexico, Millie moved with her. Expenses ran high and after a brief stint waiting tables as a Harvey Girl, Millie found that her meagre tips could easily be augmented by turning tricks. Thus, out of financial need and devotion to her sister, Mildred Cusey turned to a life of prostitution and a career at which she soon excelled and became both rich and famous. The book contains sordid details and frank language that will make many readers blush. It is unvarnished language, as recorded directly from Millie by Max Evans over a period of almost 20 years. It presents a complete picture of the business of prostitution as it was practised in the West from the late 1920s to the mid 1970s, told by the most successful madam in the business.