Subtitled "A Stripper's Farewell Journey Across America", the book recounts her experiences in 9 different states plus Tijuana, Mexico. Now you might note that there are 50 states in the U.S. and Ms. Burana clearly missed 41 of them. Two of the 41 states she never visited were Pennsylvania and Delaware. Although Ms. Burana grew up in Northern Jersey, her professional experiences in New Jersey are limited to a one‑day North Jersey Turkey‑Rama tour on the day before Thanksgiving.

Nonetheless, I recall a lengthy phone conversation with the author when she was in the planning stages of her tour ‑‑ so perhaps it's my fault that our region is unrepresented. She was looking for a no‑contact, Philadelphia bikini bar, near the airport, where she could make big money, and easily obtain a job. Given that PA liquor law permits topless dancing with pasties or latex, it was impossible to come up with a club that met all of her requirements. I made several suggestions for clubs that met 4 out of 5, but that was the best I could do

Driving across country on a journalistic assignment, Lily met her now‑husband in Wyoming. She describes their courtship in the book. A pivotal moment involved her learning his views on strippers.

Despite having spent 6 years as a stripper, Lily feels the need to do it right this time. So, for the first time in her life, she tans ‑‑ despite her dermatologist's warnings, which she recounts at length. She buys new costumes. She even attends the Pure Talent School of Dance in Clearwater, FL, the nation's only academy for professional exotic dance. She learns pole tricks, make‑up tips, etc. in a five‑day course that costs $750. And although she'd spent her youth dancing under her given name, Lily carefully selects a new stage name: Barbie Faust. She gets her Pure Talent diploma made out to "Barbie Faust".

Along the way, Lily's thoughts stray to her youth. She writes about her rebellious adolescence as "Mommy's Little Monster". She writes about struggling in New York as a teenage actress wannabe. She describes the first "club" she worked in, how she got there, and why. Eventually, she discusses her days in San Francisco, her disillusionment with the industry, and leaving it angry. Interspersed with all of these reminiscences are more modern accounts of her "farewell tour".

The next day, she goes to pick up some new outfits she's had custom‑made. While at the store, she receives an e‑mail from a dancer named Pillow she'd met in Alaska. Suddenly, Lily reaches a very different epiphany. She realizes that the "suspended adolescence that is exotic dancing won't last forever" and that eventually it's either "jump or get pushed". So she decides to quit on her own terms before forces beyond her control decide the matter for her. Although closure remains elusive, she has decided that dancing was never really "just a job" after all. Indeed, she wonders, "Had I known at eighteen that I'd still be struggling to sort out stripping more than a decade later, would I have

Some topics in this essay:
Mitchell Brothers, Thanksgiving Nonetheless, STRIP CITY, Las Vegas, Suddenly Lily, Clearwater FL, I've It's, San Francisco, Little Monster, Alaska California, san francisco, strip city, decides quit, barbie faust, pure talent, ms burana, mitchell brothers, turkey‑rama tour, strip clubs, north jersey,