Search - 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed (Black Cat)

This is a fictionalized memoir. It says so right there in the description. However the author, Melissa P, has made comments that suggest this story is similar to her own and the character in the book is also named Melissa. She was only 17 when this book was published, which I find amazing. As someone else reviewed, the prose is quite beautiful and even poetic.

Read the description above fully so you know what to expect. There are graphic descriptions of certain activities that are not for the faint of heart. Personally I found the writing so eloquent and the story so consuming that the disturbing passages did not bother me as they might have in another book. Basically, Melissa searches for happiness through a series of rough sexual escapades. Not a "feel good" read, but compelling. I was immediately sucked in to Melissa's world. I even picked up the book at red lights.

Easy read, I don't know how to classify this book - fiction or non-fiction. It has just a little bit of every erotic fantasy to make you wonder if it is all fictional. The writing style is flowery; you must give credit to the Itilian school system for producing such a colorful and at times eloquent writer at such a young age - if it is non-fiction. But, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say it is non-fiction and that a few of the scenes are erotic - you will have to find out for youseld which ones are.

. I requested it thinking that it would be a typical erotica novel but once I got the book I couldnt even bring myself to read it being that the writer talks about performing these sex acts at the ripe old age of 14. Not that I am a prude by any means but I dont want to read about someone so young having sex, maybe being the mother of a young girl makes me feel this way. I made a mistake in requesting this book at all.

When the book was first published in Italy was publicized as non-fiction,in my opinion that is why sold so many copies,people were curious about the life and sexuality of teens,especially in a place like Sicily.
Since the book became famous,the author revealed her full name and decided to tell the book was a fictionalized memoirs.

I read it in Italian and found not redeeming qualities.
Not worth the time.

100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed - My Humble Opinion

Overall, this book was forgettable. Furthermore, given I was reading an English translation, there was much that made little sense to anybody not familiar with Italian geography, customs or traditions. For example, Melissa is a teenager, in high school perhaps, yet the reader is to believe she heads down to the pub and gets drunk - leaving with a stranger. Either the translation needs work or the author is assuming too much from her readers.

The synopsis, while technically accurate, is mostly hype and most "erotic" detail alluded to is non-existent.

I give this book three of five stars; it is a quick read and is somewhat interesting on the whole.

From the synopsis...
"... 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed is the fictionalized memoir of Melissa P., a Sicilian teenager whose quest for love rapidly devolves into a shocking journey of sexual discovery..."
(not so shocking!)

"... Told with disarming candor, Melissa P.'s bittersweet tour of extreme desires is as poignant as it is titillating. One Hundred Strokes of the Brush Before Bed is a stunning erotic debut, a Story of O for our times..."
(mostly hype!)

-Duxwanna

This was a very easy read. It can be finished in one day. The writing is in journal style and does not flow well. The writing is OK. Not a book I would recommend to others to read. Just was not worth the time.

You are reading what is on the mind of a Teenager as she discovers herself and her worth.