‘Paying for It’ by Chester Brown is a memoir about the author’s decision to exclude himself from romantic relationships and instead have regular sex with prostitutes. So not exactly a book I would expect to find myself paying for (ka-boom), but it was last month’s Plan B Bookgroup selection so dutifully I did exactly that. Er, it wasn’t that great, but I’m glad I read it. I have to admit the legalisation of prostitution is not something I’d given a huge amount of thought to before reading this book, and I did find myself agreeing with some of Brown’s points on the matter. Then we get to the appendices, which take up about a third of the book. Coming at it from an academic point of view, Brown’s argument is extremely biased and poorly (or more likely selectively) researched, drowning out the few valid points he has to make. It certainly sparked a long discussion at the bookgroup, and got us all thinking about a subject that is quite easy to just sweep under the carpet and forget about. As for the comic itself, it gets a little repetitive if you read it in more or less one go like I did, but there are some funny moments to be found in it, especially the interactions between Chester Brown and fellow cartoonists Joe Matt and Seth. Not one for the kiddies, mind!