Revelatory and wild, Camgirl by Isa Mazzei portrays a woman's celebratory determination to discover herself. Mazzei always wanted attention. She led a protest over her school mascot at eight years old, cast spells on fellow 12-year-old girls during her Wiccan phase, and developed Isa's Rules for Seduction to become "Queen of Boys" in junior high. Mazzei loved breaking hearts and being hated--she even asked her mom to have "whore" written on her birthday cake. But the more she jumped from boy to boy and girl to girl through high school, then college, the more Mazzei hated sex, often turning to self-harm for being an "idiot," "disgusting," the "devil." Then a strip show sparked an epiphany: her love for seduction but not sex could be her career.
Mazzei became "Una," a cam girl broadcasting herself live online. During sexual shows, she read palms, practiced BDSM and made art, all while befriending regulars in her chat room who tipped her. Though she earned $15,000 in one month, Mazzei's discomfort with sex lurked. She regretted inviting fans to visit. She left an expo devastated when she couldn't stand participating with other naked girls. Admirably frank, Mazzei intimately details her struggle to understand why she didn't belong. She openly attributes her attention-seeking behavior to parenting bordering on abandonment. But faced with an alcoholic mother and bipolar father, Mazzei owned her eccentricities: "Without a sense of belonging even in my own family... I began to revel in the opportunities it presented." Mazzei took control of her life, always keeping her passion for whatever she did aflame--always searching for her calling. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer