The Melancholy Strumpet Master by Zeb Beck follows the chaotic life of Gilmore Crowell, a Ph.D. student desperate to complete his dissertation before it was too late. Gilmore “Gil” was working on his anthropology dissertation about the streetwalkers (prostitutes) in Tijuana, where it was legal to do so. However, things weren’t going his way. His source of information was gone, and his dissertation was almost dead. The fact that Gil was broke didn’t really help his case. He did the only sensible thing: got a job teaching at a juvenile detention center and used that money on traveling to Tijuana every week, where he paid streetwalkers to speak to him to further his project. However, that didn’t seem to work anymore. Gil threw in something tempting to the girls: himself. Was that the right decision to make? Would that change the flow of information from his sources?

Not everyone can do justice to humorous fiction, but author Zeb Beck did it effortlessly. The novel is set in 2002, and Zeb Beck perfectly captured that time’s essence. The concept of the story was great, and the execution of it was even better. I loved Gil’s interaction with the girls and how he seemed to find the silver lining in everything. Bertram was haughty yet strangely encouraging at the same time. That really motivated Gil to go the extra mile to finish his dissertation before it was too late. I loved how witty and charming Gil was. The narrative style helped his character development and gave readers an insight into his mind. I was in awe of the author’s ability to tackle such a dark topic that most people would consider taboo, but Beck did it with integrity. It is an entertaining novel, one that I would highly recommend.

The Melancholy Strumpet Master by Zeb Beck revolves around Gilmore Crowell, a Ph.D. student desperate to finish his dissertation on sex workers in Tijuana. For the sake of conducting ethical research, he paid the sex workers for their time in exchange for personal information as to what led them to where they are, but that proved to be fruitless. Even with the teaching job at a juvenile detention center, at the rate his research was going, his luck would run out soon. With little money left and his doctorate at stake, Gil would have to find a solution to his problem quickly.

The Melancholy Strumpet Master by Zeb Beck is an adventurous and playful novel that will intrigue readers. Many of the sex workers that Gil encountered were relatively unapproachable, which gave him a hard time conducting his interviews. I liked the way he persevered to reach his objective, even going as far as adopting extreme measures. I think that this also reflected the real-world situation, showing readers that things are always easier said than done. The conversations that Gil has with the sex workers, his colleagues, and his friends are simply hilarious. The storyline is interesting and engaging, giving insight into the life of a sex worker and how they ended up in that predicament in the first place. This is an amusing take on academia that will leave you laughing for a long time.