Hollander, Xaviera 1943-

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HOLLANDER, Xaviera 1943-

PERSONAL: Born Xaviera de Vries, 1943, in Indonesia; daughter of Mick and Germaine de Vries; married Frank Allen (divorced).

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Regan Books, HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd St., New York, NY 10022. E-mail—xaviera@xavierahollander.com.

CAREER: Secretary, copy writer, prostitute, brothel keeper, author, and magazine columnist.

MEMBER: Speakers Academy of Rotterdam.

WRITINGS:

(With Robin Moore and Yvonne Dunleavy) The HappyHooker, Bell Publishing (New York, NY), 1972.

Xaviera's Supersex: Her Personal Techniques for TotalLovemaking, illustrated by Robert Baxter, New American Library (New York, NY), 1976.

Xaviera's Magic Mushrooms, New English Library (Sevenoaks, Kent, England), 1981.

Fiesta of the Flesh (novel), Panther (London, England), 1984.

The Kiss of the Serpent (novel), Grafton (London, England), 1987.

Yours Fatally (novel), Grafton (London, England), 1987.

Child No More (memoir), Regan Books, (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Xaviera Hollander began her career as a secretary and after working for some time as a prostitute, she achieved notoriety in the 1970s as the madam of one of New York City's most exclusive brothels. It was also in 1972 that her first book, The Happy Hooker, was published. Hollander's testimony before the Knapp Commission revealed that she was making payoffs to New York City police. Not long after this revelation, she had to leave the United States, the official reason being an expired visa. Her next home was in Canada. During her stay there, she married Frank Allen, an antiques dealer. Canada denied her permanent-residence status, and upon learning this, Hollander left, although Allen stayed in Canada. Hollander now resides in Amsterdam and Marbella, Spain. She has written a sex-advice column titled "Call Me Madam," which has run in Penthouse magazine for thirty years. She also has five books to her credit. Hollander's most recent publication, Child No More, is a memoir of her early life with her parents in Indonesia and the Netherlands. She has retired from prostitution.

The Happy Hooker is Hollander's story of her time as a prostitute and madam in New York City. It is a frank account of her relationships with her clients, her philosophy of work, and various sex techniques. The beginning of the book is devoted to her early years with her parents, describing the rivalry between her and her mother for her father's attention and a description of the openness about sexual anatomy within the family. The Happy Hooker has recently been reissued to coincide with the publication of Hollander's memoir, Child No More.

In addition to her nonfiction writing, Hollander has also penned novels, including Fiesta of the Flesh, The Kiss of the Serpent, and Yours Fatally. They are considered to be erotica, and set in contemporary times. They have received little critical attention.

Child No More recounts Hollander's early life and the relationships she had with her two loving but volatile parents. The book opens and closes with her mother, Germaine, a beautiful model of French and German heritage. Germaine and Hollander's father, Mick, had a whirlwind romance and married quickly. They made their lives in Indonesia, where Mick had a medical practice. Xaviera was born during World War II and shortly after her birth the family was interned in a camp by the Japanese army. Their suffering was great, but all three survived. Reviewers commented on the frankly erotic nature of the author's early experiences with her father, and wondered why, in her memoir, Hollander fails to explain why she chose a profession in the sex industry.