I really enjoyed this story and the experience and stories that it took me along whilst reading it. I would absolutely recommend

I couldn't read very much of this before my e-arc timed out on me.

The Customers Always Write
by C. DeAndré Smith

This is a funny anecdotal account of America's relationship with sex through the eyes of an experience adult store clerk. This book will give you many a chuckle and will also cause to question our society,

Book Review
Title: The Customers Always Write
Author: C. DeAndré Smith
Genre: Autobiography(ish)
Rating: *****
Review: So the Customers Always Write is nothing like a book I have read before, the synopsis honestly is interesting: The Customers Always Write is a coming-of-age story of sorts in which one man begins a journey down an unfamiliar road and stumbles upon a path of enlightenment. Along the way, unexpected lessons about maturity, self-awareness, and tolerance are learned from the unlikeliest of teachers such as a vagabond, a transsexual and a dominatrix. The collection of escapades captured in the book invites readers to insert themselves into the author’s place and determine how they would have reacted to certain situations and decide what they would have possibly done differently-and in the process, learn more about themselves.
We follow André who has recently gone through a bad breakup and is moving cities. In his new home, André is looking for a job and the search isn’t going well but he does apply for a job in an adult store after a short chat with the 19-year-old store clerk. As André starts work at the store and rises up to the manager, he meets a whole host of characters and is often shocked to his core about some of the people he meets but we can see him opening his mind to the fact there is more out there than his own opinion. Case in point is his conversation with Daniel and André sides with the woman’s argument and even defends her actions proving André is thinking outside the stereotypical male thought process.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, André is meeting so many different people from different walks of life and begins examining his own sexual experience to the lives of others and how he can or can’t relate to them. I was honestly finding André’s voice very entertaining and his reactions to some things are priceless. Hearing some of the hilarious and heartbreaking stories shared over male bonding very my favourites and they also prove that women are as bad as men and in some respects worse.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, DeAndré Smith doesn’t just talk about his emotional and romantic issues but also issues he has faced as a black man. He talks about police brutality, gang violence and much more he has seen in his time and he evens includes notes on events that have happened since the writing of this book. I really liked that even though this book covers some taboo topics it isn’t really about that, it is about relationships more than anything, how we form them, how we nurture them, how we affect them and how they affect us. Seeing André’s relationships with his friends and customers are the best but I was wondering if he was going to find a new relationship through his job or somewhere else.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, André often hears stories or meet people that cause him to ponder the morality and reasoning behind certain acts and why some things are acceptable for women and not for men as well as vice versa. However, the fact that nothing is too taboo to be discussed in the store is one of the things I enjoyed the most, that André openly talks about everything and anything that crosses his mind at any given moment.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, André starts getting into the really heavy topics like what it means to be gay, what it means to be transsexual, gender identity, sexual identity and much more. As we travel through the decades right up until the release of the 50 Shades of Grey movie, we get another lesson through some colourful characters on the BDSM lifestyle and André seems to be learning what kinds of lifestyles he would fit into according to others but he hasn’t explored any of them feeling confident in his own identity and sexually which was something so refreshing especially as this book is based on real life, I loved his self-confident and how he isn’t fazed by all the walks of life he comes across after working in an adult store for over 8 years.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, I couldn’t get enough of André and his experiences, especially with one wise old man from China and we, are beginning to see how different races and culture approach sex. They compare the attitude to sex and homosexuality between their countries and the differences are huge. André despite being pretty open is described as borderline homophobic at times and he isn’t cruel about it but rather he is just wary so when he meets Billy, he gets a shock. Billy hasn’t identified as gay yet but if he isn’t, he is just someone completely at ease with himself. So much so that he can eat a penis-shaped lollipop without a hint of shame while André can’t even look at him which was pretty funny.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, I really liked how André evolved from a man just down on his luck looking for any job that would pay his bills to building real long-lasting relationship with his customers and really listening to their issues providing support, advice and a good joke every now and again. Seeing André’s journey come full circle, in the end, I was extremely happy but I did want to see more of André’s journey especially after what is mentioned at the end of the Customer is Always Write and I am hoping for a sequel soon.

I love these little insights into different occupations. Having been in retail myself I recognise the weird and wonderful assortments of people who stroll into your life. It was a great interest to me to see the types of people who frequent porn shops and adult places of work and those who adamantly insist that they are "not like that".
I found the author's candid reactions and encounters to be fresh, funny and fully immersive. He has a great voice and I look forward to hearing more from him.
A great book I would recommend.

Ha! I had no idea Adult stores could be so entertaining and enlightening! I wasn't really sure what to expect when I requested to read this book from Netgalley. I was sort of expecting odd letters from costumers rather then conversations the author had with various customers and fellow employees. Fun read and entertaining.

This is an honet look at working at an adult store. I am sure many have wondered what goes on in such a type of establishment, type of people it attracts, etc. Well, read this book and find out. Yes, the setting is a bit different, but you may find that is is not very different from say a grocery store ie; experiences, dealing with the public, etc. i enjoyed this book. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book. Although I received the book in this manner, it did not affect my opinion of this book nor my review.

This was such a refreshing view of the adult video store. Society has this demented perspective of what goes on behind those doors but it was so nice to read stories of real people. In these pages, the reader is able to connect with the characters that frequent the store. You are able to laugh and feel for them. Suddenly with the help of Dre, the adult video store isn't so disgusting it is actually kind of funny. You have always been told to never judge a book by its cover,well this book solidifies that comment even more so.

The author wasn't doing well as a writer so he moved from San Diego to Los Angeles. There, he got a job in a porn shop. These, are stories from the shop.
The introduction was confusing. The stories were written well enough but got a little repetitive. I started skimming about halfway through the book so I could just get through it. Okay as a behind the scenes but best consumed in small bites.

Three stars
This book came out July 6
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley