Biography & True Stories
9 1/2 Years Behind the Green Door, A Memoir
A Mitchell Brothers Stripper Remembers Her Lover Artie Mitchell, Hunter S. Thompson, and the Killing That Rocked San Francisco
by Simone Corday
Description
It's the 80's and we are behind the scenes at the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater, which gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson called "the Carnegie Hall of public sex in America." The theater and its steamy live shows are a countercultural venue for celebrities, and for San Francisco politicians and journalists. They are drawn by the beautiful strippers and the backroom hospitality of their outrageous porn king hosts, Artie and Jim Mitchell--who directed the groundbreaking porn film, Behind the Green Door, starring Marilyn Chambers.
Simone Corday, who danced at the Mitchell Brothers Theater for nearly a decade and was a girlfriend of the late Artie Mitchell, shares her story and her insights. She is the only woman insider to write about this insular but captivating world during this period, when she was close to the impulsive Mitchells, and a friend of the theater's honorary Night Manager Hunter Thompson. Corday’s background of having an MA in English, along with her honesty, irreverent sense of humor, and keen focus as an observer, make this a delicious expose.
Corday gives vivid accounts of three Mitchell Brothers films she took part in. They include the disastrous Behind the Green Door, the Sequel, a grandiose safe-sex epic with characters from Greek mythology, and their documentary on Hunter Thompson, titled The Crazy Never Die. She shares memories of her unconventional, passionate relationship with “Party Artie” Mitchell. His affectionate personal side, along with his love for his children are remembered fondly. His taste for cocaine and advancing alcoholism—that led him to disappear on binges with a succession of young dancers—is also recaptured, as well as his volatile temper, his impish sense of fun, and his charismatic, macho persona.
Corday sheds light on Jim Mitchell's motives for killing Artie, and his murder trial. She reflects on her experience in the sex industry, and on her relationship with a notorious club owner. From the fun she had performing in the O’Farrell’s spotlight as the theater’s nemesis, then-San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, to her heartbreak visiting Artie’s grave a few short years later, this is a sensational ride.
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Marketing Information
Upcoming ads for this book will run in the print edition of Kirkus Magazine early in 2019.
I gave many book readings in San Francisco and the bay area. My book has been sold at Good Vibrations stores, Green Apple Books, the San Francisco Beat Museum, and continues to sell on Amazon and other online retailers.
Endorsements
"You've probably imagined her in your Hunter S. Thompson dreams: a sexy, unpredictable, brainy absurdist able to keep up with the drug-fueled antics of pornographers while also maintaining a serene humanity. Simone Corday is this woman. . . . At a recent reading, her complete lack of bitterness, heartbreak, or regret were evident, and her genuine love of San Francisco, sex, and honesty made the stories even funnier. In the end, she writes on her Web site, "I bought the ticket, and it was a spectacular ride."--San Francisco Weekly, Hiya Swanhuyser, 2008, sfweekly.com
"Hunter S. Thompson a friend of the Mitchell brothers drifts in and out of this story. . . . I can imagine him bounding around with his usual bow-legged gait, doing what he did best - plamasing everyone in sight, looking like he owned the place. For me it's a nice change to read a book that includes Hunter but is not about him, you get to see another side of him. Even though Hunter's presence in the story is a selling point, that doesn't mean the book can't stand alone without him. It's a fascinating and sometimes disturbing account of a unique partnership ending in devastating circumstances, with little justice."--Martin Flynn, editor, HSTBooks.org, 2008.
"If there's such a thing as a typical stripper, Simone Corday wasn't one. When she first went to work at the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater in 1981, she was in her 30s with a master's degree in English from UC Berkeley. . . . .In recounting that tumultuous time, she doesn't aim to impart many lessons. "I'm a bit of an outlaw. I got to live through a very exciting time," she says, and it gave me tremendous material."--San Francisco Chronicle, Rehan Harmanci
Reviews
"This debut memoir follows a stripper from her first days at the infamous Mitchell Brothers club to the fatal shooting of her lover. . . . the author quickly found an artistic home at the O'Farrell Theater, run by the enterprising Mitchell brothers. Jim and Art "Artie" Mitchell were known for the theater, which was constantly sued or shut down by the police, and for producing the 1971 porn film Behind the Green Door, starring former Ivory Snow model Marilyn Chambers. Early on, Corday began a sexual relationship with Artie, which led to a long-term connection. The author staged several of her own shows at the O'Farrell, including an act where she portrayed then-San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, who vehemently opposed the club. Corday also befriended legendary writer and longtime Mitchell Brothers ally Hunter S.Thompson, and performed with burlesque and pornography luminaries like Tempest Storm and Traci Lords. The author acted in three Mitchell Brothers porn films, including the long-anticipated sequel to Behind the Green Door. . . . The author delivers incredible tales of a strip club post-sexual revolution, offering rich details and historical tidbits."--KirkusReviews
"Corday's book is a delicious page-turner that captures her incredibly stormy relationship with Artie from 1981 to 1991, and the frenetic, rambunctious, rebellious world he built. . . . Not only is her tale an important piece of sex-industry history, but it's refreshing to read a memoir of stripping in which sex work is neither romanticized nor demonized. She tells it like she saw it, period."--Tristan Taormino, The Village Voice
“The book offers a wealth of lurid and surreal anecdotes. . . .In what other setting could Thompson turn out to be the most level-headed character.”—San Francisco Magazine
"In 9 ½ Years Behind the Green Door, readers are taken back to 1980s San Francisco and into the world of Simone Corday, a stripper working during the heyday of the infamous Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater. . . one of America's oldest, most notorious adult-entertainment establishments. . . .Intimate tidbits about the production of several of the brothers' films will intrigue the porn history enthusiast. Finally, current and former strippers will find the nuances of the strip club and the interactions among dancers to be interesting, warm, and familiar."--$pread Magazine, Shakti Ziller
Author Biography
Simone Corday danced at the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater in San Francisco during the 1980s, when it was a countercultural hot spot where gonzo writer Hunter Thompson was the honorary Night Manager. She was a girlfriend of porn king Artie Mitchell from 1982 until he was killed by his brother Jim in 1991. She also worked for the Mitchell Brothers booking agent for two years.
Corday has been interviewed about the Mitchell Brothers many times. Her pieces relating to her friend Hunter Thompson appear on Marty Flynn's Hunter Thompson resource site HSTBOOKS.ORG.
She has an MA in English from the University of California. She has worked a variety of jobs and lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1975. Simone Corday is her pen name.
Copyright Information
ISBN: 978-1-7325136-0-0
Bibliographic Information
- Publisher/Imprint Ingram Spark, Create Space, KDP / Denizen Press
- Publication Date November 2007
- ISBN/Identifier 9781732513600
- Publication Country or regionUnited States
- FormatPaperback
- Primary Price 17.95 USD
- Pages364
- ReadershipGeneral
- Publish StatusSelf-Published
- Editione-book
- Copyright Year2007
- Dimensions9 x 6 inches
- Illustration4 photos
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