Behind the Scenes: Confessions of a Video Vixen

Behind the Scenes: Confessions of a Video Vixen

Title: Confessions of a Video Vixen

Author: Karrine Steffans

Date of Publication: 2005

Publisher: HarperCollins

Summary:

            In the beginning of the book, the narrator, Karrine Steffans, starts off by flashbacking to her weakest point in her life then proceeds to talk about how horrible her childhood was. Even though her childhood was bad since her mother would continuously abuse her, it got worse when she got raped around the age of thirteen. One day she got tired of the way her mother was treating her so she decided to run away; eventually got caught by the police and was sent to live with her father. After moving out of her father’s house, she realized she needed a job so her boyfriend’s mother introduced her to the life of a stripper and soon after she started to make a lot of money; more money than her boyfriend’s mother did which caused her to get jealous and kick her out her house so once again Karrine Steffans was on her own.

            During the middle of the book Karrine Steffans lived with her boyfriend Kool G Rap who abused her every day they were together. She couldn’t get away because she didn’t know how but after she gave birth to their son Naiim, she felt that now she had the motivation to escape and she finally left that house January of 1999. The last part of the book was set in Los Angeles where she spent most of her life by either getting jobs or by trying to take care of her son with the help of others. At the end, Karrine Steffans finally realized that she wasn’t living a good life and changed it for her and her son’s well-being.

Quote:

“I lived the kind of life which could easily have killed some people and driven many others insane “(Steffans 204).

Quote Context:

In this quote, the narrator is explaining how the life she went through was so bad that most people wouldn’t be able to take it or make it out alive and that she made it out safe with a much brighter future.