Madam: Inside a Nevada Brothel

In Madam, the first and best book written about a legal brothel in the United States, Lora Shaner takes readers behind closed doors at Sheri’s Ranch, the largest cathouse closest (60 miles) to Las Vegas.

You’ll read about Mary Clair, the nun-turned-prostitute; Ellen, the errant wife; Coral and Millie, the happy-hooker tag team; Alice, the pro with the heart of gold; and the turn outs, part-timers, sex addicts, adventure-seekers, and other ladies of the house.

You’ll also meet the cathouse clientele: Lester the rodeo rider, who liked to warm up by playing horsey; Mr. Yamamura, who paid thousands for three minutes of pleasure; and Golf Guy, who employed Sheri’s girls to help him perfect his stroke; as well as the hunks, nerds, pimps, professional athletes, and other customers who ring the brothel doorbell at all hours.

Madam’s piercing character studies and poignant sketches of day-to-day life in a legal brothel strip bare the myths about the world’s oldest profession, revealing the hearts and souls of the women who sell sexand the men who buy it.

Lora Shaner was a journalist by training and a brothel madam by chance. An alumna of Texas Western College in her hometown of El Paso, Texas, she spent 20 years as a civilian public information officer for the Department of Defense in Texas and California. She chose early retirement and moved to Pahrump, Nevada. There, on impulse, she took a full-time job as madam at a legal brothel. Shaner operated a public relations and advertising agency in Pahrump.