Thomas Brussig Berliner Orgie (Berlin Orgy) Piper Verlag, March 2007, 208 pp ISBN: 978-3-492-05037-1 When approached by a Berlin newspaper to conduct research and write about the red-light districts of Berlin and the various modes of prostitution in the reunified capital, Thomas Brussig hesitated. Then the appeal of exploring a field where prejudices and clichés would dog his every step won him over. A sympathetically shy figure, he proves an engaging guide, overcoming his shock at the prices of the drinks and gradually getting to grips with the labyrinth of the ‘menus’ as he wends his way from Villa Venus, the ‘Pearl of the East’, to Big Sexyland, and from La Folie to the health-club feel of Artemis. He couldn’t have foreseen some of the more memorable moments, such as finding himself discussing Russian literature with the dancers of a table-dancing joint, or trading times on the 100 metres or length of a long-jump with a fellow athlete (now dancer) from the East. Overcoming those surprises, he takes us through an underbelly of Berlin that is a far-cry from the days of Sally Bowles and the Kit-Kat Club in this humorously self-deprecating, sober yet eye-opening exploration of a world he didn’t know, notebook always at the ready.