Crime and prostitution

Theodore Dalrymple came to "the world of crime and prostitution" first through fiction and later through personal experience as a prison doctor:

"I realized that Maupassant was not a wholly reliable guide to the phenomenon of prostitution. There was more to it than jollity, the popping of champagne corks, and impromptu dancing."

To follow his argument a stage further, I suppose we should treat even an excellent short essay such as this sceptically, only accepting what he says if we have verified it from life ourselves.

(Linked from aldaily.com)