Nelly Arcan shocked the literary world with elegant phrasing and lurid details of sex work in her semi-autobiographical first novel, Putain (Whore), which became an international best-seller in 2001. A prostitute by choice, Nelly's fragmented life is laid bare in a stylish mix of make-believe and memoir, revealing a woman lost between irreconcilable identities: the neurotic writer, the vulnerable lover, the call girl and the star. Despite literary success, the French Canadian's remarkable life ended in tragedy.