“The Management of Hunger”: Using Fiction in Writing Anthropology

This piece is a short story based on the author’s fieldwork in contemporary U.S. strip clubs. The story revolves around an ongoing relationship between an exotic dancer and a married customer—a relationship that only exists inside the club and that is based on the mutual construction of fantasy. It is followed by a brief discussion of the use of fiction in experimental ethnography and of the author’s own motivations for and experiences in writing short fiction.