Today’s
Q&A
with dandy Sebastian
Horsley will rock your world. Ever had your girlfriend hide in a cupboard
to spy on you having sex? Ever fall truly, madly, deeply in love with a
prostitute? Ever been deported from the U.S. for “moral turpitude”? Didn’t think so. But Horsley
has. Nerve’ own Alexandra
Godfrey dishes on what it’s like have your socks charmed off by a natural-born
dandy:
“Alexandraaaah,” he breathed
into the phone, in all of his seductive, British glory.
“Oh” I said, taken aback. I
hadn’t even announced myself. “I love my name in a British accent.”
“Do you, darling? Well then,
I shall say it over and over again throughout our whole interview! Alexandraalexandraalexandra.”
And that is how I “met”
Sebastian Horsley. Truth be told, I was quite nervous dialing those overseas
digits as I prepared to call up a perfect stranger and ask him all about his
sex life. I had no idea how he would react when I asked him about his drug
addiction, his obsession with prostitutes or his sexuality. It’s a strange
thing to do, even if you’re not shy. Which I’m not. But still, throughout our
chat, I couldn’t help but wonder if Sebastian could somehow hear me blushing through the telephone
wire. That’s just the sort of man he is, the kind that makes non-shy girls
blush over telephone wires.
Sebastian and I did not just
talk sex. We talked music, movies, MySpace, life, dreams, aspirations (his and mine) and by the time I thought to look
at my watch, nearly two hours had passed. It felt like we were teenagers,
dissecting life through the telephone, hiding under the covers so our parents
wouldn’t know we were racking up the phone bill. It was the kind of
conversation that changes your perception of the world. Before reading his
memoir, I had no idea people like Sebastian existed, but after talking to the
charming devil himself, I am so very glad they do.
The day after the interview
I e-mailed Sebastian to thank him for his time and offered him a drink (or
twelve) the next time I breeze through London. To my surprise, the immediate reply was:
“OK. Come to my room at 7.00 p.m. If you're late, I'll start without you. Sx”
Of course, he knows I live
in New York City, making it impossible for me to come to his room at
seven, but the gesture was nice. Besides, it’s always refreshing to talk to
someone who lives in a fantasy land that the rest of us can only wish to visit.
“Ok, see you there.” I wrote
back.
— Alexandra Godfrey
Visit the fantasy land: read
the entire interview here.
