Check out www.laurishaw.com, it updates every week with a new chapter of 'Servicing the Pole', a novel by Lauri Shaw. Her unwillingness to undermine the themes and tone of her story has led her to publish it free online. It follows the life of a stripper, Emily. The whole thing hasn't been released, yet, so I can't give a full overview! This is what I said about it in a comment to the author:
"I’d buy a proper copy of this, definately, with the right cover art and stuff (something appropriately dark), plus the fact that the title is awesome (I bet somewhere someone would want you to change that, too). I hate that people expected you to change that element of the story, for me that’s what makes it. I’m sick of stories where protagonists just walk into situations oh-so conveniently, or if they do struggle, supporting characters are super nice, to the point where they become wooden. The fact that Emily struggles and encounters conflict and tension on all sides, without the safety net (for the writer as much as the protagonist) of a big friendly sidekick character lends the story versimilitude which is often hard to find. I mean, what is art if not mimetic? Novels which fail to encapsulate humanity on a universal level are farsical in my opinion. That doesn’t mean that art should be mundane, but that even in describing the extraordinary, it should enable the suspension of disbelief. Books that are deliberately cheery do not achieve this."
Just read the prologue, there's nothing to loose. Maybe we can show publishers that literature need not be dumbed down or cheered up for the wider audience. It does contain some explicit content, so don't say I didn't tell you so!
Also, you can comment on chapters and Lauri Shaw responds! Which is very cool. So check it out, I know how much you guys will appreciate the free read!