or maybe you’re looking to cure your insomnia? Either way here’s the last word on the porn star biography (for now).
Thousand and One Night Stands: The Life of Jon Vincent by H. A. Carson
Written in first person, H. A. Carson’s portrait of straight-identified gay porn star’s Jon Vincent’s sad life reads like a Larry Clark movie. The least self-conscious and edgiest of the lot, it’s intense, sad, scary and completely sexy. He lived fast and died young (he OD’d before the book was published), making this gay porn’s own “Go Ask Alice”, and the possibly the only one that we’d recommend to non-porn fans, who eat that shit up.
Making It Big: Sex Stars, Porn Fiilms and ME, by Chi Chi LaRue with John Erich
Like Michael Lucas’ biography, the problem with Chi Chi’s is that it was premature. Released in 2000, he spends a good portion of the book talking about his life back in Minnesota rising through the ranks of the club scene as a drag queen. Chi Chi’s a great storyteller — its a quick read with a lot of dish. But when he wrote this he hadn’t started Channel 1 or accomplished any of the big high-profile takeovers of late. We hope an updated version of this is in the works …
Wonder Bread & Ecstasy: The Life and Death of Joey Stefano, by Charles Isherwood
We suspect the only reason why this is still in print is because of the fantastically sexy picture of Joey on the cover. Like the cover (and the title, too, perhaps) the over-written prose feels like it’s trying to distract you from the fact that there’s no there there. We loved Stefano’s work, don’t get us wrong, it’s just trying to extract an entire book from his life is a bit of a stretch — at least for Isherwood.
Autopornography: A Memoir of Life in the Lust Lane by Scott O’Hara
Scott O’Hara was beastly in the face but giant cock made him a huge star. Starting with his modest beginnings growing up on a farm (where he goes a little too much into detail about sex with farm animals), the book takes an interesting “On The Road”-style turn when he chronicles his life traveling across the country alone in his late teenage years before he started doing porn. He comes across as sort of modest and boho sexual compulsive and this is the one book in this list that you may have you respecting the subject at the end.
Clone: The Life and Legacy of Al Parker, Gay Superstar by Roger Edmonson
Edmonson does an excellent job of placing Parker in his historical context as well as creating a layered portrait his life outside porn. After reading “Superstar”, you understand the importance of Parker’s “clone” aesthetic on the gay community at large.
Boy in the Sand: Casey Donovan, All-American Sex Star by Roger Edmonson
Like “Clone”, Edmonson writes a well-researched biography about the life and times of a man who also appeared in porn. For Donovan, porn was just one stop of a life lived on the stage. While we think of stars like Francois Sagat and Michael Lucas being mainstream pioneers, Donovan beat everyone to the punch as a Wilhelmina Model and Off Broadway star.
Secrets Of A Gay Marine Porn Star by Rich Merritt
Less about his life in porn and more about his double-life in the military slash coming out to conservative family story, after reading this (ok, actually this is the one we just skimmed) we’re still unsure how Merritt gets away with calling himself a “porn star”, as the “porn” part barely plays a role (and we still have no idea what movies he was ever in). This book did not deliver the hot barracks orgy shower nozzle masturbation material we were hoping for.
My Undoing: Love in the Thick of Sex, Drugs, Pornography, and Prostitution by Aiden Shaw
Gay porn’s own Poetry Man, after many a self-indulgent volume of poetry, this is Shaw’s first entree into the world of autobiography. We say first because it only gives us a peek into a few years into his life and he promised it to be the first of several volumes of his autobiography. He spends a lot of time sick in bed, but Proust he is not. Yet.
The Last Time I Drew a Crowd: The Autobiography of Jim Bentley
Poor Jim. He’s a real nutcase and it really comes through in this. Riddled with typos and rambling with circuitously boring minutia of his life (there’s almost an entire chapter devoted to his difficulties of trying to get on a plane after 9/11), the original giant-sized, spiral-bound version complete with laminated cover came with a bunch of actual signed and numbered photos of Bentley by Bentley and demanded a $99 price tag. He’s since managed to get out a more modest paperback version for the low price of $19.95 — if you can find it. Not that we’re saying you should.
Sleeping Under the Stars: Erotic Memoirs of a Decade in Porn by Geoffrey Karen Dior
The most self-indulgent of the lot, each 1-2 page “chapter” of this book is devoted to a sexual encounter with “porn star” that tranny / porn star/director /”personality” Geoffrey Karen Dior. There’s a few stories and names in here that interesting but the majority of the “stars” are unknowns and Dior’s “erotic” prose is anything but. Dior died two years after this book was released, and a formal bio on his life outside the bedroom (he achieved quasi-mainstream success having appeared on “Xena” and “Veronica’s Closet”) would have made a more interesting read.
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Chi Chi’s and Joey Stefano’s book are very well written as is Al Parker’s Jon Vicent’s is particularly badly written and Rick Merritt’s goes on a bit too long. “Sleeping Under the Stars”is nothing more than Karen Dior (RIP)is nothing more than a list of idustry people she slept with. Other good biographies are “Dirty Poole” By Wakefield Poole and Casey Donovan’s “Boy in the Sand”
Good morning. How could you be a Great Man if history brought you no Great Events, or brought you to them at the wrong time, too young, too old?
I am from Republic and now study English, please tell me right I wrote the following sentence: “Gases put to relocate some of the baths in the protective relationship.”
Thank 8-) How do adjustable shower heads work.