Traci Lords Books

And of course, the thing to avoid is eating curry in between lagers, reading this ALOUD with dramatic flourishes (some of which were frankly, unprintable, and certainly unreproducible in this splendid on line journal) in your student flat before a rapt and drunk audience of students who know all your bad habits, and avoid embarrasments that they will tell their children and grandchildren about. Yes, and I expect this book was written in the same way.

I think the introductory text (the one which doesn't involve hairy toes) is roughly about the same level of lunacy as the book proper, but the fact is, I have no doubt that it it perfectly true; a pair of down and about writers alternate betwen emergency supplies of dog biscuits and sleepovers in the library (been there, done that) and surrender their writing careers to a desperate plan of salvation that includes vissitudes in aid of helpless fictional species, bypassing the local libel laws, characters strangely reminiscent of nearly everyone on my course (only smaller and smellier). Yes, I'm thinking about Tim Benzadrine here folks!

So it goes, and if you can read the bit with Lavier and the brick wallpaper lined tree without falling over and spilling lager all over the communal radio, which then spectacularly explodes, then you did better than me.

I think.

The most extravagant parody on JRRT's famous trilogy. Very nice at beginning, little doze at end, but still amazing. I read LOTR many times (and Silmarillion, Hobbit, of course) and like them very much. But i read this parody also with great delight. It's a good buy and a good present!

I did not like this book at all. I'm not a fan of Tolkien's trilogy (though I loved The Hobbitt), but loved the movie trilogy. I found the writing in this to be sophomoric and many of the lines to be idiotic. I don't recommend this for anyone who is NOT a fan of the written version.

So much fun and so silly! AT the same time, it's off color enough, I'd keep the kids away. (After the movie release, these LotR fans seem even younger, huh?) Long live the veggie puns!

When in High School I first found this book and enjoyed reading it. Being a fan of Tolkien I couldn't help but love it. It is just the right mixture of silly jokes, gross scenes and real humor. Humor that makes me laugh out loud on the bus or train. There are lots of books out there trying to be parodies but many fail. Rereading it really allowed me to enjoy it again and, on some cases, allowed me to understand some of the jokes I had not before.
Being published in 1969 I do think some of the jokes are outdated and, frankly, I don't understand some of them. Never did. But the book is still ten [...] many fantasy books and reminds me a lot of the Hitchhiker's Guide in pacing and delivery. I love the character of Goodgulf the Wizard and his ways of dealing with people. You HAVE to have this book if you are a fan of fantasy.

I give this book 3 stars because Jenna Jameson's book is MUCH better.

While Traci advises readers NOT to enter the porn industry, Jenna advises that it is ok for some people, but to do some serious thinking and soul searching before taking the plunge (no pun intended).

If you want to know why women do porn, read this book. Almost all of them have low self esteem and were sexually assaulted at a young age. Very rarely have I heard of female porn stars entering the business because they have children to feed or need money for medical bills, etc.

If you can only purchase one book, purchase Jenna's and borrow Traci's from the library. Having said that, the book is not bad, it is just ordinary and compared to Jenna's, it doesn't read as well.

I bought the hardcover in the bargain bin about 3 years ago. I bought it merely having known the name in porn circles. I figured it would be about the 'life of a porn star', as I just assumed that she was still in porn.

Obviously the book told a completely different story.

Ironically, as others have mentioned, it almost certainly was her abusive past in porn that enabled her future career.

I do disagree with those saying that her story either didn't tell it all or is just a selfish money making publication.

I think she has long since earned the right NOT to have people shaking fingers at her. Perhaps she simply wasn't comfortable exposing every detail of her earlier life.

How many of you would be brave enough to talk about an enduring, sexually abusive past? It's easy to say, "give us more", but she is the one who has to deal with fallout it from it.

I think she gave more than enough of the story to give us the idea that she wanted to; to show that she came from a very abusive, and manipulated past, and then she focused on her gradual escape from it.

A very good book unless you are so demanding of a reader that you can't let her tell the story the way she is comfortable with.

I think this is the best book I've read! It just shows you how someones life can be such a mess and how they can turn things around. It was really inspiring. I wish I could tell Traci this myself, because I don't like the reviews that people wrote about how they think everything is her fault for getting mixed up in the porn industry. She was so young and didn't know any better. She didn't have people teaching her right or wrong. I don't blame her at all and I'm really proud of her for getting out of it and following her dreams without giving up. I think everything happends for a reason and I think everything that happened to her was so she could write this book and help other people. I know how it is to make bad decisions when you are sad, and It made me take a look at myself. I deffinalty recommend this book to girls. It's really interesting and keeps your attention. If you are looking for a book that DOESN'T give a negative perspective on porn, then this isn't for you. If you are a young girl who is thinking about going into the porn industry, you should deffinatly read this book!

Sorry for the long review, but Traci Lords has always been an interesting and inspiring (believe it or not) person to watch grow and change over the years - and VERY few people (especially someone in the public eye) have been able to pull off and turn around as complicated of a life as she has. It's nearly an amazing journey that she has been on.. and I'll share my reasons why with this review (which is nearly 20 years in the making)!

My experience with Traci Lords started in the late 80's, when at a very young age myself, I was introduced to pornography by a friend who had secretly "borrowed" videos from his older brothers' closet - which included a copy of an old video she had done. Although I must admit that she was totally a magical form of sexual energy in her films (and that she helped me to learn and discover those emotions, sex, and my own body through my puberty years) - it is hard to conceive what she had actually gone through since then.

Of course, the book begins with how she, as a "lost soul", went into modeling (after struggling as an aspiring actress) and eventually was taken advantage of at her youthful young age, slipping into the "easy money" adult industry lifestyle - never expecting the huge responses she received from both the business side, and regular porn fans buying up all her videos. Traci and the industry were able to basically fool everyone at first, hiding the fact that she was under 18 due to her sense of maturity and fully developed body.
What most people may not know, is that although she made MANY adult films, they were made within a fairly short period of time, and she had dug herself out of that scene only a few years into getting sucked into it. It is the many hard years after walking away that the second adventure would begin for her -- the rest of her life!

Although her fans would have probably loved to read more steamy stories from that early phase of her life (at first, even I did), reading her book will make you discover (in a good way) that she has finally moved on. She offers many of her private feelings - and stories - that deal with everything from her family and crazy boyfriends, to drug experimentation and her thoughts on sex, to how difficult her life has been having to fight against an image she so badly wanted to go away and couldn't erase. This book is almost feels like her "trophy" for closing a very long chapter in her wild life.

She never gave up her original acting dream - even when nobody in their right mind would hire an ex-porn star. She managed to stay clean, quite beautiful, and worked her way up (slowly!) from low budget B-movies to projects like Stephen King's Tommyknockers, a decent stint on then-popular Melrose Place - and on top of writing this book - even releasing a unique techno music album that is quite good for electronica fans and still holds up after all these years. That said, none of the films she worked on after leaving her porn days behind would involve any real nudity - which had to be tough for placement, since most of her MANY original fans were probably just hoping for another "peek" if they rented one of her films, not taking her seriously when all she wanted was respect from people. No matter how low-budget some of her movies were at the beginning, you can really see how hard she continued to try to prove herself as having OTHER talents too. Kudos to you, Traci!
Very recently, she was on a few celebrity reality shows on VH1/MTV (as herself) - and even as a middle-aged woman who had been through hell and back, looked naturally stunning as always - and seemed to still have the same huge heart and soul she has become known for.

Imagine trying to re-invent and/or break almost an impossible image to both the media AND newly found friends along the way? Imagine being haunted by your past and wishing you could go back and change everything you did at just 16 years old, or feeling ashamed for years assuming that nobody would ever be able to truly fall in love with you, care about you, offer you a job, or not automatically judge you as a human being? She somehow pulled it all off, and reading this book actually made me feel a slight sense of guilt for actually having seen her adult videos (after her strong regret for ever doing it). The nice thing, is that it felt good to be happy for a celebrity for a real reason - she is finally able to reach most of her goals, find romance, and accept her past.

Of course, this will never be considered one of the greatest books of all time, but for the bargain price and the simple (yet in-depth) true story - I suggest spending a few short nights enjoying her honest truths if you remember and appreciate the one-and-only Traci Lords!

I Hope I didn't bore anyone and was of decent help. I gave it the 4th star because of her achievements and the books' unexpected positive messages that could easily affect any good-hearted person willing to listen.

Hopefully, Mrs. Lords will read this one day and smile, discovering that on top of successfully creating a new set of fans, she was able to convert some of her historical early "XXX fans" into just a "Traci fan" instead!

Traci Lords became famous or infamous, it depends how you see her situation, after she and the adult film industry were caught with their pants down. Which's isn't a bad thing in porn unless your under 18 which Traci was for most of her triple X career. So 20 years later it's not surprising that Ms. Lords revisits that dark time in her life.

The first half of the book is compelling. In it she details her young life in Ohio working class towns. It's probably no surprise that she had father issues. Her Dad was abusive and her Mom, making a series of bad decisions, dropped that deadbeat for an even sleazier deadbeat. Traci was also developing at an early age found that her sex not only brought unwanted attention, but often unwanted advances. A move to California and the drug culture combined to make the perfect storm for young Traci. By 15 she was posing as a model and by 17 she was an established porn star. After a late night FBI raid Traci and the adult industry was busted. Traci would leave the triple X fare behind and strike out as a "legitimate" actress with moderate success.

This is where the rest of the book, which chronicles her mainstream career, falters. It reads more like a resume then an autobiography. No real insights are offered after her porn career and to be honest few insights are shared before and during her porn career. Because Lords avoids many details and offers little insight into her self, we're left with a pretty non-descript depiction of her life. The first half of the books works better because the story is so compelling, but Traci makes few attempts to look inside herself and the result is stunting.

The book is also very non-sexual. This is neither good nor bad, but those looking for an erotic read will be disappointed.