The staff at the Virgin Megastore couldn't be happier; 45 minutes before Jenna Jameson's scheduled arrival, about 300 people are lined up for her book-signing. There are young men, of course. But there are also a surprising number of women, and even a few parents pushing strollers with infants. There is even a young girl who claims to be Jenna's long-lost cousin. All of them, even the cousin, have copies of her newly published autobiography, How To Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale. From the back of the store, the line slinks past listening stations, past bins of world music, jazz and today's pop hits. Closer to the front of the line there is a roped-off section in which Jenna's DVD boxes can be glimpsed. But no one is buying them. Jenna will only sign copies of the book.
At the very front of the line, Tanya, 19, a dark-haired girl with a nose ring, stands reading the book as she awaits Jenna's arrival. She has already been waiting for three hours "I've been reading the book all day. The best part so far is when she talks about how her mom went through cancer when Jenna was little." Tanya tells me that she doesn't really know Jenna's movies too well. "But Jenna's the best!" she says.
"At what?" I can't help asking.
"She's Jenna, that's why! Nobody tops Jenna."
But as much as she admires Jenna Jameson, Tanya has no interest in the career choice of her idol. "I would never do porn. I don't have that mind frame."
It is often said that because of her high public profile, Jenna Jameson brought porn into the mainstream. But it is more accurate to say that while porn will always add zest to her fame, Jenna Jameson alone entered the mainstream, not porn stars in general—unless you count a trend for irritating T-shirts. There is no other actress in adult films who has anything like her name recognition, and her mainstream celebrity seems to exist almost independently of her continuing and still wildly successful porn career.
Jameson appeared here in January for the Adult Video News Awards. And, as she always does, she acted her role as the biggest slut in every porn fan's fantasy. But the "real" Jenna Jameson, now 30, comes with baggage and issues. She is a survivor who shows her scars—abuse, rape and drugs. She is married and monogamous and openly desperate with her desire to conceive a child and retire from porn. The Hilton sisters behave like porn stars in public; when Jenna Jameson descends the escalator and begins posing for photos and signing books for fans, she couldn't act more composed and grounded, and even serious. In fact, except for a shared exhibitionism of things most private and personal, the two Jenna personas have little in common; they even have different audiences. Asked to pose for a photo holding a baby, even Jenna seems surprised.
"This is a totally different demographic," she tells me with some amazement. I have been given five minutes with her about 90 minutes into the signing. "A lot of women and a lot of families and lot of grandparents—it's really crazy. I think, as of the past couple of years, as I've really been hitting the mainstream, more and more women are starting to feel empowered and they relate to me. So, they come out and see me."
She is asked to keep signing books as we talk, but she refuses. She says she'd rather stay longer so that everyone can have a moment of her undivided attention than to do two things at once. Turning back to me she adds, "This is different than what I normally get, which is, you know, college guys."
I am many years past college and I have never seen one of Jameson's films, but looking into her eyes at that moment and detecting the slightest hint of wine on her breath ... I can't help think ... well, maybe ... if she drank a lot more ... Then I return to Earth and notice that it isn't a come hither look I see in her eyes. Jenna Jameson actually seems nervous. And she is. She admits it isn't easy being back here in the town she grew up in for the first time sans her porn star veneer.
"It's a little scary, because three-quarters of my book is based in Las Vegas. From the time I was 1 until I was about 19, I spent my whole life here. So a lot of very insane things have happened to me here. I've lead a really, really long, crazy life. I think a lot of people out there see me as just this girl with blond hair and big boobs, and there are so many other dimensions to me that I thought it was important to tell the whole story and how I got to where I was. I told a lot of crazy stories. So now I am expecting a few people I know to show up."
"See anyone yet?" I ask. By this time, about half the line had passed by her including the alleged cousin.
"Not yet, and I am happy."
I thank her and she turns again to the waiting line of people, and no matter what shadows from her past this line contains, Jenna Jameson is ready to face them all.