How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale—what is this book really about? By the title, you would think it was just another self-help book, and yet one on sex by what better expert than a porn star? "A cautionary tale" makes you think it just might be a who-wronged-whom book. That could be interesting. Many people are curious about the sex industry, especially if there are hints of darkness and seediness involved. Maybe this book will help me get started in my lifelong dream of a career in porn, you think. No, it won't really help you with that, either.
Instead, this is simply an autobiography with a chapter here and there on other subject matter, which merely distracts the reader from the true content: Who is Jenna Jameson? And why should we care?
The latter question brings the subject of pop culture to the forefront. For some time, pop culture has been taking a direction of not only embracing your own sexuality, but others' sexuality as well. And America is interested. Sex is used to sell advertising and grab television ratings. We love to talk about sex, dress with our skin and undergarments showing, watch sex—and, of course, enjoy sex. We have taken an interest in those who have sex for a living and are living the jet-set life because of their career choice. They are intriguing compared to the mundane, day-to-day lifestyle. How is it one could make a living at having sex and still be in demand to appear on television, magazine covers, travel the world doing appearances, radio interviews and some even appearing on the big screen? Who are these gods and goddesses of our fantasy life?
How to Make Love Like a Porn Star is the autobiography of not only one of these stars, but without a doubt one who is at the top of her field. (Jenna authored this book with help from New York Times contributor Neil Strauss, who also assisted with a few other star autobiographies.) For those who don't know who she is, here is a quick synopsis. Jenna Jameson is a native of Las Vegas, where, after a short stint as a casino showgirl, she discovered her abilities as a stripper. After moving from the club scene to magazine work, she eventually found herself starting a career in adult films. As a Wicked Pictures contract girl, Jenna begins her ascent by winning numerous awards from the adult industry. With a publicist assisting her, she acquired mainstream visibility, capturing the attention of more then just adult-film fans. Jenna Jameson currently is the CEO of ClubJenna, Inc., a video production, licensing, Internet development and management firm for more then a dozen adult film stars.
While we are on introductions, I feel it is relevant to disclose my relationship to Jenna. Though I had been in the industry for a few years before Jenna started her video career, our paths didn't cross until she signed her contract with Wicked Pictures. I was the next contract girl Wicked hired after Jenna. While I can't claim her as a friend, being exclusive with the same company meant making a few movies together, traveling to many of the same cities together, interacting with the same people and even on occasion sharing the same business stresses. For example, one common career hazard we shared was always trying to juggle our schedules. Everyone wants a share of your time and obviously you cannot be everywhere at once. Choosing one booking over another or visiting one distributor over the other tends to erroneously give you a label of being a bitch or not caring about your fans. I would have been interested in hearing how Jenna dealt with these moments.
She has accomplished yet another milestone for herself, as well as the industry, by the simple act of publishing this book. She can now add author to her resume. However, I really wish it was written as less of a sob story and more as the tell-all book I was looking forward to—hearing about her drug problems chapter after chapter became tiresome. Revealing her encounters with various warped personalities within the industry was not only interesting but left me wanting more.
I must make note that Jenna has taken a few liberties with the facts. For example, on page 542, she states, "I could blaze a path I had seen no other woman take and start a successful company of my own." She seems to have forgotten about women in the industry who already had successful companies, such as Susan Colvin of California Exotic Novelties, Kim Airs of Grand Openings, Candida Royalle of Femme, Samantha Lewis of Digital Playground and myself, of Las Vegas Novelties, just to name a few. There also is more to her then what she chooses to share in this book, and that's only the stuff I know about. Though she did know some of what was going on around her, the entourage that she has built up protected her most of the time and gave her the answers she wanted to hear.
As I said, How to Make Love Like a Porn Star is a misleading title, as it connotes that the contents are those of a self-help book. There is little advice within these pages to help you make love like a porn star, never mind start a career in the sex industry. There is a sample contract that some may find interesting, and three chapters of tidbits you may find useful. However, the advice stops there. I was hoping to read more about her years at the top of her game, which I thought would be most interesting, but instead was dragged repeatedly through the muck of her adolescence. Her kiss-and-tell stories are infrequent, though the few that are here are indeed interesting. She hardly gets into the conflicts she endured within the industry, which I would have found extremely intriguing. What she does write about her years in the adult film industry is interesting, even if brief. But, the time warps she incorporates within the film years are distracting. The round-table discussions with her family are slow to develop at best, and are used too commonly as a chapter format.
Jenna's fans will enjoy this book, if merely for the photos she includes of herself through the years. The diary entries may be considered interesting by some hard-core admirers. And for those of you who enjoy raunchy dime novels, you will just love the flow of her sex stories, as they can be quite explicit. She does include a list of the 10 commandments of Jenna Jameson, which will come in handy if you actually get the opportunity to pick her up. The cartoons scattered throughout add a bit of comic interest. And for those of you who love to read about star gossip, she does talk about her exploits with Howard Stern, Tommy Lee, and Marilyn Mansion, to name a few.
Diving into this book, I expected to be drifting along a current of glamorous images of celebrated people met, exotic places traveled to, seductive parties attended, and even perhaps stories of decadent shopping. Instead, for what seems like two-thirds of the book, I found myself in an open therapy session, with her downhill descent into a depressing darkness born from her dysfunctional family life, drug binges and bad decisions.
She does, near the end, find some rays of sunlight in the dim vale. Jenna playwrights her life as that of the victim, and when reading the story, you do feel for her struggle with unforeseeable obstacles. However, can she come to grips with what she has accomplished and hold true to her new chosen path, or will the chapters of her life, yet to be written, repeat the Freudian pattern of parents‚ failures, prolonged denial and frequently changing gears? This is yet to be determined, of course. I do hope she can finally find some peace with her family, her choices, her mistakes and most importantly, herself.
Serenity is a Las Vegas resident, retired adult film star and the first to win back-to-back AVN awards for Best Actress, Video.