A History of X: 100 Years of Sex in Film - Hardcover

Luke Ford

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1573926787 ISBN 13: 9781573926782

Publisher: Prometheus, 1999

Synopsis

This first comprehensive and most in-depth history of cinematic pornography details sex in film from 100 years ago to today, concentrating on the quarter-century since Deep Throat, when pornography became a subject of popular culture.

Luke Ford is the best-known source on the porn film world today-the only journalist writing about the industry who is not also employed by it. This unique position gives Ford the objectivity to report without bias, and he is often consulted as a trusted news source on the porn industry by many major news publications.

Insightful, entertaining, and bold, A History of X takes us from the primitive film studios of the 1900s, where porn got its start as a daring experiment in sexual freedom, to the closed-door, multi-million-dollar porn-film corporations of today. Ford includes exclusive interviews with the stars, the producers, and the distributors as well as detailed data on censorship attempts from the early days to the present. He documents the controversial careers of top porn stars Marilyn Chambers, John Holmes, Linda Lovelace, Harry Reems, Gerard Damiano, Georgina Spelvin, Traci Lords, Max Hardcore, Ginger Lynn, and others, revealing both the great benefits and the tragic consequences that often come from fame and fortune in the porn industry.

He also discusses the many controversial aspects to the business, including Mafia influences, the impact of the AIDS epidemic on the industry, and the myths and realities behind child pornography.

Extensively researched and documented, A History of X is a fascinating expose of a business few dare to touch.

About this title

From the Author:

My last three years researching the history of porn.
Books focused on the empirical reality of porn production and distribution are rare. Most books on porn are either high falutin academic works, or Christian polemics. Mine is neither. Since the fall of 1995, I've read most everything published on porn, and since 1/96 I've hung around the industry, interviewing hundreds of performers, producers and crew. I've also talked to law enforcement about the Mafia's role in the business and I think that my book is the most definitive of anything published on Cosa Nostra's role in porn. My book A HISTORY OF X contains profiles of such leading porn stars as Linda Lovelace, Marilyn Chambers, Ginger Lynn and Traci Lords. I sketch directors Radley Metzger, Gerard Damiano, and Gregory Dark.

About the Author:

Luke Ford was educated in Australia and has worked as a radio host as well as a journalist. He now operates a website on the porn industry: www.lukeford.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Prometheus
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1573926787
• ISBN 13: 9781573926782
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 252