The Big Book of Porn is an enthusiastic and colorful look at the world of pornographic movies.  It is illustrated with many pictures, although it shows nothing more explicit than some bare breasts.  It has seven chapters taking about 200 pages, explaining the history of porn movies, classics of porn, the best known actors in porn, the genres of porn, the geography of porn, and hints about making your own porn.  Seth Grahame-Smith adopts a light-hearted tone and puts plenty of his own personal opinions into the text.  He rates "The Opening of Misty Beethoven" (1976) as "the best porno ever made" because of its dialogue, production values, and performances.  Runners up are "The Dancers" (1981), "Taboo" (1980), "Talk Dirty to Me" (1980), and "The Satisfiers of Alpha Blue" (1981).  These dates show that Grahame-Smith's expertise lies in movies that are now over a quarter of a century old.  Similarly, the stars he profiles nearly all appeared in movies of the same period: Annette Haven, Desiree Cousteau, Kay Parker, Ginger Lynn, and Seka.  There are some nods to more recent developments such as DVDs and the Internet, but for the most part this is an exercise in porn nostalgia.  The most interesting parts of the book are the old posters for porn movies which are amazingly tasteful compared to current advertising for porn.

© 2007 Christian Perring. All rights reserved.

Christian Perring, Ph.D., is Academic Chair of the Arts & Humanities Division and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College, Long Island. He is also editor of Metapsychology Online Reviews.  His main research is on philosophical issues in medicine, psychiatry and psychology.

Categories: Movies, Sexuality