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Inside Linda Lovelace
Book by Lovelace, Linda
191 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1974
4 people are currently reading
219 people want to read
About the author
Linda Lovelace
15 books57 followersLinda Susan Boreman, better known by her stage name Linda Lovelace, became famous after starring in the 1972 hardcore porn film Deep Throat. She later became a spokeswoman for the anti-pornography movement.
Deep Throat was notable for beginning a brief fad of porn chic; it was also the inspiration for Bob Woodward's name of his secret Watergate source, W. Mark Felt. Boreman later stated that she regretted her pornographic career and was coerced into pornography by her then-husband, Chuck Traynor.
Deep Throat was notable for beginning a brief fad of porn chic; it was also the inspiration for Bob Woodward's name of his secret Watergate source, W. Mark Felt. Boreman later stated that she regretted her pornographic career and was coerced into pornography by her then-husband, Chuck Traynor.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 26, 2010
I got into a discussion with Elizabeth yesterday about the character of Edward in the Twilight series. I maintained that Edward came across as an amoral, controlling psychopath. Elizabeth, though not an Edward fan (she said at one point that she couldn't believe she was defending him) said I was exaggerating. For example, I strongly questioned Edward's claim that he'd never desired any woman but Bella. Elizabeth said Edward was very truthful. Throughout the four books, he's never caught out telling a lie: hence, since there is nothing in the text to contradict this claim, we should believe him.
As I said then, I completely respect Elizabeth's interpretation, but it isn't one I can share. For me, Edward's too far-fetched. No person I have ever met could behave this way, so I am irresistibly drawn to the conclusion that someone is not telling the truth. Either Edward is lying to Bella, or Bella is an unreliable narrator, or Stephanie Meyer is lying to her audience. But I freely admit that I don't know which one it is, and, as Elizabeth says, there is nothing in the text that directly supports my point of view.
I started wondering if I could come up with a similar case where new evidence had in fact forced a reevaluation of a character, and a couple of hours later a story on Yahoo News suggested one. Poor Lindsay Lohan has been dropped from Inferno, the movie of Linda Lovelace's book Ordeal, where Lovelace describes how she was raped, beaten and forced (literally) at gunpoint to perform in Deep Throat, the classic porno movie that made her famous. Before she wrote Ordeal, however, she wrote, or more probably ghost-wrote, two other books, of which this is one.
I don't think I ever read the whole thing, but I'm pretty sure that, as a 15 year old, I browsed through at least a couple of chapters at my local bookstore. Linda recounts how she met wonderful, sexy Chuck Traynor (I shudder at the near-coincidence with my own surname), who opened her up to a world of orgasmic delights, all of which are described in juicy detail. At the time, I had no sexual experience at all, but I do recall feeling a tiny bit sceptical. It somehow seemed just a little too much. On the other hand, the text was quite consistent, and what did I know about it? Maybe it was exactly as Linda described.
Well, it's now clear that Linda Lovelace was an unreliable narrator. Either she was lying in Inside Linda Lovelace, or she was lying in Ordeal, or, indeed, she was lying in both. Quite a few people have tried to make out that she was telling the truth in the first version, or at least that the second version, written after she became a born-again Christian, is also substantially inaccurate. I haven't researched it in any detail, but Ordeal rings true in a way that Inside Linda Lovelace simply doesn't. The first Chuck is an implausible fantasy. The second is an all-too-plausible monster. Along with most of the rest of the world, I believe Version 2.
To go back to where we came in, I still don't know what's going on with Edward. Maybe the official story is all there is to it. But if a Bella's Ordeal ever appears, and Stephanie Meyer reveals that much of the first four books is inaccurate and that Edward is quite a different person from the one presented there, then I think I'll have the same reaction. At last, something that makes sense.
As I said then, I completely respect Elizabeth's interpretation, but it isn't one I can share. For me, Edward's too far-fetched. No person I have ever met could behave this way, so I am irresistibly drawn to the conclusion that someone is not telling the truth. Either Edward is lying to Bella, or Bella is an unreliable narrator, or Stephanie Meyer is lying to her audience. But I freely admit that I don't know which one it is, and, as Elizabeth says, there is nothing in the text that directly supports my point of view.
I started wondering if I could come up with a similar case where new evidence had in fact forced a reevaluation of a character, and a couple of hours later a story on Yahoo News suggested one. Poor Lindsay Lohan has been dropped from Inferno, the movie of Linda Lovelace's book Ordeal, where Lovelace describes how she was raped, beaten and forced (literally) at gunpoint to perform in Deep Throat, the classic porno movie that made her famous. Before she wrote Ordeal, however, she wrote, or more probably ghost-wrote, two other books, of which this is one.
I don't think I ever read the whole thing, but I'm pretty sure that, as a 15 year old, I browsed through at least a couple of chapters at my local bookstore. Linda recounts how she met wonderful, sexy Chuck Traynor (I shudder at the near-coincidence with my own surname), who opened her up to a world of orgasmic delights, all of which are described in juicy detail. At the time, I had no sexual experience at all, but I do recall feeling a tiny bit sceptical. It somehow seemed just a little too much. On the other hand, the text was quite consistent, and what did I know about it? Maybe it was exactly as Linda described.
Well, it's now clear that Linda Lovelace was an unreliable narrator. Either she was lying in Inside Linda Lovelace, or she was lying in Ordeal, or, indeed, she was lying in both. Quite a few people have tried to make out that she was telling the truth in the first version, or at least that the second version, written after she became a born-again Christian, is also substantially inaccurate. I haven't researched it in any detail, but Ordeal rings true in a way that Inside Linda Lovelace simply doesn't. The first Chuck is an implausible fantasy. The second is an all-too-plausible monster. Along with most of the rest of the world, I believe Version 2.
To go back to where we came in, I still don't know what's going on with Edward. Maybe the official story is all there is to it. But if a Bella's Ordeal ever appears, and Stephanie Meyer reveals that much of the first four books is inaccurate and that Edward is quite a different person from the one presented there, then I think I'll have the same reaction. At last, something that makes sense.
March 31, 2022
Αυτό εδώ είναι ένα πολύ αλλόκοτο βιβλίο. Πριν περάσω στο περιεχόμενο που είναι απλά μεταφρασμένο από ένα αλλόκοτο πρωτότυπο, πρέπει να επισημάνω την σουρεαλιστικά κωμική εμπειρία να διαβάζει κανείς την κάπως αρχαϊκή απόδοση, στο πολυτονικό, με ορθογραφία καθαρεύουσας, και φυσικά γεμάτη λάθη.
Όσο αφορά στο περιεχόμενο τώρα... Δεν ξέρω τι να σκεφτώ. Κλίνω υπέρ του ότι δεν έγραψε η ίδια το βιβλίο, αλλά πιθανώς κάποιος άντρας (ενδεχομένως ο Chuck Traynor;) με τη δική της συνεισφορά για λεπτομέρειες και γεγονότα. Κάτι στον τρόπο που ξεπλένει και εκθειάζει τον Traynor, κάτι στο πώς παρουσιάζει την αντίληψή της για το σεξ (υποτίθεται τώρα μια αμόρφωτη κοπέλα) με ψευδοφιλοσοφικές παπάτζες...
Έχει μέσα ένα μίγμα από υπνωτισμό, ψευδοεπιστήμη, μια εκδοχή ασκήσεων Kegel, καράτε(!) και φυσικά μια γενικότερη "υμνογραφία" για το πορνό και το σεξ. Ακόμα και μέσα σε αυτά όμως πέφτει σε αντιφάσεις, ενίοτε με απόσταση 3-4 γραμμών.
Και μετά, είναι αυτές οι φαινομενικά τελείως αβίαστες απόψεις υπέρ της παιδεραστίας, ανάμικτες με μισοχωνεμένες ατάκες για την παιδική σεξουαλικότητα.
Κοντολογίς, το βιβλίο είναι σκουπίδι, αλλά εν γνώση μου ότι είναι σκουπίδι το πήρα και το διάβασα, όπως έκανα και με αυτό εδώ.
Μερικές φορές είναι απλά η περιέργεια του αμφιλεγόμενου και εξωφρενικού, αλλά εδώ έχουμε να κάνουμε σαφώς με αυτό που λέμε "αναξιόπιστο αφηγητή", οπότε δίνει απλά μια σύντομη εικόνα περί του πλαισίου και της αλλαγής που επέφερε το Βαθύ Λαρύγγι στην πορνογραφία και τον κινηματογράφο γενικότερα.
Ίσως αξίζει κάποια στιγμή να διαβάσω τα Ordeal και Getting Out of Bondage, γραμμένα όταν η Lovelace είχε πάει στο άλλο άκρο, κατά της πορνογτραφίας, αν και σύμφωνα με όσα έχω διαβάσει και εκεί η αφήγηση δεν είναι αξιόπιστη (παρόλο που σαν αυτό εδώ το χάλι δεν θα είναι).
Όσο αφορά στο περιεχόμενο τώρα... Δεν ξέρω τι να σκεφτώ. Κλίνω υπέρ του ότι δεν έγραψε η ίδια το βιβλίο, αλλά πιθανώς κάποιος άντρας (ενδεχομένως ο Chuck Traynor;) με τη δική της συνεισφορά για λεπτομέρειες και γεγονότα. Κάτι στον τρόπο που ξεπλένει και εκθειάζει τον Traynor, κάτι στο πώς παρουσιάζει την αντίληψή της για το σεξ (υποτίθεται τώρα μια αμόρφωτη κοπέλα) με ψευδοφιλοσοφικές παπάτζες...
Έχει μέσα ένα μίγμα από υπνωτισμό, ψευδοεπιστήμη, μια εκδοχή ασκήσεων Kegel, καράτε(!) και φυσικά μια γενικότερη "υμνογραφία" για το πορνό και το σεξ. Ακόμα και μέσα σε αυτά όμως πέφτει σε αντιφάσεις, ενίοτε με απόσταση 3-4 γραμμών.
Και μετά, είναι αυτές οι φαινομενικά τελείως αβίαστες απόψεις υπέρ της παιδεραστίας, ανάμικτες με μισοχωνεμένες ατάκες για την παιδική σεξουαλικότητα.
Κοντολογίς, το βιβλίο είναι σκουπίδι, αλλά εν γνώση μου ότι είναι σκουπίδι το πήρα και το διάβασα, όπως έκανα και με αυτό εδώ.
Μερικές φορές είναι απλά η περιέργεια του αμφιλεγόμενου και εξωφρενικού, αλλά εδώ έχουμε να κάνουμε σαφώς με αυτό που λέμε "αναξιόπιστο αφηγητή", οπότε δίνει απλά μια σύντομη εικόνα περί του πλαισίου και της αλλαγής που επέφερε το Βαθύ Λαρύγγι στην πορνογραφία και τον κινηματογράφο γενικότερα.
Ίσως αξίζει κάποια στιγμή να διαβάσω τα Ordeal και Getting Out of Bondage, γραμμένα όταν η Lovelace είχε πάει στο άλλο άκρο, κατά της πορνογτραφίας, αν και σύμφωνα με όσα έχω διαβάσει και εκεί η αφήγηση δεν είναι αξιόπιστη (παρόλο που σαν αυτό εδώ το χάλι δεν θα είναι).
July 3, 2022
This is definitely not a book for everyone. If it wasn't for the insight into a sudden star enamored by her rise to fame, it would simply be a quasi-biographical tale of a hyper-sexual woman's perversions and experiences with others like her. Some of it is genuinely funny and Linda's hopefulness about her new career offers some feel-good energy.
I found it genuinely shocking how repulsive some of the acts described are. But then again, I assume that was the intent. To shock and awe, maybe in a playful way.
Even then, if the intent was to be playful or to try and be 'open-minded' about sexual topics, I found myself grimacing while reading through paragraphs describing Linda's personal underage sexual experiences, pedophilia, bestiality, incest, and more.
The world of 2022 is vastly different than it was in 1973. No longer is Times Square lined with porno shops and sex theaters. Adult films are nowhere to be found in mainstream outlets. Yet we have instant access to the most deprived filth imaginable and unimaginable. We have all seen horrible things but I still found many passages in this book difficult to stomach. Perhaps I'm an old prude?
I found it genuinely shocking how repulsive some of the acts described are. But then again, I assume that was the intent. To shock and awe, maybe in a playful way.
Even then, if the intent was to be playful or to try and be 'open-minded' about sexual topics, I found myself grimacing while reading through paragraphs describing Linda's personal underage sexual experiences, pedophilia, bestiality, incest, and more.
The world of 2022 is vastly different than it was in 1973. No longer is Times Square lined with porno shops and sex theaters. Adult films are nowhere to be found in mainstream outlets. Yet we have instant access to the most deprived filth imaginable and unimaginable. We have all seen horrible things but I still found many passages in this book difficult to stomach. Perhaps I'm an old prude?
July 5, 2020
Well, at least I now know how to pick up a two pence piece with my vagina whilst "ironing, washing or shopping at the supermarket" and thinking my way to bigger breasts. I must practice this regularly, lest I end up with a fanny as big as a shoebox - apparently.
Google isn't telling me whether, in fact, Chuck Traynor was the truth author of this book but it certainly reads that way and presents some horrifying ideas around children and adolescents.
"Inside Linda Lovelace" is way too problematic to address in the course of a simple book review so I won't even try; not least because it's a Sunday evening and I'm trying to relax, rather than encourage further steam to stream forth from my ears.
I only suffered through this so that I can now read "Ordeal" and understand what it's about, as part of wider research into the pornography industry. Especially interested in the impact on consumers. Feel free to comment with further reading recommendations in this area - proper, academic pieces please. Not interested in jack off material or that 50 Shades tripe.
Google isn't telling me whether, in fact, Chuck Traynor was the truth author of this book but it certainly reads that way and presents some horrifying ideas around children and adolescents.
"Inside Linda Lovelace" is way too problematic to address in the course of a simple book review so I won't even try; not least because it's a Sunday evening and I'm trying to relax, rather than encourage further steam to stream forth from my ears.
I only suffered through this so that I can now read "Ordeal" and understand what it's about, as part of wider research into the pornography industry. Especially interested in the impact on consumers. Feel free to comment with further reading recommendations in this area - proper, academic pieces please. Not interested in jack off material or that 50 Shades tripe.
May 21, 2021
Bastante impresionante. Un libro que cuenta la historia del trayecto de la actriz porno Linda Lovelace y sus aventuras.
compulsion
March 6, 2025This book is the bad advice your boomer uncle gave you when you asked his advice on dating girls in high school.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews