The Big Book of Porn: A Penetrating Look at the World of Dirty Movies

More loving than smutty, this riff on the glory of dirty movies has more double entendres than an X-rated film, but charms with its sincerity. Firsttime author Grahame-Smith first gives a chronology of the porn industry, mentioning nude photography of the early 1900s before going into the Hays Code film regulations of 1930, and then into porn's heyday in the 1970s. Once the history lesson is complete, the author veers into extensive lists of his favorite "classic" films, which he categorizes as featuring actors and actresses without tattoos, but with plenty of body hair. He rhapsodizes about the luscious quality of porn stars from the Debbie Does Dallas era, but gives the current crop of vixens their due, especially those clever enough to parlay their profession into mini-empires of sex toys and Web sites. Also covered in this compact but edifying volume are common terms, fetish videos, international porn and even an ode to the old, smut-drenched Times Square. Lively and entertaining, with a sprinkling of raunchy photos, Grahame-Smith's valentine to his favorite art form is a must for any bookshelf that also holds Flesh Gordon and Lust of the Mohicans . (Jan.)