Book Review by Norm Goldman

It's always nice to share a new book review. The following piece was written by Canadian reviewer (and former attorney) Norm Goldman. Goddesses was submitted to Goldman for review on my behalf. Goldman also conducted an interview to accompany the review. 

Publisher: BearManor Media
ISBN: 978-1-59393-298-5

Review: Golden Goddesses: 25 Legendary Women of Classic Erotic Cinema, 1968-1985
Norm Goldman
 
When Jill Nelson's Golden Goddesses: 25 Legendary Women of Classic Erotic Cinema, 1968-1985 was dropped off in my mail box, I have to confess that I was curious to learn more about these women who were employed in the adult film industry as actors, directors and producers during an era when it was illegal to make these films yet not illegal to watch them.
 
And although I am not a supporter of pornographic films and neither do I condone the proclivities of these women, I wanted to have, as Nelson states in her introduction, “ a clearer understanding of the beautiful and intrepid females who favored an alternative profession in adult cinema that was cultivated at the apex of the 1960s sexual revolution.” According to Nelson, these are eccentric, imperfect, yet, intelligent and ethical people anyone who ever want to meet.” After all, whom am I to prejudge the behavior of these actresses?
 
It should be pointed out that in 1988 the erotic film industry was legalized as result of a landmark California court case involving porn film director and producer Hal Freeman. To quote the words of Nelson: “it was sheer hypocrisy to deem the craft illegal because those who condemned it also watched it.”
 
Nelson's comprehensive book of mini-biographies drawn from interviews and other sources spans nine hundred and forty-six pages that provides her readers with a chronological history of the lives and times of twenty-five women who today range in age between forty-six and seventy-six. Unless you are familiar with the porn scene of the era that Nelson explores in her book, the following names will be meaningless such as: Ann Perry, Barbara Mills, Georgina Spelvn, Marilyn Chambers, Roberta Findlay, Jody Maxwell, Candida Royalle, Gloria Leonard, Rhonda Jo Petty, Serena, Annie Sprinkle, Sex “Kitten” Natividad, Sharon Mitchell, Kay Parker, Juliet Anderson, Seka, Kelly Nichols, Veronic Hart, Julia St. Vincent, Laurie Holmes, Ginger Lynn, Amber Lynn, Christy Canyon, Raven Touchstone, and Nina Hartley. In addition to these women, Nelson also adds in brief summaries of fifteen other women whom she believes are worthy of honorable mentions.
 
It is these women who played pivotal roles in the adult film industry during its so-called golden era and either directly or indirectly they candidly share their stories with Nelson which she documents in the book. In addition, Nelson also includes one hundred and twenty-five reviews of some of the films these women acted in, as well as three hundred photos. Apparently, Nelson devoted three and half years to researching and interviewing these women.
 
Who exactly are these women? Are they exhibitionists? Where did they grow up and what motivated them to participate in the porn industry in one way or another? Were they abused as children? Were they bimbos and uneducated? Were they prostitutes? Were they drug addicts or alcoholics? Have they ever contacted a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Were they ever subject to degradation and abuse? Was it opportunity to escape poverty? What happened to them after they left the industry? Were they proud of what they were doing? Do they have any regrets? These are only some of the questions that Nelson explores with a great deal of compassion and an eye for detail, and frankly, you will be quite surprised at what you will discover!
 
Scattered throughout the book are quotes aplenty from these unusual women as for example Annie Sprinkle who claims she didn't understand why some people couldn't believe she had a good time. She further mentions that her sex work built her self-esteem as she is a creative kind of a person and being a sex worker is a very creative job when done with creativity. Veronica Hart states: “one of my goals when I got in the business was that I would be able to come out of this business and still enjoy my sexuality and making love.”
 
There are very few books around, if any, concerning first hand oral accounts of women who played important roles in the adult entertainment industry during its golden era. Nelson, who is an engaging narrator, has painstakingly researched her subject matter and has managed to place her audience smack in the middle of some unusual female lives. To her credit is that these women were quite eager to share their experiences and set the record straight in a forthright and generous manner. The only gripe I have about this book is it is far too long and there were several instances of repetition which could have been avoided with better content editing. Perhaps, a book half its length would have been preferable. American Chronicle

Golden Goddesses Review: Hamilton Magazine

As a lucky woman who was born in Hamilton, Ontario, co-owned a Hearing Care Clinic in Hamilton for 22 years, and is still employed in Hamilton, I am extremely proud that Golden Goddesses is featured in the Arts & Entertainment section of the current edition of mainstream publication, Hamilton Magazine.  Sandwiched between two other local writers, Jon Wells and Don McIver in the 'On the Shelf' segment under Books on page 63, I am excited to share reviewer Jessica Rose's short but sweet analysis of "Goddesses" adjacent to the book's cover.

"Inspired by interviews she conducted while co-writing John Holmes: A Life Measured in Inches, local author Jill C. Nelson returns to the golden era of erotic cinema in her new book, Golden Goddesses.  At nearly 1000 pages in length, and featuring more than 300 photographs, Golden Goddesses takes no shortcuts, profiling 25 actresses who risked it all during a time when participating in adult productions was illegal.  Each of Nelson's profiles is meticulous, the result of immeasurable research and the trust and friendship she built with her often reluctant subjects."

For those living locally, I encourage you to check out the latest issue of Hamilton Magazine, a cutting edge publication with attitude and style.

Book Review by Ian Jane

As book reviews for Golden Goddesses start to come in, I will be posting some of them at this blog. The following review is written by Ian Jane. Jane's excellent website, rockshockpop.com, contains news and reviews about pop culture including music, film, books, magazines and theatre. The link to this review can be found here: Golden Goddesses review: Rock, Shock, Pop  Thank you, Ian.

"Author Jill Nelson follows up the seminal John Holmes: A Life Measured In Inches (which she co-wrote with Jennifer Sugar, who provides an introduction to this latest book) with a massive 950 page tome entitled Golden Goddesses: 25 Legendary Women of Classic Erotic Cinema, 1968-1985. Once again published by Bear Manor Media, this latest effort from Nelson casts a wider net and rather than focus on one single subject, instead covers the life and times of twenty-five of the greatest female performers to make a name for themselves during the golden age of adult cinema. The end result, is a fascinating mix of biographical insight and, dare we say it, a distinctly feminist slant on an industry often reviled as sexist and misogynist. It’s this mix that makes the book so fascinating and infinitely readable as it provides us, not only with the dirty details on who did what, when and why, but it also provides a unique snapshot into the porno chic movement of the day that, like it or not, had a profound cultural impact on North American society.

Interviewed here are the following actresses, pretty much every one of whom should be familiar to regular readers of this site: Ann Perry / Jody Maxwell / Barbara Mills / Candida Royalle / Marilyn Chambers / Annie Sprinkle / Georgina Spelvin / Sharon Mitchell / Serena / Rhonda Jo Petty / Gloria Leonard / Juliet Anderson / Kitten Natividad / Kay Parker / Julia St. Vincent / Kelly Nichols / Seka / Veronica Hart / Laurie Holmes / Amber Lynn / Ginger Lynn / Nina Hartley / Christy Canyon / Roberta Findlay / Raven Touchstone

That list gives you a pretty good idea of the sort of broad cross section of the industry that the book covers, but it hardly does justice to the material itself. Never before has anyone seemed to have had access to the type of personal and in-depth content that Nelson’s subjects offer up here. Whatever her secret is, the woman has a serious knack for drawing out details that few others before her have been able to provide, and while quite a few of the ladies showcased in the book have done plenty of interviews prior, just as many have not.

Roberta Findlay makes a great example. A fairly reclusive woman by nature, Nelson interviewed her by telephone and snail mail – no email or chat here, it was all done the old fashioned way. Her efforts paid off though, as through this correspondence, which must have been pretty time consuming, Nelson is able to paint a much more detailed portrait of Findlay than anyone before her. We get to know her not just as a filmmaker but first and foremost as a human being. We learn about her relationships with Michael Findlay and with her second husband, we learn of her work in the recording industry and about her thoughts on the various movies she made, and throughout all of this we get a good feel for her attitude towards her life and towards her work.

Nelson also interviews a few actresses who are no longer with us, Juliet Anderson and Marilyn Chambers. This gives their stories some historical importance as they are not only likely some of the last interviews they gave before their untimely passing but also the most detailed. Chambers’ accounts of her rise to superstardom and crossing over, however briefly, into the mainstream are a fascinating document of a bygone era while Anderson’s discussion of her infamous ‘Aunt Peg’ character are completely charming and shed some interesting light on why those movies were and remain so popular.

Thought it would have been easier and perfectly interesting in its own right to have simply asked questions of these women about their career highlights, Nelson instead takes an obvious personal interest in each of her subjects. This allows for Georgina Spelvin to open up about her battles with alcohol and Rhonda Jo Petty to discuss the abuse she suffered as a girl at the hands of her father. If you want to know Gloria Leonard’s thoughts on the difficulties of getting by once a porn star hits her golden years, you’ll get that too along with insight from the continually sex positive Annie Sprinkle, who spends as much time talking about her work outside of the film industry as in it. Serena reveals intimate details about her infamous relationship with the late Jamie Gillis while Seka reminisces not just about her exploits on camera but on her adventures at New York City’s long gone swingers club, Plato’s Retreat.

If there’s one complaint to levy against the book, it’s that the three hundred or so photographs used to compliment the text didn’t replicate so well on the printed page. They often look soft, harshly compressed or both. The plus side is that if you want images of any of the ladies featured here, a Google search is only seconds away from anyone reading this. Golden Goddesses isn’t a book you’re going to buy for pretty pictures of pretty ladies, it’s a book you’re going to buy for some seriously fascinating and revealing stories from a collection of unsung heroines of the adult film industry.

The amount of detail here, the layers which Nelson manages to peel back in order to expose the people behind the personas, is outstanding. Anyone with a serious interest not just in the history of adult film but in the very definition of celebrity and the rise and fall that goes along with it should consider this a must read. Never before has a book tackled its subject with the grace and care which Nelson shows here – let’s hope she’s able to tackle a second volume, or even make a series out of this as once fans make it through the mammoth tome, they will most certainly be left wanting more."