Dorothy From Kansas Meets the Wizard of X [Paperback]

Linda Alexander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2003

What if a tornado dropped Dorothy not into Oz but on the set of an X-rated film? This book tells of an odd camaraderie between a porn icon and a freelance writer. The storyteller’s curiosity took her on a journey into a sexual world about which she knew nothing. She, an awakening “Dorothy,” and Eric Edwards, a celebrated adult film star since 1969 in his own real-life “Oz,” were the least likely pair, but through interviews and day-to-day living they became friends, protective of each other. Eric tried to shield Linda from sexuality’s darker side and Linda was determined to share the light of Hope with Eric. This non-pornographic look behind the X-rated camera includes voices of industry insiders to offer a non-judgmental look into a most mysterious, misunderstood faction of film entertainment.

Product Details

• Paperback: 271 pages
• Publisher: PublishAmerica (September 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413702724
• ISBN-13: 978-1413702729
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,897,974 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Linda J. Alexander grew up with the 'seventies entertainment scene, fascinated by all the people on TV and in the movies, as well as the characters in those romance novels she couldn't put down. After doing the hustle, watching The Mod Squad, and listening to the Monkees and Herman's Hermits on her Duster's car radio, eventually she interviewed and wrote about some of those same characters--the entertainers who had earlier engaged her imagination. She also discovered a fascination for the Golden Era of Hollywood, when romance was romantic, stories had serious plot--and politics worked much in the same way as they do today.

Linda now entertains others with her writing. The most recent of 5 published books is REULCTANT WITNESS: ROBERT TAYLOR, HOLLYWOOD & COMMUNISM, on the market in 2008. The book chronicles the life of Robert Taylor, one of Hollywood's most handsome leading men of all times, from his small-town Nebraska roots to his death in 1969. Taylor's single most defining moment was a subpoenaed appearance in front of 1947's House Un-American Activities Committee in response to a tangible fear of Communism invading the United States. He was as popular as compatriots Ronald Reagan and even John Wayne, yet today he is incorrectly remembered most often as the actor who "named names." Linda's book sets the record straight and tells the truth of Taylor's life and that political "circus," his words for the HUAC.

Linda has published 2 other nonfiction books, THE UNPROMISED LAND, a biography of a Messianic Jewish couple, and DOROTHY FROM KANSAS MEETS THE WIZARD OF X, a look into the adult film world, as well as two novels of dark, sexy intrigue--UNTIL NEXT TIME and WEEKENDS IN NEW ENGLAND.

Another Hollywood biography by Linda is due out in 2011, A MAVERICK LIFE: THE JACK KELLY STORY, about TV and 50s film star, & long-time Huntington Beach, CA politician, Jack Kelly.

For more information on Linda, her books, or public speaking engagements, please contact her press representative, William Scherer, MBSTIA, Inc., at 240-205-8664 or via e-mail at williamATmbstia.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could Be Better., November 14, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Dorothy From Kansas Meets the Wizard of X (Paperback)

First of all, the book starts off with a very cleverly-coined and certainly attention-drawing title. However, I just wish the author would have helped the reader know Eric Edwards at a broader and more erotic level. There must be interesting details early in his porn life that could be touched upon. He must have a fascinating life than the way it was portrayed in the book. Those are done with everal people in the porn industry. The writer could have synthesized the information from the various interviews and put it in her own words, instead of quoting them verbatim. The focus of the book is on one of the legendary male porn stars named Eric Edwards. At some points, the book loses the focus. I even think the book doesn't do him a service. I expected to know more about his past and present life and career than about the porn industry. It is a pity that she didn't make the best of her opportunity to meet with or interview Eric. For someone who want to know about the inside of the porn industry, this book is an ok read. The Jack Wrangler book is way more fun to read, though.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Thumbs Up From Another Dorothy, March 29, 2004

By 

Mary Erickson (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dorothy From Kansas Meets the Wizard of X (Paperback)

Like the author, I was brought up a good, little Catholic girl. And like Dorothy, the alter ego of the author, I was even brought up in Kansas. The author indicates in her forward that interviewing and writing about people who act in [adult] films was a journey she needed to take for a number of reasons. She reports that as a result she came out of the experience as a better person and with a new friend, the Wizard of X, aka Rob Everett, aka Eric Edwards. Since I respect Ms. Alexander as a person, as an editor, and as a writer, I felt that I wanted to take this journey along with her, albeit vicariously, through reading her book.

The author interviewed many of the actors and actresses involved in the world of [adult] films, but it was Rob Everett, who appears under the screen name Eric Edwards, with whom she spent most of her time while researching this non-fiction book. It is Rob/Eric whose life the reader follows from his early days to the present. To the author's surprise and relief, she found that Rob and others who make their living by having sex on screen, are for the most part ordinary, everyday people, who for various reasons wandered into a world most of us have never entered. Through reading Ms. Alexander's fascinating account of this world, you'll gain a better understanding of this industry and the people who make it up. And, hopefully like me, you'll find the trip well worth it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wake Up, America!, November 22, 1999

By 

N. Pruett "Women's Director" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dorothy From Kansas Meets the Wizard of X (Paperback)

After reading Ms. Alexander's book, I was surprised to find out the different ways I perceived people in the porno industry vs. those not involved. I really was biased and had no concept of why people were even involved in this industry. Not only is this book informative, I found it easy to read and not something I wanted to put down without a fight. I read the entire book in three days! Thanks for enlightening this reader!