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My Life in Porn: The Bobby Blake Story

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My Life In Porn: The Bobby Blake Story is a entertaining and insightful tale of Bobby Blake, birth name is not revealed in autobiography, arguably one of the most popular African Americans in Gay Pornography. The book chronicles Blake childhood. He was raised mostly by foster parents because his biological mother had nervous break downs during his youth. His biological father was basically just a sperm donor. Bobby Blake also spent almost two years in Tennessee Prepatory School a state run school for displaced youth.

Bobby Blake say that he is bisexual but by his own admittance "all the serious relationships of my adult life would turn out to be with men". Blake admit to being in love with a girl during his youth but some of his comments about women, later in the book, sounds misogynistic. Also, later in the book, he define himself as gay which leads one to think at fifty Bobby Blake is still unsure of his sexual orientation. Beginning as a male dancer at mostly gay clubs, he move to Los Angeles and begin starring in gay and, on occasion, bisexual pornography. On camera, Bobby Blake is a aggressive, sometimes violent, top. Privately, Blake say he is "more broader". Bobby Blake is dark skinned, tall with a body builders physique and a simmering sexuality. Deep voice with a southern accent; there is a Mandingo quality about Blake thus he becomes a star.

Blake description of the gay porn entertainment business is informative and titillating. His services as an "Escort" was requested by married closeted movie stars, down low professional athletes and the powerful and wealthy from all over the world. He made lots of money as an "Escort". He have worked with some of the most prominent people in gay pornography such as the drag queen pornography director Chi Chi Larue. He also assess his rivalries in the business such as Tyger Tyson.

What make this autobiography truly unique if not special, is that Bobby Blake address issues rarely discussed in these types of autobiographies. Bobby Blake discuss double standards towards many black gay performers in the gay adult industry. Most importantly, it is Bobby Blake critique of Christian Spirituality and the role it play in his life. Bobby Blake was a minister in the Methodist Church and currently is a church counselor. He encourages gay youth not to deny or abandon their spirituality because of the anti gay, hatred filled dogma spewed from organized religion. The only disappointments in the book are there are no photographs. Also, Bobby Blake is against gay marriage because most African Americans do not support gay marriage. Also, Blake say gay marriage is a "white gay agenda" and white Gay America want black Gay America to support their agendas but white Gay America is often unsupportive and exclusory, if not racist, towards black Gay America.

My Life In Porn: The Bobby Blake Story is controversial. It is also an entertaining , insightful and titillating. It is an often told tale about superficial success and redemption told from a unique perspective. I recommend reading My Life In Porn The Bobby Blake Story.

I enjoyed reading this book a lot. I did find myself re-reading many paragraphs to get the meaning correct--not that it was a confusing read, but instead I wanted to make sure I understood where the author was coming from. Mr. Blake took a big risk exposing himself like this, letting his feelings and vulnerabilities out for all to see.

Regarding the first few chapters, I really enjoyed reading about the many forces that came together to shape him. Everyone has a story to tell about how they came to be who they are. I personally always enjoy learning about what makes a person, any person, tick, but I found Mr. Blake's story much different from what I expected.

Throughout the book there were many sad moments, and while I didn't mind reading about them, I had to stop reading a few times because things like remembering different friends/family dropping like flies in the 80s, the pains of breakups, let-downs by friends, etc.

His thoughts on church and religion were particularly well written. It made me think: Can you imagine what would happen to so many of these churches if every gay and lesbian, bi and transgendered person just got up and left???? I have been for a good church over the years because of this, and am still looking for a good fit for me in NYC that is inclusive without me having to part of an exclusively gay congregation.

I found the porn industry chapters fascinating. These are the parts of the book I had to read twice, particularly the rivalry chapters (Bam, Tiger Tyson, etc.). At first I thought, "is this guy for real? he seems a bit full of himself" but after re-reading it, its not that at all. In business, regardless of the industry, you have to be smart, sometimes ruthless, and cunning. God gave us wisdom and cleverness to work our way through the minefields of life. This is exactly what Mr. Blake's done, and in spades! Well done.

It's great that he wrote about how he stood up for himself within the porn industry. Some people are naive enough to believe that in the porn industry, people are so liberal and open-minded that they are all passed the racist and ethnic hatred and bias found in other industries. His book is an important tool for the young ones looking to get into the industry, a reminder that things have changed, but not completely, and the best defense is a strong sense of self, confident and proud.

But the chapters about Flexx-Deon were very sad. I'm glad he wrote about the experience, and I hope people don't think its just him "throwing him under the bus" as they say. I don't know Mr. Flexx-Deon so I won't put his life o the spot, but speaking in broader terms it's true that so many gay guys don't plan for their future, particularly hispanic and black gays. They don't spend their money properly. They don't think about their needs 10 years from now, or even 10 weeks from now, living check-to-check. They don't think about what will happen if they lose their jobs ( guess they move back home or live with family or friends), or what happens if a family member becomes ill and is unable to care for him or herself. We live in such a self-absorbed world now. Perhaps with some luck some of these guys will read Mr. Blake's book, so they can see themselves from the outside in, and realize that they are not just doing damage to themselves, but end up leaving a long trail of collateral damage in the form of loves ones.

Of all parts of the book, I liked the ending the most. It shows Mr. Blake having come full circle--literally, since he's living in the house he spent many of his early years in.

Well done, Mr. Blake.

This book was really enjoyable and a good read. Since I'm from the same town as he I could relate to the places and mannerisms of stuff he talks about. The one thing that really disappointed me was that there is NOT 1 SINGLE PHOTOGRAPH in the book. I wanted to see pics of him as he grew up and such but there is nothing which is a shame it would help his fans really get to know the MAN and not the persona. I hope to meet him one day and get him to sign this. I do highly recommend this book.

Tim from Memphis

Well, I read the book in a day and was left feeling that I had discovered very little about the porn industry, and even less about Bobby's life. Sure there were plenty of facts, but rarely any emotional backup whatsoever. The writing was abysmal. There were certain facts and episodes of Bobby's life throughout the book that were so repetitive it fast became insulting to an adult reader - not unlike a children's book reminding you what happened two chapters previous. I really had to strain through the egocentric text to get any sort of insight into what his subject matter truly involved.

Of the story itself I felt that Bobby Blake leads the reader to believe that his many relationship failures were wholly due to his partner's inadequacies, taking very little ownership himself of the problems at hand. If he did in fact play a role in the breakdown of those relationships he did not come across as man enough to admit them. His faith, which he vehemently protects, seems as carefree as his violent episodes and hedonistic lifestyle. As a gay man myself I certainly am familiar with the latter, however in Bobby's life it seems as one turns off the other turns on. I completely respect his faith and was very impressed with the devotion to his church and to his god, however I was left scratching my head at the man who later in his story seems to take some sort of enjoyment of seriously abusing the 'white guys' on the set of a porn movie who had hurled racist abuse at himself and the 'black guys' which the director of the movie had perpetrated. Bobby Blake also continuously mentions how he didn't drink or do drugs, yet one has to wonder if his size isn't in some partiality due to steroids. There are many of these gaps which appear to be a bit too sensationalistic to be truthful.

I can understand that being a porn star of his stature must breed an over-inflated ego. I understand also that you aren't likely to succeed in the industry without one. However, after grudgingly enduring the repetitive self-accolades I still could not reach the true grit of his story. I felt they got in the way and only wished Bobby Blake could have put aside how wonderful he thought he was for just a few chapters in order to get some real insight.

When I finally put the book down I had to come to the conclusion that not everyone can be a best-selling author with their first book. Though I found it excruciating to read at times, Bobby Blake's book was, I believe, in his own words...and isn't that what it was meant to be? I looked at the cover of his book again after I had finished reading it and reread the title. It was the Bobby Blake story..but was it? Was it not in fact Bobby Blake writing Edgar Gaines' story? The star persona was writing the story of a man, when in truth it should have been the other way around.

I absolutely adore Bobby Blake's "work," and as a young gay brotha I truly thought that reading about his story would be interesting, thought provoking and well informative. I was immediately taken back by the poor sentence structure of the novel. It is very hard and somewhat insulting to read a book that reads at such a remedial level. While I was not expecting a scholar's voice to come through, I thought that book would atleast read as if someone who completed high school constructed the biographical sketch.

I found some of the events in the book to be unrealistic and sensationalized. I finished the book in one day, hoping that as I continued my reading that it would get better. Extremely dissapointed and do not recommend you to waste your money...even if it is ONLY $10 at the present.

He spent about 3 years making porn so you might suspect that the hundreds of pages would include lots of details about his "Life in Porn". Not so.
Lots about differences he sees between Methodists and Baptists, and odd jobs he did to make money growing up ... etc.
He repeats often his only regret was making his last movey without wearing a condom, which he now spends his time advising young black males to do, but often implies that off screen hi didn't use condoms either.
He implies that in his first movie it was about (enjoyable) sex on camera, but that as time went on it changed.
This is not well explained. At certain points (for example when he defecates on a man) he seems to be saying that Money is his idol and he will do just about anything for it.
In many other places it's clearly NOT about the money, it's about causing pain and humiliation. He likes to have sex that sends people to the hospital, and not consensually. He makes a passing remark that his seriously trying to hurt the other actor in the scene doesn't regret because surely the director will have clued them into his sadism. He enjoys smashing actors faces into concrete more than intercourse.
But then he sites over and over that he Didn't Do what the director expected or wanted. Dragging an actress across the set by her hair in one of his few Bi movies was clearly not expected by anyone there and like many of psychotic freak-outs was meant to scare the crap out of the other actors.
He even saysin his last movie that he felt like hurting one actor (a black man), even though the whole story line was about some black guys dominating white skin heads. The director or actors could hardly be prepared for that! He does do alot of sadistic things to the white guys of course, like beat one with a board till it breaks. After, one actor asks him if it was the hurting others that he really enjoyed and he says yes. It doesn't seem to occur to him that this appears to be a major, yet unexplored change in him while he was doing porn
He talks alot about the mental illness in his family, but doesn't connect it with his freakouts. He may have had "roid-rage" or self-loating about his homosexuality, but never gives any insight into his behavior making movies. He breaks up alot of relationships and blames the other guys even though he is a total control freak. He "punishes" partners who drink alcohol, but spends years and years picking up guys in bars. Surely SOME of them drank. Any insight to that? No!
The book is a mess with more questions generated than answered.
Pretty crappy overall.

"My Life in Porn" reads like a great American novel. It's gives in great detail the rise of the most popular black gay porn star in our lifetime. However, this book goes a lot deeper than just porn. Bobby open's up his heart and shows his inner soul. Mainstream fans will love this book as well, sure some of them will be turned off once the realize who Mr. Blake is, but if they give this book a chance they will recognize its greatness.

I take authors seriously, and as a reader of books I expect authors to take me seriously, as well. When I invest time and money to read a book I expect the characters to either be likeable heroes- or hated/despised villains. And Blake paints a pair of portraits of the two people he is, in neither way. He's too unlikeable- impossible to admire- to be looked on as a hero... and too lacking in commitment to complete the hard work it would take to be a decent villain.

At least the man seems semi-honest... Although he tries time and again to describe his flaws and poor choices of behavior as smart and honorable... but this is likely due simply to some sort of inner bend toward serial mis-aim.

I found it alarming that he admitted to such a psychotic tendency towards mean violence. In the book he admits to being a problem employee by making forceful demands, placing his hands around a boss's neck in a strangle-hold, a predisposition toward fighting, and being so angry at a fellow-actor that he purposefully injured him internally so badly during the act, that he needed medical attention afterwards. These criminal activities would land someone in jail in the real world. What's to admire about that? And what's more- Blake tells these stories posturing as a man who completed these thug activities with some sort of honorable mission in mind.

I also found it disturbing and ironic that a black gay man could hold the personal views he does about the chubby brothers in our little subculture. Don't get me wrong- I don't think Blake is the only person who holds negative views about plus-sized folks. But belonging to two different groups that have been ravaged by misrepresentations and stereotypes throughout our history, you'd think the dude woulda learned enough life-lessons by now to not make the type of derogatory statements he does. Especially since among his "fan base" I'm sure there are likely a number of such plus-sized men, who he appears to not mind insulting/offending. Putting myself in the place of these chubby guys- I'm not sure what would hurt more- being characterized in such a demeaning way by Bobby Blake the sexual-stunt-actor, or Bobby Blake the pastor. Either way- it's nothing but unnecessary and disappointing- honest or not. I'd have preferred more grace and class outta the guy.

This book will be a suitable read for some. But if you look for people to admire- stories to build-up, enforce good, and inspire, you really must look elsewhere. What's written on these pages would have been good stuff for a personal diary- but it's awful stuff to have been shared by someone whose success is based so directly on public perception. Unfortunate is the best single word I can come up with to describe the time I spent reading this book- a few hours of time I will never get back.

Bobby kind of confuses me. He seems contrary to what the Christian faith really says. He says he led the life that he was supposed to live more or less with God's blessing. I can't quibble with that exactly, as, "only God can judge". However, the things he did and the way he acted at times were completely unChristian in my eyes. Claiming to be a good Christian, he acted hostile, mean, ugly, physically abusive, etc. He didn't seem to act any different than any other person in many instances. Swearing, multiple partners, on and on - I just don't know how he justifies himself.

Other than that, it was a very interesting story. He likes to think that he was a really big star, but let's face it, porn has a very limited audience and no matter how good you try to be or how ethical you try to act, it just about getting your rocks off. Exhibitionism at it's heighth. He just acted as if people threw their coats down in a puddle so he could walk over it. That life is not quite as impressive as he would want us to believe, in my opinion.

Bobby Blake is a very interesting person, and that is revealed in his memoir. Although the memoir is written with British writer John R. Gordon, the voice of Blake is clearly in this work. Despite the stereotyping of porn stars, Blake is very intelligent, insightful and political. After hearing him in interviews, it is obvious that the man is quite articulate. This work is a candid look at his private life as well as his career in porn, and he makes it clear that working in porn was a career, and not the beginning and end of his personality. Blake allows the reader to see the person, or alter ego, of the porn persona, and one will find that interesting, controversial and enlightening. Blake provides a very insightful look at the porn industry, and this is very welcomed from a black person's point-of-view. Much of the literature about pornography is about white porn stars, written from a white point-of-view, which rarely handles any discussion of race. In addition, Blake explains his decisions made personally and professionally. I respect that he doesn't name individuals (unless they are already well known in the porn industry, for instance) because the work is about his life, not theirs. If there is a major message in this memoir, it is that by stereotyping people, and putting them in boxes, you don't realize the full spectrum of those various personalities. He is still a young man, and one might wonder if he decided to write this work too soon. Even so, the work is well timed, and include a wealth of information.