Pornoland [Hardcover]

Martin Amis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 31, 2004

Pornoland is a strange parallel world where pornographic films are churned out on a daily basis. Photographs by de Luigi and text by Martin Armis are your guides through this land, filled with actors capable of extraordinary performances (although not the kind that win Oscars) and directors who make an entire film in just one day.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'Porno people have changed. In the yard of the house on Dolorosa Drive, during a break in filming, Chloe, Artie and Lola stood there naked, discussing a new rollercoaster ride called Desperado. They were all smoking. I came across many a good little smoker in pornoland. What with the risks they run already, who cares about smoking? Then it was butts out and back to work. And I do mean work. Porno is a proletarian form. And porno people are a hard-grafting, ill-paid fraternity who, by and large, look out for each other and help each other through. They pay their rent with the death of feelings' - from the Introduction by Martin Amis"

About the Author

Martin Amis is one of the most critically acclaimed writers of our times. Among his many novels are Yellow Dog, which had pornography as one of its central themes, The Rachel Papers, Money and London Fields. Stefano de Luigi's photographs have been exhibited widely over the course of his twenty-year career. In 1999 he won the 'Arts Stories' category in the World Press Photo Awards.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (May 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500542880
• ISBN-13: 978-0500542880
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,810,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Adventure Book!, October 30, 2004

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pornoland (Paperback)

PORNOLAND is not what you would imagine from the title: this is not a down-and-dirty expose of the seamy exploitation of pornography. This book is a running commentary on the world of making Porn movies, an industry that has flourished since the first movie camera was made (and indeed, in etchings and drawings that date back centuries in time!). Photographer Stefano de Luigi has traveled to Los Angeles, Milan, Budapest, Prague, Tokyo, and Dortmund and captured the process involved of making low budget, negligibly scripted, one-movie-per-day pornography flicks: his photographs are more about color and atmosphere on set than they are about the actors at work. The impact of this voyeuristic journey is made more solid by the accompanying writings of Martin Amis (whose novels such as the current 'Yellow Dog' continue to be best sellers).

There are no moments of revelation and certainly no judgments made. Instead this is one of those photography books that is satisfied to inform without editorial comment. And the adventures described are worth the ride! Grady Harp, October 2004

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pornoland, September 8, 2005

By 

A. Braga "Andrea Braga" (Porto Alegre, Brazil) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pornoland (Paperback)

The photos are beautiful and aproach the subject - pornography industry - with a sensible touch, as well as display this universe on a rather unusual way. The images are at the same time poetical and documental ( which means that we can figure out real people behind porn icons). The presentation text, by Martin Amis, whom I think, do not need a formal presentation since he is one of the best known contemporary british writers, also focuses the people and their motivations beyond the characters they play in the media / product they sell.Photographer de Luigi has a very accurate aesthetic sense as much as is good enough to catch his subject avoiding deja vu, posing and vulgarity.