Skinflicks [Paperback]

David Jennings (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 14, 2000

...the best and most realistic depiction of the modern world of pornography written in book form to date...' says Adult Video News publisher Paul Fishbein. The film Boogie Nights, the portrayal of the 1970's pornography business, hinted at an approaching revolution in the business. David Jennings, a UCLA Film and Television Department graduate, entered the industry as a 'shooter', to research and write a book about his experiences. He began at the time the x-rated video revolution erupted. That revolution transformed the audience from 'raincoats' in sleazy movie houses to mainstream Americans who accepted and enjoyed quality films in their living rooms and bedrooms. Jennings founded the first company to shoot adult films DIRECTLY onto videotape. This daring, tell-all insider story exposes all the secrets. Social, historical and political factors play a huge role in the machinations of the arcane trade. The threats to the industry from within and without include: the U.S. Government sponsored 'War on Porn and its excesses', underaged actresses and 'porno stage mothers', anti-smut crusaders and porn-addicted vice cops. Twelve years as a writer, researcher, director, producer, distributor, and manufacturer of adult videos qualify the author to completely answer the questions most often asked by friend and foe of erotic media alike: 'What are these porno stars really like? What kind of person can make such a public display of something that is so private? What is really happening behind the scenes? (The camera often lies.) Skinflicks is a book about pornography, not a pornographic book. The author's writing and research skills are of such high quality that they give a significant range and scope to the material. To honestly depict what goes on, part of the content is necessarily graphic. ALL OF IT IS TRUE. Illustrated with over 3 dozen photographs.www.skinflicksbook.com

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

After graduating from UCLA Film School in 1970, David Jennings shot movies for the first theatrical exhibitor of hardcore pornography in America. Then he spent four years in Michigan, making industrial and commercial films for clients as diverse as Magnavox, the State of Michigan and the Christian Reformed Church. Many of the films he wrote and directed have won awards. Jennings re-entered the porn business in 1977 to research and write about it. As head of film and video for an allegedly Mob-controlled company, he helped make its VCX subsidiary the early leader in adult video. Jennings left VCX in 1979 to pioneer the first X-rated features shot directly on videotape. His company, Superior Video, Inc., was a leading video manufacturer of the 1980's. After selling Superior Video, Jennings spent three years transcribing 342 audio cassettes-his journal of twelve years in the business-before writing Skinflicks.

Product Details

• Paperback: 452 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (July 14, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158721184X
• ISBN-13: 978-1587211843
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,313,534 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Historically boring, June 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Skinflicks (Paperback)

For such an interesting subject, Mr. David Jennings makes it seem sooooo boring. Researching the sex industry, the book is helpful in establishing a historical time line. I found myself reading though the text thinking, "There are other things I could be doing." I was not drawn in at all.
I will rate it moderately because I received this book along with another book on the same subject that I found almost addictive. Where I could put down Mr. Jennings book, I could not put down the other. Although I finished reading both books yesterday, I have not thought about Skinflicks on an intellectual level.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read but in another way, October 7, 2009

By 

Mikhail Goloubev "mick_rus" (Moscow, Russia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Skinflicks (Paperback)

Well, let me start from the fact that I'm not an American citizen, I live in Russia. With the wide spread of the Internet acquiring classic movies became an easy thing to do if you really wish to. After getting some of them in AVI form I started purchasing official DVDs, discovered favorite actors and actresses (for instance, Jerry Butler, John Leslie, Ron Jeremy, one and only Lisa DeLeeuw, Christy Canyon, Desiree Cousteau) - and finally found out that some of those people came around to write memoirs about their life. For starters, to me adult videos of the Golden Age are not just sex films as they are - women there look natural (no silicone queens), movies have interesting plots, and actors don't stare into the camera every 5 seconds. So here started the reading. Some books turned out to be informative, some extremely boring dealing with unsolved parental/personal issues. But this particular book stands out to me. The narration actually is so boring that I could have put it down after 10 pages - BUT I read this book to the very end for educational issues. First, there's still a bit of information on women from the glory days of the 70ies and 80ies Golden Age of Porn - here finally I found the proof that Lisa DeLeeuw never died of AIDS or drugs and probably hid herself well enough like infamous Bambi Woods ("Debbie Does Dallas") did years before. Second - and most important - for a non-American English-learning person the book is great as it is full of so-called 'American slang', i.e. idiomatic expressions, which are very helpful for my personal wide knowledge of specific stylized English. Still the book content itself is mostly unworthy from the historical point of view.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great read, March 14, 2007

By 

J. Mclemore (Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Skinflicks (Paperback)

I do not understand why this book is not being given more 5 star reviews. I was captivated from the first page finally a book about the x industry from someone who is not an actor or actress bitching about how terrible it is to be a porn star. Mr. Jennings lived it all and tells it like it is.I highlu recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the x rated industry.