XXX-Communicated: A Rebel Without A Shul [Paperback]

Luke Ford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 2004

When Luke Ford, the youngest son of a heretical Seventh Day Adventist theologian, converted to Judaism in 1992, he burned his pornography collection, but his curiosity about the forbidden did not disappear in the flames. In the fall of 1995, Ford began investigating the San Fernando Valley's hardcore industry. On his website www.lukeford.com, he broke stories about HIV-infection, Mafia control, and pay-for-placement porn journalism.

As his name began showing up in the newspapers and his face on television, Ford received an ultimatum from his rabbi--give up investigating porn or give up the synagogue.

XXX-Communicated: A Rebel Without a Shul explores the tensions between freedom and friends, faith and reason, reality and religion.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Luke Ford published his first book in 1999: A History of X: 100 Years of Sex in Film. He's appeared on Entertainment Tonight and 60 Minutes. He operates www.lukeford.net.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (June 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595318940
• ISBN-13: 978-0595318940
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,333,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in Kurri Kurri, Australia, on May 28, 1966. I moved to California's Napa Valley in May 1977. I have lived in Los Angeles since March 1994.

Here are my books:

* A History of X: 100 Years of Sex in Film (1999)
* XXX-Communicated: A Rebel Without A Shul (2004)
* The Producers: Profiles in Frustration (2004)
* Yesterday's News Tomorrow: Inside American Jewish Journalism (2004)
* Lives on the Edge: Profiles in Sex, Love & Death (2006)

I write a bunch of blogs, including Lukeford.net. You can find me at Facebook.com/lukecford

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting - not what you think it might be, July 8, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: XXX-Communicated: A Rebel Without A Shul (Hardcover)

This is not a lurid tale about the porn industry, which really is more of the backdrop here. It's an honest, candid story of a man facing many issues of faith that are ignored by most people today. Mr. Ford presents his story honestly and candidly. My only fault with the book is that the writer of autobiography should involve the reader more; here, however, Mr. Ford writes about himself with considerable detachment, so we don't get a sense of what he was feeling or thinking at some pivotal moments. He often uses dry reportage about private moments when a more personal recollection seemed necessary. I look forward to more of Mr. Ford's writing.

14 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Rebel Without A Clue, July 15, 2004

By 

Nick Roven (Santa Monica, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: XXX-Communicated: A Rebel Without A Shul (Paperback)

So, Mr. Ford is ousted from one temple after another for his refusal to give up his porn gossip website. As it should be. Ford wants to be an Orthodox Jew (probably because in the religion he finds reinforcement for his misogyny and bigotry)and the religious code he embraces forbids this. Where's the drama in that? It's not as if Ford is challenging the religious code. He simply wants to have it both ways, like a petulant child.

If Ford were half the writer/journalist he thinks he is he could easily have turned his back on porn gossip and started writing on any number of subjects and the rabbis would have smiled upon him. But he found a niche for his monosyllabic style of writing on the Internet, where the demand for stylized, intelligent writing is very low indeed.

This is the story of a stubborn, untalented, vainglorious man and it's a self-published book to boot. Doesn't that say it all?