Rating: 8.5/10Hi there folks! Johnny D. here with another fabulous review for your reading and carnal pleasure!!!
This is the story of the greatest porn star of them all, the late great John Holmes in his own words. These were his memoirs that he wrote during the final 2 years of his life. At the end his widow, Laurie (Misty Dawn), writes the final chapter detailing his last days and clears up a few things about John that were writen by Hustler 2 weeks after he died. There is John's story of how he first got into the porn buisness back in 1965 when he and his female roommate agreed to appear in a stag film for $100 a piece! He talks about his very abusive childhood and his escape to California. John also proceeds to finally discuss what happened the night of the "Laurel Canyon" murders. He still never implicates anyone but this is as close as he ever came to finally giving the killers up. John then tells the story of how he met his second wife Misty, (Laurie) and his comeback. He also talks about his last gay film and the fact that it was done to pay off an old drug debt. He discusses the lengths he went to keep his return to cocaine from Laurie. Interestingly, it was Holmes himself who tried to make AIDS testing manditory for all actors in the industry before he was tested positive himself. He predicted that that would eventually happen anyway but almost all of the men at that time objected to this. He talked about his fears of getting AIDS and he even went as far as to say, "I really didn't care if I infected anyone I worked with but if Misty ever got it from me it would crush me." He got Misty out of the industry around this time. This story tells the whole story as only the undisputed king could tell it!
I found this to be a truly gripping story of someone who appeared to be an all around good guy who made some mistakes that hurt him a lot. He let just about everything out in no holds barred fashon. He was even about a decade ahead of his time when it came to AIDS. He forsaw just about everything that has come to pass when dealing with this disease and how the business would change because of it. Although video damn near killed the industry, John seemed to really like the video age despite the fact that it badly reduced his income. I was mostly impressed with the one thing that John was never really known for, and that was honesty. He was more honest than at any time in his life and this was the backbone of this book. If he lied through his teeth again I would have known it and it would have sucked.
The only thing that disappointed me with this book was the fact that it was only 6 chapters and the fact that the first 15 years of John's porn career were not included in the book. I would really liked to have learned a little more about the making of the Johnny Wadd movies that made him famous. I would have also liked to have learned a little more about his time as a male prostitute for the rich and famous. These however are little things because this books still delivers big time. If you are a BIG Holmes fan like I am then this book is a must! I give it an 8 1/2 out of 10! - Johnny D