Lisa Vandever
Approaching the subject as an enthusiast herself, Lynsey G. has an unfailing sense of what about porn makes us hot . . . even, or sometimes especially, when we think that it shouldn’t.Watching Pornis an engaging romp behind-the-scenes with a ribald guide, exploring the many ways porn reflects and shapes our desires, and giving a longing look at what it could be in the future.”
Ms. Naughty
Lynsey offers a deeply personal and highly readable perspective of a porn fan who is critical of the genre, mixed with the insights of an industry insider.She documents and dissects the issues facing today’s porn industry from a sex positive perspective, determined to look at all aspects of a complicated business without perpetuating stigma or the usual anti-porn hysteria. She contrasts her experiences of ‘mainstream’ US pornography with the growth of the feminist/ethical porn industry and does a superb job of examining the diverse philosophies of fucking within this business.Watching Pornis a much needed view of the diversity of pornography today.”
May Ling Su
Watching Pornis a feminist's trip down the rabbit hole through a rapidly changing, surreal wonderland. Get your girlfriends together and discuss this book over a bottle of wine.”
Jiz Lee
Easily the most charmingly informative book on the porn industry, Watching Pornfills a unique literary gap in the Porn Studies canon.Through it, she tackles some of the current industry discussions: What is feminist porn? What are ethical considerations on set? Why is there a debate about condoms? This is a book I can refer to all the journalists and students seeking to understand this elusive and oft misunderstood film genre.”
Tina Horn
Lynsey
G. is an intrepid explorer, boldly going where few reporters have gone with such a critical eye: deep inside the real world of commercial sex. She finds the charm in the obscene, the humor in the lurid, and makes you wonder why you were ever scared of porn in the first place.
David Ley
A young, vivacious, sexually-repressed feminist gets a job watching porn. Hijinks ensue . . . Lynsey G.'s wry, informed and nonjudgmental writing about pornography, and the adult industry is a breath of fresh air, cleverly portrayed by a writer who once generated euphemisms for pneumatic breasts. Her book deals equally and fairly with the erotic, the morally challenging, and the business sides of the adult film market, inviting readers along on her adventures through slippery movies, sexy parties and society's conflicted relationship with sex on camera. Along the way, Lynsey takes a "rock hard" sledgehammer to most misinformed assumptions and biases against one of humanity's oldest art forms—pornography.Watching Pornis a valuable and insightfulcontribution to our ongoing dialogue about the role that porn holds in society today, and what role we believe it should hold, in a responsible and ethical formulation of modern sexuality.”
ForeWord Reviews
Enticing . . . Lynsey G. deconstructs the medium and its global fanfare, exploring how people enjoy, and often simultaneously deny, smut. Hers is a project laden with humor, incisive insights, and titillating, winking bawdiness. . . . [A] provocative feminist commentary.
Playboy
While written as a memoir,Watching Pornalso operates on another level as cultural analysis and explores how challenging it can be for women to function in the world’s most provocative, triggering and debated industry—and one that has historically marginalized them.”
Kim Hedges - BUST
Watching Pornis ahumorous, thought-provoking account of five prolific years in Lynsey's porn journalism career . . . [and] a kaleidoscope of broader themes: the impact the Internet has had on the industry; the paradoxical divide between gay and straight porn; and the revolutionary genres of queer and feminist porn.”
Cindy Gallop
All of you . . . buy Lynsey’s book and then read it—very publicly! On the subway! Anywhere! So the word ‘porn’ gets out there and people are a lot more comfortable with it!
Meghan Daum - The New York Times Book Review
G. positions her book in part as cultural analysis of pornography's complicated but inextricable relationship to social movements like feminist and queer visibility . . . Marvelous.
Kirkus Reviews
2017-04-04
An accidental porn journalist reflects on her role mining the sex and politics of the adult film industry.In her post-collegiate years, G. found herself writing about porn by necessity: she desperately needed a job to stabilize her life in Manhattan. The self-described "country girl with a flair for the dramatic" was raised conservatively on a farm where educative books about sex were hidden away. A traumatic sexual assault compounded the author's repression and tainted her view of bodily pleasure. When confronted with work on an adult magazine, G. briskly became accustomed to life as a paid porn journalist. What had formerly been her "greatest source of shame and satisfaction" had now become her livelihood. Co-founding Whack! magazine and a column as a "pervy outlier" at McSweeney's in 2009 solidified her resolve to pursue writing as a career. Though definitely not for the sex-shy, the narrative has a breezy, conversational flow even when the author graphically discusses shock-value gonzo porn or the history of dildos. G. remains consistently affable, never flinty, despite moments of work-related exasperation such as her marked revulsion toward an overly forward Ron Jeremy at an industry expo. In addition to the more erotic personal experiences she shares while a media fixture on the adult industry circuit, G. also amassed a wealth of knowledge about how individualistically it functions, the misconceptions of those involved, and issues of racism, homophobia, and condom use. She also provides thought-provoking chapters on feminist porn and obscenity laws. As a writer with definitive feminist leanings, working in porn left G. internally conflicted as she asked herself, "could I really be a feminist and not only watch this type of sexual behavior—but profit on it?" Her answer, and the ways she reconciles this and other adverse aspects of her life, plays out through the remainder of a cleverly seductive, straightforward, unapologetically carnal chronicle of an unconventional working life. An intelligent, provocative, and indulgent insider's view of the contemporary porn industry.
