Who cares about life in the backwoods
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Too much of this book is spent on his early life in Middle-America. An ordinary, nay tedious life. This leads to the drag trade (mildly interesting) and ends with the porn industry. What I want from biography is to learn something that I did not know and wanted to know or some surprise and scandal. There is none of this - you would think that he had worked in a music store at the till all his life. There are no revelations - the small scandals are about people who are not revealed. There is a long chapter on the details of porn film making and another on films (of his own) that he has loved. I expected details about who did what to who and why; how X stormed out and Y refused to work with A because of B. I also wanted to know how they manage to do ... (well you know). There were a few disclosures but too few, unidentified and mild. No one will be refusing to talk to ChiChi after reading this. If you are in love with ChiChi then this book is for you. If you want to know about the porn industry with a good dish of dirt and a side salad of scandal save your money and buy a porn video instead. I wish I had.
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Director and diva charms with wit and humility
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This is a fun biography which makes a good contrast to Ecstasy and Wonderbread, the biography of Joey Stefano that portrays a very definite downside to the gay porn industry. Although LaRue does discuss the pain of Joey Stefano's addiction and death, she focuses more on her early life, her drag achievements, and her quick rise to the director's chair in the pornographic film industry, Unlike many divas, she doesn't appear egotistical or mean-spirited, and she freely gives credit to her many friends and even her enemies for their ideas and support. Furthermore, she satisfies one's curiousity about life in the porn industry and she's full of tips about making a film or putting on make-up. She discusses many the porn stars she's directed, and she details several of her favorite films. She also discusses enough of her famous drag queen acquaintances to rival the book, The Drag Queens of New York. Making It Big is well-written (no, I don't suppose it compares with War and Peace, but still...) and fun.
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