Linda Lovelace-Out of Bondage

I'm an ex-sex worker. I now belong to Sex Workers Anonymous. I've lived this industry and I know the crowd Linda spoke about in her books. She had the courage to write about what wasn't just her experiences - but also many of ours experiences - but we go off into hiding and fear once we leave rather then speak out like she did knowing what it could and did cost her. I watched while people who knew nothing of this industry attacked her for speaking out about this industry doing what men do - always blame the woman/victim. Speaking out about what really goes on in this world affected her health deeply from the stress and contributed to her early death I'm sure. She's not the only one who had lasting health problems to deal with after having left the sex industry though no fault of her own. In America - a man can go to jail for raping his wife - but not for raping a sex worker. What people don't realize is that many of these men, women and children are living out Linda's story - they can't get out without fear of themselves being killed or their family members. I knew a pimp once who would hold a woman's child hostage until she came back each night with "his" money. One night she got arrested and wasn't able to come home on time. The pimp cut off the left arm of this six year old girl. Anyone who thinks you can't be held in this business against your will - obviously hasn't been there and should shut up about something they know nothing about. I consider Linda a martyr for taking all the guff she took to tell our stories and to try to enlighten people about what goes on every day - but we don't have the guts to tell about our stories ourselves. Anyone who wants to know what this industry can really be like - should read her stories. If all she wanted was to keep making money and just made this up to sell books - she would have done what Xavier Hollendar or Norma Jean or Heidi Fleiss - did. Sell a hell of a lot more books feeding into the american myths about this business - without any of the flack she took for telling the truth. The woman had the courage of a lion - not only to survive what she did - and to live to tell about it - but also to tell about it in the hopes that us "unknowns" are more believed when we try to tell our stories and try to get help to get out.

My rating is actually a combined rating for both books: I read both "Out of Bondage" and "Ordeal" many years ago and I was appalled at what happened to the former Linda Boreman. I found both books to be brutally disturbing and I came to believe her story. Maybe the descriptions of the people, their behavior and the abuse in both books were so horrible, I just wanted to believe in her. Or maybe I could not believe that someone who had just made the most successful porn film (and, allegedly, the most financially successful film of any kind) would walk away from all that money if they were really doing it of their own free will. I heard Linda Marciano speak at my college when I was a Senior and, while I did not agree with the views of the group she had become associated with, I found her to be believable. Ultimately, everyone will have to read these books and decide for themselves.

After reading "Ordeal" by Linda, I had to check out "Out of Bondage," and while it was, in many respects, a flashback to her first book, it did speak to the events which took place prior to Ordeal being written, as well as after Ordeal and after Deep Throat. Unlike a previous reviewer who thought she was "full of it," I heartily disagree, and maintain that she has always taken full and complete responsibility for her actions. What she went through was completely reprehensible, and for any man to say that it was a "female problem,"...well, he has the problem instead. The scene in Out of Bondage where the judge allows Deep Throat to be viewed in the courtroom was appalling, and not only should he be disbarred, but all the ones who were responsible for Deep Throat should be investigated, if not imprisoned. Chuck Traynor, for example, with the mistreatment, torture, and rape of Linda should be incarcerated for a long time. Not to mention that Linda said his idol was Charlie Manson. That's not surprising. But in any event, the book is totally enthralling, and that she takes up with the feminists is another thing, but they were supportive of her, as were the DA's who interviewed her. They believed her. And as far as her admission that she found God...well, she admits that she is not a born-again Christian, something I found to be disappointing,... But she states that when she left Traynor and remarried, she felt like she was born again, and she believes in God. I believe there is still hope for her. The book is highly recommended, but read it to learn of the horrors of what she went through, and what people still think when they hear the name Linda Lovelace.

This book was written in a straight forward no holds bars style that I can appreciate considering the scenes described in the book. My parents never sheltered me from much and I would recommend letting teen age girls with dreams of Hollywood to read this gritty view of the porn world. True, it is hard to believe that one man could control someone so completely. It is even harder to think that her family never intervened. I really did not read much about drugs. So why does Lovelace sound so much like a victim in this story? Because no matter how you say, she was an adult, she should have known better, etc. unfortunately, she was and she didn't. She gives God the glory in seeing that she is alive today. After reading this book, you know why I am with her on that one. If you have a daughter, pray she does not meet a man who treats her the way this man did in the book.

Marchiano ties up loose ends to Ordeal in this excellent followup. I read Ordeal in one day, then checked this out and read it in six hours. Please read these books before you decide to rent Deep Throat. You will never look at porn the same way again, maybe you will not look at it at all.