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Wonder Bread and Ecstasy: The Life and Death of Joey Stefano

Wonder Bread and Ecstasy: The Life and Death of Joey Stefano

List Price: $12.95
Your Price: $9.71
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not a Biography You'll See on A&E
Review: The reason I got this book was that it was a biography of a performer who's movies I was once thrilled to watch. Joey Stafano wasn't particularly intelligent but he loved sex and, from this Isherwood biography, wanted to be a porn star from a very early age.

Isherwood has a very fluent and visual writing style that makes for easy reading, but there really isn't much to read about. As one reviewer pointed out the author makes it a point to tell the audience that Stefano was private and didn't discuss his youth, so instead of investigating and researching and interviewing those who were a part of his pre-L.A. history, he tells us stories from those Stefano had told stories to. So, to fill in the pages we get miniature biographies of Chi Chi LaRue and various roommates and porn stars and drag queens who were, in some way of another, connected to Stefano.

So, three stars...because Isherwood is a very talented writer, but not talented enough to overcome a thin story.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A bland read but a nice cover pic.
Review: The Stefano story is sad but fascinating one. The problem here is bland writing, an obsessive dwelling on the boring "tragically doomed" aspect of porno, and completely unsubstantiated research.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Compelling and engrossing
Review: This book is extremely well written. Isherwood -- a gifted biographer -- effectively captures sleazy underbelly of the porn industry and the utter hopelessness of the too-short life that was Joey Stefano's. A must-read for those interested in negative glamour.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Wonder bread and Bulls#@t!
Review: This is a book that could have been a more interesting read had it been written by someone who wasn't so obviously enamored of his subject. Joey Stefano was a porn star of the first degree and lived his life in that fashion. Thats all well and good but he was a rude and obnoxious user who snorted and shot up any money he made. He was weak and was taken advantage of but after reading this book Stefano was the master manipulator! I cant muster up much sympathy for someone who sells their body and the author almost has you beleiving that what Joey was doing was noble. Forget college and working hard, if you are halfway goodlooking and well endowed you can make a living like this and never work a real job again! I have never seen a more disgusting lifestyle and world depicted as an almost "wonderland". As a self respecting gay man I hope my world NEVER comes anywhere near this and if it does I hope that Isherwood is there to write about it! The book isn't a total loss, for entertainment value it isn't too bad. I just can't get past the fact that this book idolizes such a pathetic loser.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A tragic porn star?? Who would have thought?!
Review: This is a pretty saucy read overall, but also a little silly in that the author was trying to convey a sense of surprise that Stefano's life turned out to be such a big disaster. I mean, what would you expect? He was a porn star, drug addicted prostitute. That does not lend itself to a bed of roses. Not to slam the actual Nick Iacona fellow, I know it was horribly tough road for him, though he did get to get a few kicks along the way.

I think the book best serves as a true cautionary tale for anyone who might actually consider making a porno film on a lark or thinking about a harmless and quick stint in the adult film industry. This book makes it appear as though you had best have your last will and testament notarized before the cameras start rolling.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: LITTLE BOY BLUE
Review: UNFORTUNATELY FOR JOEY STEFANO,THOSE WHO WOULD PROFIT FROM HIS ILL GAINED FAME, NEVER SEEMED TO APPRECIATE THE PERSON BEHIND THE PERSONA, SO IT GOES WITH THIS NOVEL. THINLY PIECED TOGETHER THROUGH THE MAUDLIN REMINESCENCES OF A FEW OF HIS CLOSEST FRIENDS, THIS ACCOUNT SEEMS TO AMBLE ABOUT AS SENSELESSLY AS THE MAN ON WHOM IT IS BASED. SURELY SOMEWHERE BENEATH HIS WONDERFULLY TANNED SKIN LIES A SOUL WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED..THIS NOVEL SEEMS TO BE WRITTEN OVER SUNDAY BRUNCH. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO INSIGHT INTO HIS PAST, AS IF HE DIDN'T EXIST IN ANY FORM BEFORE BECOMING A PORN STAR. THERE IS NO HISTORY BEYOND THE DRUG AND SEX LIFE OF NICK IACONA.IT SEEMS VERY SAD THAT THE INDUSTRY THAT WOULD LAUD AWARDS UPON HIM, WOULD DISMISS HIM AS PURELY AN IMAGE ON A SCREEN AND NOTHING MORE.THROUGHOUT HIS ENTIRE LIFE, THERE WAS NOT A SINGLE PERSON WHO COULD SHED SOME DEPTH TO THE MAN WHO WOULD PROVIDE HOURS OF ENJOYMENT FOR SO MANY? THE DUTY OF A BIOGRAPHICAL AUTHOR IS TO GO BEYOND WHAT IS KNOWN AND TO UNCOVER THE UNKNOWABLE. THIS BOOK JUST DOESN'T DO THAT. TILL THEN I SUGGEST JUST WATCHING HIS MOVIES AND BEING CONTENT IN YOUR IGNORANCE.


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