ORDEAL: An Autobiography

by Linda with Mike McGrady Lovelace ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 12, 1980

A turnoff on the human tribe--if porn star Linda Lovelace's accusations are to be believed. Not only was she the de facto prisoner of her sado-masochistic manager/forced-husband, Chuck Traynor, but everybody from doctors to promoters to Sammy Davis, Jr., wanted a piece of her action. And they got it, too: with severe beatings, threats, and a gun to her head, Chuck kept Linda terrified enough to mount perversion on perversion--from the first ""trick"" with five businessmen in a Holiday Inn, to lesbian porn stills, to dog movies (""I knew they weren't thinking about Rin Tin Tin""), to her eventual ""meteoric"" rise in the multimillion-grosser Deep Throat. From there it was on to an ill-fated bid for ""respectability"" in Hollywood--until after three failed escape attempts, notoriety bought Linda enough leeway to make a successful dash for freedom. Now the once-""naive"" victim of a maniac's machinations is remarried and living (with their three-year-old son) on Long Island; she hopes the book will pay her way off welfare. It's not pretty reading, unless variations on a dildo are your thing; and the porn subculture is ugly at best. Some readers may also be incredulous at Linda's inability to execute a getaway over a period of two years. But then she doesn't seem to be very bright or very strong, which may be why Traynor picked her in the first place. Sad and seamy.

Pub Date: Feb. 12, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Citadel

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1980

Categories: NONFICTION