Traci Lords: Underneath It All

The moving, gripping, and tell–all autobiography of Traci Elizabeth Lords, a former child porn queen, electronica maven, and cult movie and TV star.

At 14, Nora Kuzma ran away from home and ended up on the dirty streets of Hollywood. She fell in with a fast crowd, and her dreams of modelling soon landed her a spectacular centrefold in Penthouse magazine, where at 15 she became internationally known as 'Traci Lords'. From there she appeared in numerous adult films and magazines, denying her past and battling a deep addiction to cocaine and men. Three years later she got out. This is her memoir – a tale of loss, redemption, and ultimate survival as Traci Elizabeth Lords takes you into her secretive past, faces her demons, and shares her extraordinary journey of personal growth.

Snippets of Traci's story have been told here and there, but this book will set the record straight. What happened to her as a child to make her pursue a porn career? Why was she blamed as the person who brought down porn in the late 1980s? How many sex movies did she really star in? Why did she quit? There's more misinformation floating around about Traci Lords than almost anyone. This book sets the record straight.

Her scandalous tenure in the skin trade--undeniably the sole basis for her infamy and subsequent legitimate career--is glossed over here in a few score pages, with more attention paid to the heavy-metal musicians that dotted her life than the motivations and machinations of the Feds who literally changed her life; Slash's snake gets more ink here than Attorney General Ed Meese. Quick to ladle generous sympathy on her own plight, she heaps little but scorn upon those from the seedy past of her porn-star alter-ego, yet seems to have had few qualms about formally adopting that moniker as her legal name. --Jerry McCulley

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

. . .and, after almost 300 pages, I still know little about her, 2008-07-18
I think--if I met Traci Lords--I would like and admire her.. Unfortunately, I don't get to meet her in her autobiography. Her story should be compelling (but told by herself, isn't); she deserves credit for her talent, her guts, her success (but not for this book). It was almost halfway through the book before I heard her memorable, honest, human voice: "What would my tombstone say? Here lies a cocksucker?" And then that voice went away.

I wasn't obsessed with knowing every detail of every adult film she starred in as an underage teen. (Although I was hoping for an occassional rise.) I became more obsessed--and more disappointed when it was left unexplored--to learn how she could overcome addiction, how she could steel herself to a unhappy past which NO ONE would allow her to forget, how her important therapy worked, how success could seed in her life, how important relationships would continue to fail. . .I wanted to know something about the insides of this valiant, recovered woman. Instead, I learned she had a white cat and an expensive Japanese dinner table. . .

Try again, Ms. Lord; your story remains untold.


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Traci Lords is HOT!!, 2008-05-11
I fall into the John Waters movie category of a Traci Lords fan. I had heard about her pornographic past but never paid attention to her until I heard she was in a John Waters film. I have followed Mr Waters' career from the early days. Although pregnant with many a cliche, her story is quite a fascinating one. I don't think that some of the other reviewers have actually read the book when they accuse her of not admitting that she liked & chose to do the porno films. She admitted that she was acting out by being a 'sexual terrorist' which exorcised her personal demons. She does not portray herself as a victim. It is very clear that she voluntarily pursued her various projects. Reading the book is very soothing and relaxing, like listening to a good friend. I found the part about her music fascinating (since I am a musician as well and listen to her CD 1000 Fires.) I bought both the hardback version and the paperback version when I found out it had a new chapter & new photos. This is a book I am proud to have in my collection & would really love to meet her someday. She seems like a really magical person.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Honest and Cautionary, 2008-04-04
I give this book 3 stars because Jenna Jameson's book is MUCH better.

While Traci advises readers NOT to enter the porn industry, Jenna advises that it is ok for some people, but to do some serious thinking and soul searching before taking the plunge (no pun intended).

If you want to know why women do porn, read this book. Almost all of them have low self esteem and were sexually assaulted at a young age. Very rarely have I heard of female porn stars entering the business because they have children to feed or need money for medical bills, etc.

If you can only purchase one book, purchase Jenna's and borrow Traci's from the library. Having said that, the book is not bad, it is just ordinary and compared to Jenna's, it doesn't read as well.


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Good read, 2008-02-18
I bought the hardcover in the bargain bin about 3 years ago. I bought it merely having known the name in porn circles. I figured it would be about the 'life of a porn star', as I just assumed that she was still in porn.

Obviously the book told a completely different story.

Ironically, as others have mentioned, it almost certainly was her abusive past in porn that enabled her future career.

I do disagree with those saying that her story either didn't tell it all or is just a selfish money making publication.

I think she has long since earned the right NOT to have people shaking fingers at her. Perhaps she simply wasn't comfortable exposing every detail of her earlier life.

How many of you would be brave enough to talk about an enduring, sexually abusive past? It's easy to say, "give us more", but she is the one who has to deal with fallout it from it.

I think she gave more than enough of the story to give us the idea that she wanted to; to show that she came from a very abusive, and manipulated past, and then she focused on her gradual escape from it.

A very good book unless you are so demanding of a reader that you can't let her tell the story the way she is comfortable with.


7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Lords of the Dance, 2007-03-05
Traci Lords became famous or infamous, it depends how you see her situation, after she and the adult film industry were caught with their pants down. Which's isn't a bad thing in porn unless your under 18 which Traci was for most of her triple X career. So 20 years later it's not surprising that Ms. Lords revisits that dark time in her life.

The first half of the book is compelling. In it she details her young life in Ohio working class towns. It's probably no surprise that she had father issues. Her Dad was abusive and her Mom, making a series of bad decisions, dropped that deadbeat for an even sleazier deadbeat. Traci was also developing at an early age found that her sex not only brought unwanted attention, but often unwanted advances. A move to California and the drug culture combined to make the perfect storm for young Traci. By 15 she was posing as a model and by 17 she was an established porn star. After a late night FBI raid Traci and the adult industry was busted. Traci would leave the triple X fare behind and strike out as a "legitimate" actress with moderate success.

This is where the rest of the book, which chronicles her mainstream career, falters. It reads more like a resume then an autobiography. No real insights are offered after her porn career and to be honest few insights are shared before and during her porn career. Because Lords avoids many details and offers little insight into her self, we're left with a pretty non-descript depiction of her life. The first half of the books works better because the story is so compelling, but Traci makes few attempts to look inside herself and the result is stunting.

The book is also very non-sexual. This is neither good nor bad, but those looking for an erotic read will be disappointed.

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