Ron Jeremy: The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz

Kanske inte den bästa självbiografi men den är ärlig och ger en inblick i vem Ron Jeremy är. Rons dröm är inte att vara porrskådis, han kom till Hollywood som många andra med en dröm att bli skådis.
Ron håller en lättsam ton o h skämtar en del men ändå kan man lättgenomskåda honom. Bakom skämten gömmer han en sorg över att aldrig fått erkännande. Han berättar om en man som sitter ensam kvar I en biosalong för att se om hans namn har kommit med längd bak i eftertexterna. Människorna i branschen skämtar om det och ändå glöms hans namn många gånger bort.

Ok -- a confession -- one of the reasons I had omitted to provide a review of this book up until now was because I am somewhat ashamed to have read it. I do have a bit of a fascination for Ron Jeremy.
As for this book, it was a fairly fun read. Certainly a quick, easy read. In the chapters where Jeremy described his childhood and pre-porn years, he came across as a quite a likeable chap. He remains a quite likable chap on some levels, but, overall, my impression of him after having read this was not favourable.
The thing about Ron Jeremy is that he is a performer. He freely admits this. He would have loved to be a big Hollywood actor. Or any kind of paid actor, really. And that's how he basically fell into porn -- in the hopes that it show more would lead to other types of acting gigs.
The other thing about Ron Jeremy is that he's obviously quite intelligent (or perhaps even very intelligent). He's well educated. He could have had success in many mainstream careers.
And yet, he kept it up with the porn. And throughout his entire porn career, and into the time that he wrote this memoir, he really exhibits having given no serious thought to porn and his implication in the industry and its role in society. He recounts a tale of a friend who equated porn to prostitution because under both circumstances, participants are being paid to have sex. But he seems to have given zero thought to whether this stance had any merit. To him porn is a form of acting, plain and simple.
The most morally reprehensible thing Ron Jeremy describes having done in this memoir is his two productions involving John Wayne Bobbitt. I can read about most porn without harsh judgment but the Bobbitt story just leaves me repulsed on so many levels.
Everything Jeremy does is to get attention as a performer and/or to make money. And in this memoir, he offers no exploration about what boundaries should be exercised in those pursuits, despite demonstrating that he would have more than adequate intelligence and skills to have a well thought out reflection on such matters.
Ultimately, Ron Jeremy came across as a lonely man. He strikes me as a sad waste of potential, as does his memoir. show less

Знаете Рон Джереми - дебелия, космат чичко със смешен мустак и питон в гащите, който участва практически във всички по-стари порнофилми.

Разбира се, Рон не винаги е бил дебел (всъщност доста мускулест е на младини), но просто е най-успешният актьор в бранша и участва в над 3000 филма в продължение на 40 години.

Благодарение на това, на идиотското си чувство за хумор и на това, че е доста умен, той се превръща в нещо show more като говорител на индустрията, участва във всички документални филми за нея, шоута, холивудски филми и т.н.

Книгата му е забавна, подробна, искрена и описва бранша от началото му до сега - интересен и искрен поглед отвътре не само на порно-индустрията, но и на самия Рон. show less

Okay, I admit it—I read this one out of curiosity. Years back, when Ron Jeremy first started really crossing over into mainstream media, I didn’t have a clue who he was. Whenever he made an appearance there seemed to be this big, inside joke that everybody got. Except me. It was very irritating. My first husband (we were just dating at the time), eventually took pity on me and explained that Ron Jeremy was a famous porn star. Frankly, I found this hard to believe. This short, chubby, hairy, middle-aged man did not fit my, admittedly naïve, idea of what a porn star should look like. My first husband rented a video so I could see Ron Jeremy in action. While I certainly have to admit that Jeremy has the most important *ahem* show more qualification for a porn star, he still wasn’t my idea of a fantasy. Of course, I’m not exactly Ron Jeremy’s target audience.

But at least I was finally in on the joke! When this book came out I was initially indifferent. But, then it got some good reviews and come on, this guy has done porn for what, almost 30 years! Wouldn’t that make you just a little curious? Anyway, to my surprise, Ron Jeremy is actually a very interesting guy. He has a master’s degree in, of all things, special education. He is a pianist, and plays the violin—I mean who knew. He has maintained a close relationship with his family. He doesn’t do drugs and he doesn’t drink to excess. He also seems like a pretty nice guy. In many ways Ron Jeremy is the antithesis of the stereotypical porn star. On the other hand, the sex, the women and the celebrity name dropping got a little old, but once again I am not the target market. show less

I learned a lot about Ron Jeremy and a variety of diverse subjects (not all pornography related) by reading this book. For one thing, I learned that Jeremy has a masters degree in special education. And that he is a stand up comic. And that he defuses stress through humour. And how to create an illusion that one's penis is more erect than it really is when filming a porn movie. OK, so maybe that last piece of information was less interesting to me, who is a) unlikely to film a porn movie; and b) a woman. But the book overall was very interesting. A little superficial in areas, and it did tend to jump around a bit in the narrative, it was still a worthwhile read.

I don't think I particularly like Ron Jeremy much after reading this book -- he comes across as a bit defensive about his intelligence, his acting skills, and how hard he works -- but there are plenty of entertaining stories, more name-dropping than anyone could possibly want, and a slew of photos that were pretty small on my Kindle but probably fun to look at in a hardcopy format. He definitely has a sense of humor, and the book is written in an extremely informal, conversational style that made it easy to read and gave me a (possibly false) sense of getting to know what his stream of consciousness sounded like.

One thing to watch out for -- I found myself mis-hearing everyday conversations in embarrassing ways (thinking people were show more saying they really wanted some porn, for example, when really they were just wishing for some corn). Then I'd try to explain that I probably only heard "porn" because I was just reading Ron Jeremy's autobiography, only to realize a little too late that that probably didn't make the situation any less awkward... or make me seem any less pervy. Sigh. show less

Unlike Wil Wheatons book I had a bit more of an idea of what I'd be in for with this book. And I wasn't surprised in some ways but I was in others.

For started Ron doesn't hide or censor anything. He just, excuse the pun, lets it all hang out there. He has had an incredible and unconventional life and it's really interesting to have a peer into it. Yes a lot of the book is talking himself up and who he knows but why not. It's his book and I would do the same thing.

I was surprised to find him both intelligent and funny though his sense of worth as a mainstream actor is way inflated. I've seen him a few times in his normal acting roles and he always comes across as a bit of a ham actor.

I found this an entertaining look at seedy side of show more show business and worth a read. show less