Rating: 
Summary: A disapointment by the end...
Review: I was somewhat disapointed with Ian Gittler's "Pornstar". Some of the photographs were interesting, but most were cheezy! I felt that Gittler's vision of his book was a good one, but somewhere along the line, Gittler lost his direction. What started out to be a look into the minds of these "stars" turned out to be a book of Gittler's own self discovery. Gittler should have changed this book to be an autobiography of himself, because that is how it ended up.
Rating:
Summary: A disapointment by the end...
Review: I was somewhat disapointed with Ian Gittler's "Pornstar". Some of the photographs were interesting, but most were cheezy! I felt that Gittler's vision of his book was a good one, but somewhere along the line, Gittler lost his direction. What started out to be a look into the minds of these "stars" turned out to be a book of Gittler's own self discovery. Gittler should have changed this book to be an autobiography of himself, because that is how it ended up.
Rating: 
Summary: This book was a surprize for me its great!!!
Review: I was surprised at how interesting as well as entertaining this book was I feel sorry for life these people seem to lead but this is an excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Humanizing erotic film stars provides memorable images
Review: Ian Gittler delves into the world of XXX like few have before him. He humanizes the pornographic film business while, for the most part, remaining an outsider. The photos add greatly to the drama which unfolds in Gittler's vignettes. The scene in which star Debi Diamond demands to be slammed into a wall is memorable; her revelation that her grandmother's pearls were destroyed in the process is haunting. The book could have used much more written text. For a guy who spent nearly a decade writing and researching this book, it should have been longer. But what is on the pages is unforgettable.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely No Depth to the Subject
Review: Ian Gittler manages the near impossible - writing a boring book about a subject most people would consider intrinsically interesting. The pornstars are treated very superficially and one has no better understanding of them, or the reasons they got into porn in the first place, after finishing the book than one did before picking the book up in the first place. Instead, the author focuses on his reactions to the pornstars, as if he were somehow of some great interest to the reader. Jeez, given the author's self-centeredness, no wonder he could not get laid by any of the porno chicks. I give it two stars because at least the pictures are pretty good.
Rating:
Summary: Good read, but bad photos.
Review: If you are looking for something to read about the porn industry and the difficult lives that are led by its members, then look no further. This books gives us some insight into a world that most of us will never know. And for that reason alone, the book is a decent read. However, that being said, i would not recommend buying this book. Borrow a friends or go find it at an adult bookstore and browse through it. That is the only way it will be worth your money (by not spending any that is). The photos are pretty boring, and they look like they were done by someone without a lot of photo experience. I feel like i could have done better myself with a digital camera. And the subjects themselves are not all that fun to look at or even attractive. This is not the story of some porn star you love. This is the story of some porn star you may not have seen before, and may not care to see again. In plain english, THIS IS NOT AN EROTIC BOOK.
Rating:
Summary: I Liked It
Review: If you have a porn addiction or know someone who is obsessed by porn, get him this book. This book's chief virtue is not its black-and-white pictures but its honesty. I was about to date someone, lets call her Heather, who came from the stripper/porn world and it allowed me to understand her mood shifts, drug problems and difficulty committing to even just a normal date --once I told her that I wasnt rich. A self-destructive cycle was at work in a woman who wanted to break out of it...Very few women in this world, such as Nina Hartley, seem to form normal relationships; most are emotionally abused as children (usually raped by a relative) and enter adulthood still damaged and get further damaged by this profession. Savannah committed suicide and this photographer did nothing to help; he seemed as awed of her as did the friends of Elvis before his death by prescription drugs. You will never look at these impossibly beautiful women again in the same way. Instead of desiring them, you may pity them and wish to help them out of their self-destructive cycle of sex for money -- that's what it is, after all: prostitution of the self on film. These people desperately need the love of a person who cares about them, to fill their emptiness and to stop them from becoming another tragedy like Elvis. Such honesty helped cure me of my obsession for these women. They are so beautiful still but most are tragically destined to end up on the scrap heap of discarded flowers whose blooms have faded. After reading this book, I just desire to help these women if I can. Buy it and it may help you (or your friend) also cure their "supermodel porn" addiction as well.
Rating:
Summary: Valuable as a cure for Porn Addicts
Review: If you have a porn addiction or know someone who is obsessed by porn, get him this book. This book's chief virtue is not its black-and-white pictures but its honesty. I was about to date someone, lets call her Heather, who came from the stripper/porn world and it allowed me to understand her mood shifts, drug problems and difficulty committing to even just a normal date --once I told her that I wasnt rich. A self-destructive cycle was at work in a woman who wanted to break out of it... Very few women in this world, such as Nina Hartley, seem to form normal relationships; most are emotionally abused as children (usually raped by a relative) and enter adulthood still damaged and get further damaged by this profession. Savannah committed suicide and this photographer did nothing to help; he seemed as awed of her as did the friends of Elvis before his death by prescription drugs. You will never look at these impossibly beautiful women again in the same way. Instead of desiring them, you may pity them and wish to help them out of their self-destructive cycle of sex for money -- that's what it is, after all: prostitution of the self on film. These people desperately need the love of a person who cares about them, to fill their emptiness and to stop them from becoming another tragedy like Elvis. Such honesty helped cure me of my obsession for these women. They are so beautiful still but most are tragically destined to end up on the scrap heap of discarded flowers whose blooms have faded. After reading this book, I just desire to help these women if I can. Buy it and it may help you (or your friend) also cure their "supermodel porn" addiction as well.
Rating:
Summary: Gittler is a better writer than he is a photographer!
Review: If you're expecting a coffee table book filled with pretty pictures of porn stars, DO NOT buy this book. If you want a well written, engaging, painfully honest account of the porn industry, this is a must read. I really enjoyed this book greatly. I wished it had a few more pictures to correspond with the story though. Still, one of my favorites.
Rating: 
Summary: A fragmented portrait of the porn industry.
Review: If you're looking for more in this new coffetable size photo-book than gritty, sometimes provocative photos of pornstars, than you're going to be disappointed. Gittler's book appears to be randomly torn pages from his personal diary; sketchy bits and pieces of his encounters with pornstars. His narrative doesn't really profile his subjects. And, it's a shame. Gittler has the "raw material" for a very interesting exploration of the "who, what, and why" of the multi-billion dollar netherworld of American Porn, but let's his personal involvement get in the way. Gittler centers his book around the death of pornstar Savannah; rather than use the opportunity to contrast his first subject, Jamie Summers, who worked the "high end" of porn until her retirement in 1992, with her former roommate, Careena Collins, who has embraced the porn "dark side" and is into bondage. Gittler's premise that the porn industry hurts it's performers could have been made better, using this contrasts of two all-American girls, than the unrelated fragments that he uses. This book could have been an eye-opener. It's not.
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