THE PORN LIBRARY
THE PORN LIBRARY is a compendium of books, movies, television series, journalism, essays, podcasts, art, photography, and online works by authors, filmmakers, directors, journalists, podcasters, essayists, playwrights, artists, photographers, and other creatives about the past, present, and future of the adult movie industry. It was created by Susannah Breslin and launched in May 2024. Suggestions for THE PORN LIBRARY may be submitted here. The works are listed in no particular order. Anti-porn propaganda has been purposely omitted and will not be included.
BOOKS
NONFICTION
Blue Money by Carolyn See
Porn Work: Sex, Labor, and Late Capitalism by Heather Berg
Coming Attractions: The Making of an X-Rated Video by Robert Stoller
The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film Industry by Legs McNeil
Porn Studies by Linda Williams
Pornocopia: Porn, Sex, Technology and Desire by Laurence O’Toole
Preachers vs. Porn: Exposing Christianity’s War on Sexxx by Mark Kernes
XXX: A Woman’s Right to Pornography by Wendy McElroy
The Pornography Industry: What Everyone Needs to Know by Shira Tarrant
The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure by Tristan Taormino
Hard Core: Power, Pleasure, and the “Frenzy of the Visible” by Linda Williams
Coming Out Like a Porn Star: Essays on Pornography, Protection, and Privacy by Jiz Lee
Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women's Rights by Nadine Strossen
The Big Book of Porn: A Penetrating Look at the World of Dirty Movies by Seth Grahame-Smith
Naked Ambition: Women Who Are Changing Pornography by Carly Milne
The People’s Porn: A History of Handmade Pornography in America by Lisa Z. Sigel
Porn Archives by Tim Dean
MEMOIRS, AUTOBIOGRAPHIES & BIOGRAPHIES
Girlvert: A Porno Memoir by Oriana Small
Candida Royalle and the Sexual Revolution: A History from Below by Jane Kamensky
My Father, the Pornographer: A Memoir by Chris Offutt
Traci Lords: Underneath It All by Traci Lords
Ron Jeremy: The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz by Ron Jeremy
Camgirl by Issa Mazzei
Rated X: How Porn Liberated Me from Hollywood by Maitland Ward
How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale by Jenna Jameson
Prisoner of X: 20 Years in the Hole at Hustler Magazine by Allan MacDonell
Thy Neighbor’s Wife by Gay Talese
From Princess to Porn Star: A Real-Life Cinderella Story by Tasha Reign
Annie Sprinkle: Post-Porn Modernist by Annie Sprinkle
We Did Porn: Memoir and Drawings by Zak Smith
Smutcutter: How I Survived Porn by Sonny Malone
FICTION
Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk
Porno by Irvine Welsh
Blue Movie by Terry Southern
Endstufe by Thor Kunkel
ART & PHOTOGRAPHY
XXX: 30 Porn-Star Portraits by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
The Valley by Larry Sultan
Playboy’s Greatest Covers by Damon Brown
Porn Art by Dahmane
Dreamland by Jeff Burton
X-Rated: Adult Movie Posters of the 60s and 70s by Tony Nourmand
Pornoland by Stefano de Luigi
Thomas Ruff Nudes by Thomas Ruff
Sexytime: The Post-Porn Rise of the Pornoisseur by Jacques Boyreau
PLAYS
The Money Shot: A Play by Neil LaBute
The Performers by David West Read
MOVIES
DRAMA
Boogie Nights directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Pleasure directed by Ninja Thyberg
Wonderland directed by James Cox
King Cobra directed by Justin Kelly
The People vs. Larry Flynt directed by Miloš Forman
Body Double directed by Brian De Palma
Lovelace directed by Rob Epstein
8mm directed by Joel Schumacher
Hardcore directed by Paul Schrader
Rated X directed by Emilio Estevez
COMEDY
Zack and Miri Make a Porno directed by Kevin Smith
The Nice Guys directed by Shane Black
Humpday directed by Lynn Shelton
Orgazmo directed by Trey Parker
Don Jon directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Inserts directed by John Byrum
Red Rocket directed by Sean Baker
Mope directed by Lucas Heyne
HORROR
Cam directed by Daniel Goldhaber
A Serbian Film directed by Srđan Spasojević
X directed by Ti West
DOCUMENTARY
9 to 5: Days in Porn directed by Jens Hoffman
Naked Ambition: An R Rated Look at an X Rated Industry directed by Michael Grecco
Twilight of the Porn Stars directed by Jason Massot
Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy directed by Scott J. Gill
The Girl Next Door directed by Christine Fugate
Rocco co-directed by Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai
Sex: The Annabel Chong Story directed by Gough Lewis
After Porn Ends directed by Bryce Wagoner
Fallen Angels directed by Gregory Dark
TV
SCRIPTED
Pam & Tommy created by Robert Siegel
The Deuce created by George Pelecanos and David Simon
Supersex created by Francesca Manieri
Hard created by Cathy Verney
Skin created by Jim Leonard
Adult Material created by Lucy Kirkwood
UNSCRIPTED
Pornography: A Secret History of Civilisation produced by Channel 4
Family Business produced by Showtime
Pornucopia produced by HBO
Sex Before the Internet produced by VICE TV
Porno Valley produced by World of Wonder
ONLINE
JOURNALISM
“They Shoot Porn Stars, Don’t They?” by Susannah Breslin
“Scenes From My Life in Porn” by Evan Wright
“Big Red Son” by David Foster Wallace
“The Devil in Greg Dark” by Tom Junod
“When the Clients Are Porn Stars” by Daniel Miller
“The Teenager & the Porn Star” by Dave Gardetta
“A Rough Trade” by Martin Amis
“The Money Shot” by Susan Faludi
“In the Playpen of the Damned” by George Plimpton
ESSAYS
“Bodhisattvas Among Us: Compassionate Sex Workers” by Nina Hartley
“For Kayden Kross, the Family Business Happens to Be Porn” by Kayden Kross
“My Hard-Core Obsession” by Shalom Auslander
ART & PHOTOGRAPHY
San Fernando Valley Porn by Vera Hartmann
Into the Porn by Katia Repina
003.jpg et al. by Adam Connelly
Looking for Mr. Goodsex by Alexandra Rubinstein
FICTION
VCO by James Jacob Hatfield
PODCASTS
The Last Days of August by Jon Ronson
The Rialto Report by Ashley West and April Hall
Hot Money: Porn, Power and Profit by Patricia Nilsson and Alex Barker
VIDEOS
“My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes” directed by Charlie Tyrell
“Lost Masterpieces of Pornography” directed by David Mamet
“The Actress” directed by Oz Rodriguez