cautionary

How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale

How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale is the autobiography of adult film star Jenna Jameson, published August 17, 2004. It was co-written with Neil Strauss, a contributor to the New York Times and Rolling Stone, and published by ReganBooks, a division of HarperCollins. It was an instant best-seller, spending six weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list. The autobiography also won the 2004 "Mainstream's Adult Media Favorite" XRCO award in a tie with Seymore Butts's Family Business TV series. It was translated into German as Pornostar. Die Autobiographie (ISBN 3-453-67504-9) in November 2005, and Spanish as Como Hacer El Amor Igual Que Una Estrella Del Porno (ISBN 8-42-703190-6) in January 2006. Jameson dedicated the book to her mother, Judith Hunt.

The nearly 600 page book is divided into Books numbered with Roman numerals, each preceded by an epigraph from a Shakespearean sonnet. The narrative is told through a series of first person accounts, interviews with her family, diary entries in a font resembling handwriting, personal photos, movie scripts, and comic book panels. It covers her early career from her beginning in show business, as a stripper, living with her tattoo artist biker boyfriend, and ends with her career flying high, receiving the Hot D'Or award at Cannes, and wedding pictures from her second marriage. Jameson tells of multiple rapes, drug addictions, an unhappy first marriage, and numerous affairs with men and women.

Prologue
Book I: The World's Fresh Ornament
Book II: A Liquid Prisoner Pent in Walls of Glass
Book III: Time's Scythe
Book IV: An Imperfect Actor on the Stage
Book V: Trophies of Lovers Gone
Book VI: The Gentle Closure of My Breast

Film

Jameson has expressed interest in having actress Scarlett Johansson play her in a feature film version of the book. A representative for Johansson, however, has stated that Johansson has no interest in such a role.

Related books

Strauss has written a similarly titled and themed book, How to Make Money Like a Porn Star, mainly in graphic novel format, and without Jameson's participation. Strauss wrote it from stories he learned of while researching Jameson's book. Like How to Make Love..., How to Make Money... also features different formats, including magazine articles, fake advertisements, and an activity book.