Traci Lords: Underneath It All Hardcover – July 8, 2003

"Imagination is more important than intelligence," as Albert Einstein used to say and Traci Lords has now proved in her new autobiography "Underneath It All."Not that Ms. Lords is dumb. Far from it. Throughout her book she displays a keen mind to match her accomplishments as the only former adult movie actress ever to achieve mainstream success. Although this does not mean much in global terms of important world news, her life story is interesting enough in its own right, and in its own way even has a moral of redemption.Born Nora Kuzma in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1968, Ms. Lords' childhood was marred by a traumatic rape that occurred when she was only 10 years old. After her mother moved the family to California, the young Miss Kuzma found herself a stranger in a strange land just when she most needed guidance. Instead, left largely neglected, with little parental supervision for long periods of time, she became a heavy drug abuser in high school. Then her mother's ex-boyfriend introduced her to nude modeling and got her started performing in XXX-rated movies when she was just 15.This is the most delicate and difficult part of "Underneath It All." On the one hand, Ms. Lords must answer legitimate questions about her role in what was the biggest porn scandal of the 1980s. On the other hand, there is a fine line between addressing those questions and describing details of her erotic exploits that appeal more to the reader's prurient interests than to advance her main story.Generally speaking, Ms. Lords does an admirable job in covering this ground with grace and honesty. For legal reasons, she does not provide the real name of the producer who hired her as an underage actress (but the pseudonym she uses identifies him for anyone remotely familiar with the case). She also makes it clear that she did not call in the authorities and set up the FBI bust that instantly made her such a notorious figure. In fact, Ms. Lords even claims that President Reagan's smut-busting Meese Commission had been investigating her for three years before finally cracking down on her illicit activities. By then, of course, the former Nora Kuzma was famous for her newly adopted screen persona.There are areas where Ms. Lords tries to have it both ways, though. She talks repeatedly and at great length about how she hates being "the poster child for a business I loathe." She movingly asks, "What do you do when your past is your present? How do you leave it behind?" And yet she also expresses some mixed feelings about her brief career as an adult movie star. It is obvious that she enjoyed the attention she received at the time, and has not been above capitalizing on the publicity that went along with her previous reputation as "a sex-crazed, drugged-out wild child."However, in spite of Ms. Lords' occasional attempts to deceive the reader (and sometimes, one suspects, herself), she still comes across as a decent person with a talent for thinking outside of the box that others built for her. And it is worth noting that she gives ample credit to her friends and supporters such as John Waters, Christina Applegate, and Roseanne Barr.No one will ever confuse Traci Lords with Katharine Hepburn, but Ms. Lords has become a good actress and an excellent singer. That transformation did not occur overnight and it is a tribute to Ms. Lords' hard work that she was able to make it happen, even at the cost of her first marriage. When she first sought legitimate jobs in the entertainment industry, she could not have known how difficult it would be. Cynicism aside, learning about how Ms. Lords struggled to overcome her personal and professional demons is almost inspirational in its impact.Maybe the best way to read "Underneath It All" is with an equal mix of healthy skepticism and sympathy for the author. Certainly no one has done more to earn a small measure of respect. As absurd as it may seem, it is not too much to say there is a kind of nobility of spirit about Ms. Lords. A lesser person could never have survived such a trial in the court of public opinion, and her resilience has been remarkable. Like Bob Dylan before her, Traci Lords literally reinvented herself under another name and then had to live with the consequences. What could be more American than that?At a mere 286 pages, "Underneath It All" is a bit too slender for its own good. In addition, the book would benefit from fewer fashion-model pictures of Ms. Lords and the addition of an index, but these are relatively minor flaws in a biography that otherwise has much to recommend it.In the end, Ms. Lords seems not so much against porn as she is opposed to what it has become in today's depraved and sexually violent culture. And while others talk about profound "national security" and "homeland defense" issues, Ms. Lords makes a convincing case that the real security (or lack thereof) depends more on what is happening to our children in our families and on the streets. For those who still hope for a brighter future, "Underneath It All" is a book that shows change is possible.

I found the book an easy enjoyable read . I loved reading about her successful experiences throughout her life. Because of her determination to succeed. I glad she’s happy.

Underneath It All by Traci Lords is an honest and soul baring account on how the author’s childhood shaped her adult years. She charts her early life as a young girl in the Midwest who naturally has dreams of a better life and is greatly influenced to want more as a result of living part of her life near a university in Ohio. There are a wide range of information pieces that she recalls in her memoir (such as how her biological parents met. the heart-wrenching rape incident that she suffered as a child, how she first came into the racier side of modeling, the roles that both her biological mother and stepfather played in her life). She also creatively tied in her career progression with her love life as she recalled the men who had an influence in some of her professional projects. One of my favorite parts of the book was when she recalled her joy at being cast in the Cry-Baby movie and being cast alongside multiple famous celebrities attached to the film. I can easily understand how the traumatic rape experiences she suffered in her early years indirectly contributed towards her world view on how her own sensuality and life operated. Without providing too many book spoilers from Traci Lord’s book, I say this because I myself was traumatized from a rape experience inflicted on me around the age of 5-6 years old orchestrated by my late biological mother for the benefit of who was either one of her lovers and/or clients (I’m not sure because my late adoptive mother (around the time I was 11-13 years old) admitted to me that my late biological mother worked as a prostitute). Anyhow, Lords provides subtle hints on how what happened to her indirectly contributed to the way she felt about the areas of love and sensuality and her brave journey towards seeking therapy. There is so much more in this book written by a woman who poured much of her artistic soul towards telling an honest and unadulterated story.

Not too bad as a story of a little girl lost made good, but if you're looking for a lot of salacious details about the world of 80s porn, look elsewhere. She devotes about a chapter and a half to her 3 year porn career, as opposed to later in the book when she devotes an entire chapter to a few days she spent in Paris doing some modeling, and several chapters to filming the movie Crybaby.There is considerable controversy in her depiction of herself as out of her mind on drugs during her career in adult films; she is contradicted not only by the people she worked with but also by her own descriptions. At one point she reveals her mom's relationship with her boyfriend is troubled by his cocaine use; a few chapters later she purports to not even know what cocaine is when offered it by porn agent "Tim North," even though she has already written about running with a stoner, rocker crowd in school.Those years were certainly powerfully traumatic and emotional for her, so maybe she remembers it that way; in any event, she certainly suffered from a troubled upbringing and an abusive, thoroughly power-imbalanced relationship with her stepfather, who it seems more likely was the one who gave her the cocaine. She does admit that sex and the power she felt it gave her were also powerfully addictive, and I wonder how many reviewers who paint her as manipulative and sociopathic are forgetting how young she was and engaging in reactionary victim shaming.I thought it interesting to read about her trying so hard to put together a legitimate "life after porn". Maybe she has another book in her on the subject of those "missing years" in porn ... or maybe she's finally put it all behind her forever, once and for all. If so, good for her.

Reading through this I felt very sorry for Traci as she described her life during the late 80s/early 90s for what she did in the early 80s. She seems like a very down to earth woman constantly haunted by her porn past. The book was released in 2003 so obviously it’s been some time ago, I can only hope she’s still not haunted.

Geez, the winner takes it all Traci? If half the things I read were true, I'd be scared about US social care. She went extremely far, I took that much, very good individual and absolutely crazy the things she describes. Highly reccommended.

This book is really good.It's heartbreaking to read some parts.The people who claimed it's just a sob story, obviously would never understand how it is to have had her life experiences.Super good, and an inspiration.

I'm a sucker for a "triumph over tragedy" autobiography. This one inspired me to pen my own memoirs. Exceptional and inspirational.

This was a depressing read until half way through. It reminded me that as a society we have some very hypocritical attitudes to porn. It’s great to see Traci did finally transcend her early career.