My new book is dedicated to Holly Randall and has 80 pages of excruciating detail (most of which I have not published before) on the rise and fall of our relationship.

Here's the back cover:

Lives on the Edge profiles models, evangelists, writers and photographers who've spent years in the sex industry.

"For me to enjoy being a centerfold star," says Penthouse Pet Lori Wagner, "which is my right, which I worked hard for, because of that, I've been disrespected and not loved for who I am."

"If you're a woman who likes to look nice, and wears make-up, you have a hard time making female friends," says Penthouse Pet Courtney Taylor. "I'm 30-years old. I planned on being a doctor by now. But the money for modeling has been so good that I've put off my schooling."

"I wish my dad molested me," says porn star Joanna Angel. "It was the other way round. I was ignored. I would've loved for my dad to molest me. He wouldn't even talk to me."

..........

There are 52 chapters and 360 pages in the book.

After choosing the fragility of life as my theme, I selected 52 of my best interviews.

I call her in New York August 7, 2006.

Luke: "You do look like Monica [Lewinsky]. The full mouth."

Lauren: "Maybe I did. Once they started referring to her as chunky, I decided I didn't look a thing like her."

Luke: "Did you really have all that angst over it as you wrote in The Modern Jewish Girls Guide To Guilt or was that more of a construct?"

Lauren: "I felt embarrassed that she was Jewish.

"When I went to graduate school, I decided to forgive myself more. I couldn't control the political landscape."

Luke: "I don't understand what you were forgiving yourself for."

Lauren: "I wouldn't say I was forgiving myself for anything I had done."

She sighs. "I was letting myself off the hook for feeling weirdly implicated while I was in France for being a friendly Jewish-American woman who smiles a lot. The French tend to mock Americans for being puritanical and ridiculous."

Luke: "I've noticed that a lot of Jewish women say their biggest flaw is they give too much. I ask them about their moral struggles and they say, 'Oh, I give too much.'"

Lauren gives the laugh of recognition. "I think all women feel that way. We're raised to take care of other people."

Luke: "It seems delusional to think that 'my biggest moral struggle is that I give too much.'"

Lauren: "Can people identify their biggest moral struggles? I have no idea. I know I have several but it's hard to pin them down."

Luke: "With guys, you know the biggest moral struggle is not to screw around and not to beat people."

Lauren: "Really? To keep your pants zipped and your fists to yourself. Women also face that."

Luke: "To the same intensity men do?"

Lauren: "I have no idea."

Luke: "You [frequently] write the male perspective. I'm impressed with how well you understand the male psyche. It's basically blowjobs."

Lauren laughs. "And existential angst and the girl who got away.

"Men and women aren't that different from each other. When the character Grant Miller [in Reproduction] fell in love, I tried to make it how I felt when I fell in love. People say how well I got into the male character but all I tried to do was write about myself honestly."

Luke: "Did Blair [the girl who got away] and Stan [Grant's father] ever get it on?"

Lauren: "I don't think so. I could never decide for sure."

Luke: "Why did you tell this tale of despair?"

Lauren: "I thought it had a happy ending. The guy [Grant] decides he can be alone. I did get teary when I wrote about Stan's death."

Luke: "Almost all your stories tend to be bleak and depressing."

Lauren laughs. "Maybe that's true?"

Luke: "Is that a reflection of your psyche and your experience? I can't imagine a happy person writing a lot of bleak stories."

Lauren: "The stories aren't autobiographical aside from location. I'm a happy person who gets the sadness out in what I write. Never in my life have I thought of myself as a sad person.

"The stories are about people in their late teens and early twenties. I wrote one of them when I was 19 and the last one when I was 25. That's a terrible age. Those were not the best years of my life. I was uncertain. I never imagined these stories were going to get published.

"I tend to write about absent parents and both of my parents are alive and well. I tend to write about broken hearts and I've been with the same man for six years and we've been married for almost two."

Luke: "The emotional landscape is so bleak."

Lauren: "I thought it was funny."

Luke: "What happened to your blog?"

Lauren: "I felt extremely exposed. In fiction you get to hide behind your characters. I freaked out and stopped."

Luke: "Would you rather write a great novel or have a great marriage?"

Lauren: "Write a great novel. I don't think it's even a question. Luckily I'm married to the kind of guy who understands why I said that."

Luke: "How did the title - Reproduction is the Flaw of Love - help you tell your story?"

Lauren: "Here's the whole quote, from Baudelaire's La Fanfarlo: 'Although Samuel had a depraved imagination—perhaps even because of this—love, for him, was less a matter of the senses than of the intellect. It was, above all, admiration and appetite for beauty; he considered reproduction a flaw of love, and pregnancy a form of insanity.'

"The quote reminded me of the way Miller might try to justify his admiration for Lisa - as a matter of the intellect, perhaps, if not the senses. Also, in this novel, reproduction (or the possibility of it) is the thing that ends whatever form of love Lisa and Miller have managed to muster up."

Luke: "When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?"

Lauren: "A writer."

Luke: "What crowd did you hang out with in highschool?"

Lauren: "I was pretty dorky. I hung out with the smart kids. When I was a junior, I scored myself a marginally more popular boyfriend, which made the rest of highschool a lot better."

Luke: "What's been your relationship with Judaism?"

Lauren: "I've become a better Jew since I married my husband who was not born Jewish but became interested in it after we met. We took courses together. We started going to a synagogue in our neighborhood, a progressive, socially-conscious place. We try to light candles on Friday night.

"I was raised in a culturally Jewish home but not religious."

Lauren is the eldest of three kids.

Luke: "How does your family feel about your writing?"

Lauren: "My father was very concerned about this choice. He's a physician... Now he's proud of me. He believes that all my sex scenes come from things I've seen in movies."

Luke: "There's a strong theme of blowjobs in your writing."

Lauren: "Fiction, fiction, fiction."

Madame Tussauds general manager Adrian Jones points out that there was an interest in a Jenna figure from guest surveys, and describes her as meeting three criteria: She's famous, she's from Las Vegas, and she is a successful businesswoman, a meme that has been turning up every time Jenna's name has been mentioned lately. He also pronounces the name of the place "Madame Too-sahds," which may be correct but sounds a little precious when I try it later... "She's been fantastic with the process," Jones continues, and adds that she was very cooperative with helping them find the right skin tones, hair colour, and replicating her tattoos. Jenna also recorded a voice track for the figure, which will speak when you touch the tattoo on her ankle... The curtain opens, and Jenna is sitting next to the figure on a fur-covered bed. Jenna is in a white and red dress, the figure is clad only in a leather belt, her arms coquettishly covering her breasts.

There's as much of a parallel between quoting someone's posts and plagiarism as there is between consensual sex and rape. Both are forms of intercourse but that's where the similarities end.

If I quote from someone's post, I link to the source so people can read the whole thing in its original context. But I only quote the parts that I find interesting for obvious reasons. Not everything people post is interesting. It is my job to winnow out the good stuff and reject the dull stuff. People read lukeisback.com because they are interested in my judgments about what is going on. Usually a person's post will get one hundred times as much attention if I quote it on lukeisback as opposed to letting it languish on some posting board.

I save readers time. They could spend hours combing the boards or they can spend five minutes on lukeisback.com and read the good stuff.

If a person gives an hour long interview to The LA Times or 60 Minutes, only a sentence or two or three may be used. That's just how journalism works. When people write a post or give an interview, they usually think it is their story they are presenting, but once a journalist gets a hold of their post or interview, he will shape it into his story, reflecting his judgments of what is important. See the book The Journalist and the Murderer.

So, no, Daniel, it is never fun to be deliberately or undeliberately misrepresented, but in my experience, much of the time when someone feels their post or interview has been misrepresented, it is a case of the person not wanting to stand behind what they said (with all their extraneous remarks deleted).

People don't usually see themselves. When they make a post or give an interview, and then deal with the consequences, they are often forced to confront themselves, and it is large part of their own selves that they do not like.

There's nothing people like more than talking about themselves and there's nothing they hate more than seeing it in end up in print.

He now blogs here.

I call him in New York Tuesday afternoon, August 1.

Al: "I'm an old Jew with bad hearing."

Luke: "When is your book coming out? The one you worked on with Josh Alan Friedman."

Al: "I got a call from Peter Bloch [Editor] at Penthouse.

"I called Josh yesterday. I said they [the publishers] are a bunch of scumbags. They haven't even sent me a copy of the book. It's coming out next month. Here I am the writer. Review copies have been sent out. And I haven't gotten a copy."

Luke: "How was working with Josh?"

Al: "I love Josh. He was my editor 25 years ago. He loved going to all the massage parlors. He's written six books. He holds me in high regard.

"Frankly, I've been depressed since Screw went bankrupt two years ago. I'm looking for a job. I've been turned down by Starbucks and Costco. I'm not the big mouth I used to be. That's why Josh went to the editorials from 1968 and older ones when I still had piss and vinegar.

"I hate the porno industry. I helped start Larry Flynt. I've had 21 arrests. No one in the porn business has offered me a job. If it wasn't for doing the blog, I'd be back in a homeless shelter. My rent in Howard Beach is paid by Penn Jilette.

"When I start doing publicity for my book, I'm going to abuse the s--- out of it. It's no different than religion. Religion sells a fantasy. Pornography sells a fantasy. The bulls--- that you are going to have those type of women in your life is pathetic. It's delusional."

Luke: "Have you changed your views on the porn industry?"

Al: "Not at all. You look at Screw. It as Mad comics. There's nothing wrong with masturbation. There's nothing wrong with fantasy. But let's call it what it is.

"Fishbein at AVN was telling me that the business is down 20%.

"What put Screw out of business was the websites.

"I'm guilty of the same thing. I ran jerk-off photos. But at least I made fun of the girls.

"Pornography has the same right to exist as religion and reality shows. But I know it's sleight of hand. That's what my book's about. All men are coagulated testosterone. Men are pathetic creatures. I'm guilty. I have five ex-wives. That's why I went bankrupt.

"Playboy I could never jerk off to but Hustler I could because the girls are sleazy."

Luke: "You have a wife?"

Al: "I have a fifth wife. She's 29. I'm 70. Together three years."

Luke: "What is her attraction to you?"

Al: "Nobody else will be with me. There's no reason to be with me. I have no money. Wives are prostitutes who won't work in a whorehouse. She likes that despite my 21 arrests and bankruptcy, I'm still in there trying.

"Everyone dumped me. Ron Jeremy was best man at the wedding. Two people have been loyal to me -- Ron Jeremy and Paul Fishbein. Nobody else in the industry has done s--- for me. I hope everyone gets busted. Everyone needs a five year jail sentence at Leavenworth."

Luke: "How did you maintain your friendship with Fishbein? You've been caustic about him and his magazine."

Al: "I love Paul because he's a good friend. I only speak the truth. I am an obnoxious assaultive uninhibited Jew boy from Brooklyn. Everyone I've slammed is having the last laugh -- ignoring me, gloating when I failed. My son, who's 30, who graduated Harvard Law School four years ago. I was boasting about him on the Howard Stern and Don Imus show. He got so offended he would not invite me to graduation."

Luke: "Is he gay?"

Al: "I think he is. I think he sucks a dick now and then. I've always argued it takes a real man to suck cock. After my fifth marriage ends, I'm going to become a fag."

Luke: "What did you think of Gil Reavill's book Smut?"

Al: "I don't read about porno. What do I care? I'm rereading Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. Why do I want to read about pornographers? To be titillated? To learn about it? I don't care if it is pro or con. Gil's another mercenary. There's nothing wrong with him."

Luke: "What happened to your relationship with Larry Flynt?"

Al: "I wish he'd hire me. I went to him and begged him to at least give me a job as a manager. I don't want to be a dishwasher. He did give me an assignment and he loaned me $3,000 but I want a full-time job and Larry has not done it.

"I'll tell you who the biggest [jerk] of all is... I hope you're not going to censor this. Dennis Hof owns the Bunny Ranch. I was the first person to cover his bordello for Penthouse. I gave him publicity. Put him in my columns and on my TV show. He promised me there would always be a place for me. What a perfect job for me to be maitre de, to greet people at his whorehouse. He would not give me a job. He is the typical porno ingrate. I hope he dies of diabetes."

Luke: "What are the lessons to be learned from your rise and fall?"

Al: "Nothing. Nothing is real. Nothing is forever. Enjoy the moment. Mine is not the first story, be it Tyson or a rock 'n' roller. Don't believe the words of wives, 'I love you,' because as soon as you lose the money, they're gone.

"My ex-shrink, Ted Rubin, he wrote David and Lisa, said, 'Al, you have to learn the art of inhibition.' I repress nothing. I censor nothing. Like all honest people, I am hated and loathed."

Luke: "Where do you find happiness?"

Al: "I don't. A cup of coffee, when I ejaculate, and the taste of pussy. Right now I just want to survive. I go to the V.A., they give me lithium. I'm a zombie. I've thought of killing myself but I won't kill myself because I'd make too many people happy.

"Have you got enough?"

Luke: "Thank you."

Al: "As you've noticed, I still don't pull my punches."

Holly Randall Arrested For Drunk Driving, Blames The Jews

Returning home from the Temptation Awards Sunday morning, Holly Randall, the director of Love Between the Cheeks (AVN Editor Mike Ramone called it the most anti-Semitic film since Triumph of the Will), was pulled over by an L.A. County sheriff's deputy.

Lukeisback.com has learned that Miss Randall aka The Second Coming of Leni Riefenstahl went on a rampage when she was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, hurling religious epithets. Lukeisback.com has also learned that Adult Video News had the initial report doctored to keep the real story under wraps.

According to the report, Randall became agitated after she was stopped on Pacific Coast Highway and told she was to be detained for drunk driving Sunday morning in Malibu. The director began swearing uncontrollably. Randall repeatedly said, "My life is f****d."

Law enforcement sources say the deputy, worried that Randall might become violent, told the photographer that he was supposed to cuff her but would not, as long as Randall cooperated. As the two stood next to the hood of the patrol car, the deputy asked Randall to get inside. Deputy Mee then walked over to the passenger door and opened it. The report says Randall then said, "I'm not going to get in your car," and bolted to her car. The deputy quickly subdued Randall, cuffed her and put her inside the patrol car.

Lukeisback.com has learned that Deputy Mee audiotaped the entire exchange between himself and Randall, from the time of the traffic stop to the time Randall was put in the patrol car, and that the tape fully corroborates the written report. Once inside the car, a source directly connected with the case says Randall began banging herself against the seat.

The report says Randall told the deputy, "You mother f****r. I'm going to f*** you." The report also says "Randall almost continually [sic] threatened me saying her parents 'own Malibu' and will spend all of their money to 'get even' with me." The report says Randall then launched into a barrage of anti-Semitic statements: "F*****g Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." Randall then asked the deputy, "Are you a Jew?"

The deputy became alarmed as Randall's tirade escalated, and called ahead for a sergeant to meet them when they arrived at the station. When they arrived, a sergeant began videotaping Randall, who noticed the camera and then said, "What the f*** do you think you're doing?" A law enforcement source says Randall then noticed another female sergeant and yelled, "What do you think you're looking at, sugar tits?"

We're told Randall took two blood alcohol tests, which were videotaped, and continued saying how "f****d" she was and how she was going to "f***" Deputy Mee.

It was the summer of 1981 and I was falling in love for the first time (that was requited). I frolicked with my girlfriend at the Pacific Union College pool many afternoons. One day a little black boy wearing goggles surfaced beside us and asked me, "Why is your penis sticking out like a lance?"

I never kissed my love. I was too scared. Over the next nine months, however, away from my love and at public school for the first time, I learned how to french kiss. That next summer, back at P.U.C., I got the nicknames "Hans Ford" and "Romeo." I made out with my love and went to R-rated movies with a college girl four years my senior. For the first time, I learned that women's panties get wet when they're sexually excited.

A friend asks me July 30, 2006: "How are you?"

Luke: In a torpor, perhaps depressed, have a hard time leaving my bed, just exhausted, back hurts, money prospects poor etc. All I do is lie in bed and listen to Jonathan Safran Foer's book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

>It's good that you have enough energy to take part in the shul stuff ... lectures etc. I really wish I could revive myself to the point where I'd go to the fancy aish shul, but that was four years ago already. The formality of it gave me focus.

Luke: I need to go to shul more, it gives me energy, I just hate getting up in the AM.

I Despair About Israel

I'm no political or military expert, but as as many Hezbollah rockets are falling on Israel today (July 30) as they were at the start of the war almost three weeks ago, I can only conclude what I believed when the war began -- that Israel's prime minister, Defense minister and IDF leadership are incompetent.

Nosh n' Drosh On Death

Judaism revolves around eating, praying and leading a holy life.

It's the religion of life.

"We all know that we should have an advanced medical directive that indicates our desires should we, God forbid, become ill and incapable of expressing our desires," said the rabbi. "But the topic doesn't come up often on "date night" (or on the elliptical at 24-hour fitness). The same is true for the disposal of our worldly assists when we're no longer here to enjoy them - and doing so in a manner that will not run into halachik obstacles. And what about that organ donor dot? So come on over. It'll be a laugh a minute!"

"That sounds great," he thought, and as his calendar was empty, he put on his tzitzit Saturday afternoon and his white shirt and black tie and black pants and black jacket and trudged a couple of miles through the humidity to a beautiful home in Beverlywood.

Once inside (5 p.m.), he grunted at the host and went right for the cold water and then for desserts and then for generous helpings of the fruit salad.

Then he found a seat in the back, next to a Holocaust survivor, and listened to the rabbi speak. During the lecture, he watched the kids playing catch in the backyard. He kept imagining that at any moment the ball would come crashing through the window.

He felt his jacket pull down on his weak shoulders. As he moved in his seat, he felt his back spasm. As the room filled up, he felt claustrophobic.

The rabbi referred to rabbis.org where you can make a nifty will. It says: "Jewish religious law does not recognize the validity of a will."

Yet Rav Moshe Feinstein says that a secular will is just fine.

To what extent do you use heroic and invasive measures to sustain the life of the terminally ill?

The rabbi said people should fill out an advanced medical directive making their will known in these matters.

Rav Feinstein provides a lot of room for letting the terminally ill die without resorting to any efforts beyond providing oxygen, food and water.

"I could do with some oxygen, food and water right now," he thought.

It was 6:20 p.m. "No need to resuscitate me," he muttered and made a mad dash for the door, barreling past two dozen cramped but pious souls. "If I don't get out of here right now, I'm going to die. I don't care that I'm being rude. I don't care that I'm leaving while a dozen people want to involve the rabbi in some esoteric discussion. Let me go right now. No heroic measures need to be exerted on my behalf. I can't breathe in here. I want to go home."

What Darcy enjoyed most was a good lathering between the thighs. As a lifelong liberal, this was one of my specialties. In some obscure but plausible fashion, I viewed the general neglect of the region as a bedrock of conservatism. The female sex was, in political terms, the equivalent of the inner city: a dark and mysterious zone, vilified by the powerful, derided as incapable of self-improvement, entrenched and smelly. Going down on a woman was a dirty business, humiliating, potentially infectious, best delegated to the sensitivos of the Left.

I relished the act, which I considered to be what Joe Lieberman would have termed, in his phlegmy rabbinical tone, a mitzvah. It required certain sacrifices. The deprivation of oxygen, to begin with.

Over the past two days, I've had three separate (and usually reliable sources) tell me that the FBI was at Red Light District poring over their 2257 records. I published two of these reports and then pulled each one. According to David Joseph, RLD owner, the FBI has not visited his business.

Everyone at RLD's warehouse was scrambling on the day Diabolic was visited. Word got around that the FBI was visiting, but it was not accurate. I'm sure it was a case of "telephone." Many took it as fact they were coming, but I think they just wanted to be 100% ready for a visit.

Flaw In Wankernomics

James writes:

Reading Winai Wongsurawat's paper it's a great example of why fundamentally and technically-superb economists are prone to [soiling] the bed on relevancy so often. a paper published in 2006 using 1991 penthouse magazines just doesn't MEAN anything in the post-max era. in terms of concern about material titilating people into sexual violence, a printed copy of penthouse(even more so in that era) is a totally different animal than a movie with real people acting out sexually-violent things. the penthouse is closer to a "maxim" or "fhm" than to captured domestic violence. only the most-conservative people pick up a glossy/artsy mag like that and feel equally as concerned it's something to worry about versus speculums, choking and physical blows to a partner acted out as realistically as possible on film. good technically, but so far removed from the current reality of what people are concerned about.

Prostitution pricing in the U.K.

Ray Guhn’s Arrest and Pending Censorship of the Adult Industry

Andy Craft aka Jim Manley posts on JBM:

Who's Going To Host The Temptation Awards?

Temptation says 350 people are confirmed to come.

Where Is Mark Carriere?

Does he still run Leisure Time? Does his company still move 200,000 DVDs a month?

Ariana Jollee Slugs Director Roy Karch Saturday On Set Of Sex Z Pictures Tranny Movie

Ariana felt that Roy was directing her too much.

After she punched him, she said, "Now you're my bitch," and walked off the set.

Roy shrugged it off and went back to work.

Whatever Happened To Mason?

Pierre writes:

I would like to know what has happened to the once much talked about porn director Mason. About two years ago now, she was on the cover of AVN and was recognized by her peers, but also created much controversy. Her hard-edge style in movie-making sure wasn't for everyone, but she was quite a big name in the gonzo type of movie.

What bothers me is that in the spring of 2005, at the end of February or May, her site (whish included her journal) went down, in about the same time she started changing companies. Leaving Elegant Angel for a brief stint at Platinum X, and after she is supposedly went with Hustler. They didn't kept her long (her movies probably too extreme for the brand), and since then she kind of disappear. I think her last movie was Mason's Sluts, which came out last year. No others came following that one.

So you see, my problem is that I am very much interested to know what happened to her, but I cannot contact her since I can’t reach her through her site since it is down. I don't know for which company she works, I don't even know if she is still active in the business.

As far as I can tell, Mason's gone into a shell since the Delilah Strong fiasco two years ago. She has/had a directing deal with Chris at Anabolic.

What happened to her? Here are some possibilities:

* Her brutal pornography may scare a lot of distributors.

* She's never been prolific. She produces her scenes and movies very slowly.

* She's bounced through various directing deals and may be out of options.

A source writes: "She blew all the money from the Diabolic deal and is slowly getting that movie done one scene at a time."

The #23 Enigma

A source writes: "The articles online say they are after 10 different studios yet it is 23 films from various studios in question."

FBI Visits Diabolic Video to Check 2257 Records

Paul Fishbein writes on AVN.com:(the last time I saw his byline was June 23 on the sale of Club Jenna to Playboy):

CHATSWORTH, Calif. - FBI agents are currently visiting the offices of Diabolic Video here checking their records in accordance with the 2257 statute, according to Diabolic owner Greg Allan.

“The agent said there are 10 companies on their list and we were the first, but Diabolic, not Anabolic,” Allan told AVN.com exclusively.

This is the first time an adult company was visited to verify compliance with the record keeping requirements of 18USC~2257.

I believe that Anabolic/Diabolic is going to get popped on federal obscenity charges within the next year along with several other (maybe dozens of other) hard-edged gonzo companies. This 2257 investigation is a way for the feds to pile on the charges against the extreme porn companies.

L-Pink writes on GFY: "Let's hope pornotube is one of the next inspected. One of their Japanese, teens dressed as school-girls, gang-banged, no 2257 info provided clips."

2:35 p.m. I return Mary Carey's call . She says: "Legend is right next door to Anabolic/Diabolic. I was supposed to go to Legend to pick up my paycheck. Then they told me not to come today because the FBI was at Diabolic. I started freaking out. I want my paycheck now in case... They say, 'Why don't you wait and get your check tomorrow when we'll know what is going on.'"

Legend is across the street from JM Productions which was busted on federal obscenity charges a few months ago.

Mary: "I'm sitting here trying to figure out who are the other 10 companies. Legend doesn't do those type of movies."

In 2001, Legend stopped distributing Max Hardcore.