By D. Scot Miller
WE DID PORN: MEMOIRS AND DRAWINGS
(Tin House Books)
by Zak Smith
I admit it. I was fully expecting to hate Zak Smith‘s book about his alt-porn experiences. Yes I was. Trendoid motherfucker gonna tell me about porno? What’s this artsty-fartsy, probably spoiled, uber-talented white boy artist got to say to me about fucking somebody?
Turns out, quite a bit.
I have to say that after the first chapter of this engrossing tome, Zak Smith had changed my life forever. He made me overcome my fear and predjudice of hipsters – something that Miranda July and Dave Eggers could not do – and listen to his tale of making alt-porn and living gonzo in alt-porn world. Not the best writer in the world, Smith makes up for his Hunter Thompson parroting with honesty and constant lucidity.
Zak at work as “Zak Sabbath,” alt-porn star
“The most hideous thing about pornography,” he says early on, “is that it works. On you.”