Naked: The Life And Pornography Of Michael Lucas

Corey Taylor

Apr 2012 · Kensington Publishing Corp.

About this eBook

Ask anyone who the biggest name in gay porn is and they'll tell you, "Michael Lucas." Ask what he's like and you'll get the gamut of replies: He's a smart, shrewd businessman who studied law and loves the opera. A witty raconteur who doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs. A loyal son who is close to his family. Bracingly honest. Ruthless. A hot top with a killer body. Sexy. Razor-tongued and iron-fisted. Michael Lucas has been called everything on his climb from rent boy to running the most successful gay porn business in the entire world--but he's never been called boring. Now, in this no-holds-barred biography, Corey Taylor delivers a delicious portrait of gay porn's hottest maverick.

From the start, Michael Lucas challenged the stereotype of a porn star. He did not grow up in an abusive family. Instead, he was born and raised in Soviet Russia as Andrei Treyvas to a close-knit family of outspoken, intellectual Russian Jews. The shy, skinny kid grew up to be a handsome man determined to make his mark on the world--and how. From his start as an escort in Europe, to his hustling days in America, making the money he would invest in his own company, Lucas Entertainment, Michael's life is inspiring, provocative, and 100% candid--no filter.

NAKED lays bare the fascinating, often surreal life of a sexy, complex man who has set his own standards and played by his own rules. Chock full of outrageous quotes and "you've got to hear this" stories, this is one biography just like its subject: one of a kind.

Corey Taylor has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Memphis. He has written for U.S. publications (Unzipped, Men, Artisan Northwest) as well as for publications in the UK (reFRESH) and Australia (DNA), covering celebrity features, art, fashion, and politics. Corey lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Ratings and reviews

Dreadful. Simply dreadful. The author admits that after he'd done much of the research and begun actually writing the book that the subject became distant and no longer participated in the process. I can see why if Lucas got a glimpse of just how badly this book was to be written. Michael Lucas himself, while being glorified by the book, still dismisses it as very poorly written and plans to, eventually, pen his own autobiography. When I began reading the book I was under the impression (knowing little at the time about Lucas) that Lucas himself had written it with Taylor simply putting his name on it to make it seem legit. Most of the book is written in simplistic sentences. An average 4th grader could easily comprehend the writing if it weren't so disjointed a writing style. But I've since come to read some of Lucas's own writing and he's far more eloquent than Taylor, despite having Russian as his native tongue. The book reads like a poorly written research paper. Frequently interrupted by references to other published works that the author seems to think are relevant to the subject at hand, but that do little more than destroy the flow of the narrative. Statements made in one paragraph are contradicted three paragraphs later, with no explanation. Much repetitive praise while other important items get glossed over (Why do we find out 3/4 of the way into the book that Lucas had done films early on, before coming to the U.S., for French porn director Cadinot, who is far more famous and well-established than even Lucas?). Even simple fact-checking hasn't been properly done (No, _Boys_in_the_Band_ was not filmed on Fire Island). At one point the author inexplicably slips into first-person (We don't care what you think about Ayn Rand's homophobia, we're here to read about the life of Michael Lucas). Yes, I'm sure that Taylor had his work cut out for him during interviews. Trying to simply fit pen and paper into the same room as massive Lucas's ego must have been a daunting task. I was shocked to read Taylor thanking his editor because I get the impression from the poor writing that they never spoke. I guess I can take some solace in that it seems this will be Taylor's last published work; his web site is no long up and running. I'll hope that the "editor" has similarly moved on to pastures better suited for him.

Please seperate authors, unless this is really by the musically talented singer of stone sour/ slipknot.

Gotta give it a thorough reread; there's a lot of good career-based and results-"oriented" growth, business, branding, and lead generation advice for me in this book.