[INSERT OVERUSED CHURCHILL QUOTE HERE]

Seven months past Tom Wolfe's latest attack on Irving, Updike and Mailer, the right-wing publishing house Regnery rolls out the subtly titled "Porn Generation," an indictment of permissive youth by — and here's why it's somewhat intriguing — an honest-to-goodness youth. (Although not as youthful as this kid.)

For some reason, it's more interesting when a young whippersnapper crosses the generational line to side with the fuddy duddy geezers — such as Ben Shapiro, the author in question — than when a pony-tailed fogey throws in with the wild-and-crazy youngsters — see Danny Goldberg's "Dispatches from the Culture Wars: How the Left Lost Teen Spirit".

But I digress. I believe we were talking about porn, and the Shapiro book. Although it doesn't come out for another few weeks, I stumbled across a review copy earlier today. Surprise: "I Am Charlotte Simmons" is mentioned twice on the jacket and again in the first chapter, introduced with the ever-subtle header, "The real Charlotte Simmons."

In this debate I'm generally torn between the libertarian appeal to leave law-abiding adults alone and the conservative argument that society depends on said adults being responsible. Because I've written about this subject before, I'll say no more about it here. But what I will do is list the chapter titles in "Porn Generation," which are, briefly, worth your attention:

Chapter 1: A Generation Lost
Chapter 2: Fun With Bananas
Chapter 3: Campus Carnality
Chapter 4: Pop Tarts
Chapter 5: Where Pimps And Hos Run Free
Chapter 6: Teenyboppers
Chapter 7: Abercrappy & Bitch
Chapter 8: TV vs. Virginity
Chapter 1: Porn And Popcorn
Chapter 1: The Lotion Picture Industry
Chapter 1: Taking A Stand
Chapter 12: Roundtable

Popcorn? Roundtable? I don't even want to know what's up with that crazy slang the kids are using these days. Now excuse me while I watch an illegally downloaded episode of South Park. (See update.)
 
P.S. You know those "Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs)" Amazon recently unveiled? They're fun but useless, and the SIPs for the Wolfe book are no exception:

canvas boat bag, caress caress caress, unhh unhh unhh, rutting rutting, sobs sobs sobs sobs, ilial crest, rut rut rut, very hide, wooo wooo, depressed girl, little freshman, entry gallery, library tower, compressed his lips, lacrosse player, coed dorm, camper top

No SIPs for "Porn Generation" yet, but once indexed, I'll bet "Abercrappy & Bitch" will top the list.

UPDATE — Change of plans. In a stroke of luck, I just happened across the Showtime series "Family Business" for the first time tonight. It's a reality TV series about a family in the porn industry. The main character is Adam Glasser — better known to the world as Seymore Butts — a well-meaning single dad who, as a matter of business, sometimes has to show girls where their g-spot is. From what I can tell so far, it isn't just titillating (and it certainly is that), it's compelling television as well. I think it's my new favorite show. Much better than HBO's irrelevant and dull "Real Sex". Did I mention that I get HBO as well, and that I don't pay for either channel?

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posted by WWB at 10:28 PM |