If you’re looking to spice up the mundane scenery on your coffee table, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ XXX: 30 Porn-Star Portraits might be a wise purchase. In glossy color photos, video vixens such as Jenna Jameson and Gina Lynn are shown clothed on one page and nude on the opposite. It’s surprising which looks more natural. But the book goes beyond glorifying large breasts and notorious appendages by showcasing the literary assets of adult film’s finest.

The book also dodges the standard “porn isn’t bad and we’re unfairly judged” stance by including biographies of the actors that highlight their unexpected intelligence. Many have graduated from college and even earned masters degrees. Their talents go far beyond moaning – they cook, design jewelry and act in mainstream movies and TV shows. One even is a registered nurse.

Perhaps the most moving section is a story by a former teenage prostitute named JT LeRoy. With extraordinary writing, he interweaves his experiences dealing with pedophiles, having a child and trying to make it as a writer.

Several of the stars also describe their rise from actor to director to CEO. Jameson, Michael Lucas and Peter North are now in control of their own companies and are capitalizing on way more than their own money shots. Other topics range from self-consciousness to farm life to Zen Buddhism. The book maintains that while these people work in a frowned-upon profession, most lead normal lives with marriage, divorce and children in the mix.

Gore Vidal introduces the book, which also includes an interview by Nancy Friday, author of My Secret Garden, with legendary seductress Nina Hartley.

It’s not exactly that Hustler you always wanted to buy but were too embarrassed to take to the register. Hold your head up high – there’s nothing smutty about this enlightening read.

– Alex Brown