“The Porning of America: The Rise of Porn Culture, What it Means, and Where We Go from Here”
By Carmine Sarracino and Kevin M. Scott
   

AUGUSTA, GA - In a rather open minded treatment of a usually controversial topic, Carmine Sarracino and Kevin M. Scott offer an interesting glimpse at one of the most successful industries in history in “The Porning of America: The Rise of Porn Culture, What it Means, and Where We Go from Here.”

A collection of academic achievement, Sarracino and Scott are both members of the English Department of Elizabethtown College. Living in Pennsylvania with their families, the two have come together to study the rise of pornographic culture in a systematic analysis of its representation and salience within American society. Carmine Sarracino is the author of three previous books of poetry and Kevin M. Scott directs the English Education program at the college. Between the two, readers find an intriguing narrative wrapped around a fascinating subject that continues to inspire debate throughout society. 

Though actively pro-sex in its conception, the book has an underlying concern with the power for inspiration as well as damage to be found in the hard-won sexual freedoms of recent American history. While exploring the rise of this distinct culture, the authors also highlight the misogyny rooted within our cultural representations while celebrating the sexual exploration of the industry. 

As a result, the book serves as an interesting jumping point for discussion concerning sex and sexuality within the contemporary American framework. While exploring the powerful, profitable place of pornography in modern America, the writers trace the framework of the industry from the Civil War to the present time period. In this regard, they offer a critical examination of the multitude of themes and frames within the pornographic history of America. 

In this regard, they manage to highlight the escape of pornography from the basements, alleys, private showings, comic books, and darker places of American consciousness into a free range of expression throughout popular culture. Taking aim at commercials, movies and Internet sites of the all ages’ variety, they highlight the transition from sex in secretive locales to sexuality wild and free on the open airwaves. In this regard, they attempt to spearhead a new debate about the role of sexuality, sexual activity and liberation in general in the coming generation of American society. 

Written with an expansive grasp of the highlights of pornographic history and a mastery of narrative argument, “The Porning of America” is a fascinating view of the changing popular culture surrounding American life, which offers a new vision of the days to come and a multitude of debates to be had concerning the sexual reality of the contemporary world. 

Sarracino, Carmine and Kevin M. Scott.  “The Porning of America: The Rise of Porn Culture, What it Means, and Where We Go from Here.”  Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press.  2008.  251pp.  $24.95 Cloth.  ISBN:  9780807061534.