July 15, 2006 | Porn Stars

Aiden Shaw bio panned

The reviews are in: Aiden Shaw's new memoir, "My Undoing," is not one to break the bookshop doors down over. A tale of sex, drugs and -- well -- more sex and drugs, the bio is being criticized for its lack of insight by queer pubs like the the Bay Area Reporter, the Washington Blade and the Dallas Voice.

Shaw's frank recounting of his tumultuous rise from street corner prostitution to gay porn stardom is "initally refreshing," reports the Voice's J.S. Hall, but ultimately a "disappointment." That's because the British stallion tells great stories, but fails to do them justice with adequate reflection and remembrance.

"The monotony of  'and then I fucked' sets in rather quickly," writes Robert Julian of the Reporter.

Index Magazine has called Shaw "the thinking man's porn idol" for his diverse interests in theater, music and literature, says the Blade's Gregory Hamm. However, as Hamm observes, Shaw's autobiography lacks the authentic perspective expected of such a creative, well-rounded man.

"Too often, sadly, 'My Undoing' abandons insight for shock value," Hamm writes. "The result is an autobiography that reads like the diary of a lovesick teenager who happens to have a voracious taste for sex and an insatiable drug habit."

Also disappointing to reviewers was the way in which Shaw, who is HIV-positive, treated his illness. "Rather than use his HIV status to make insightful commentary about the progressiveness of the modern porn industry or about how the perception of disease tempers celebrity," writes Hamm, "Shaw folds it into the dangerous cocktail of drugs and sex that appears to rule his life."

Still, for all its misses, "My Undoing" has some hits, say those who've read it. For one, says Julian, Shaw's prose is clean and well-written. Secondly, says Hamm, the book has moments of tremendous tenderness and unique insights. Even Hall concedes that the story is at times surprisingly engaging.

"My Undoing" claims to be a story about looking for love amid excessive lust. Ultimately, however, it's just another story about a lost soul with a big dick. And while that story makes the boys swoon on the small screen, it apparently puts them to sleep in print.

• Dicking around: Aiden Shaw in all his glory [Bay Area Reporter]
• Between the sheets: gay porn star Aiden Shaw does little to illuminate his life in memoir [Washington Blade]
• Flaccid attempt: Aiden Shaw autobio unearths the dull side of sex trade [Dallas Voice]