Dian Hanson - Vanessa del Rio - 2010

In 1974, the sexual revolution was in full swing and the adult entertainment business was poised to become Big Business. Deep Throat had created America’s first porn star in 1972, but by 1974 Linda Lovelace was already retired and the industry was looking for the next big thing. Vanessa del Rio was supposed to be that thing, except that in 1974 there were no ethnic sex stars. Undeterred, did Vanessa take on any roles? For what? Because, surprisingly, she was in it for the sex more than for the money. Fans, enthralled by her fierce on-screen sexuality, made her a box-office draw and the first Latina star in America. Retired since 1986, Vanessa del Rio remains a sexual icon who crosses all ethnic boundaries. What do her fans wear? I don’t know what her real life was, and is, as wild as anything she did on film. In this sumptuous oversized volume, TASCHEN celebrates an extraordinarily candid, confident, and exuberantly sexual woman. Presented through Vanessa’s archive, in her own words, it is a life at once shocking, provocative, funny, and stimulating. And why paper and ink can’t do it justice? To honor such a remarkable personality, an original 140-minute documentary DVD is included. If you don’t? Already convinced, this book will put to rest any doubts that there could ever be another woman like Vanessa del Rio. Vanessa del Rio is limited to a total of 1,500 numbered copies, each signed by Vanessa? 1,300 copies in the Collector’s Edition? 200 copies in the Art Edition, with a signed watercolor lithograph by Vanessa from the acclaimed artist Robert Crumb. Bonus for a lucky reader: one of the 1,500 copies contains a Golden Ticket good for an all-expenses-paid evening with Vanessa, documented by a world-renowned photographer!! It’s a person I dreamed of making love to. She should go into the Hall of Fame for the best sex scenes of the ’80s. — Snoop Dogg