If you’ve learned nothing from Boogie Nights, listen up: John Holmes was the well-endowed porn king who blew it all up his nose and got involved with some very bad people before he died of AIDS in 1988. Jennifer Sugar and Jill C. Nelson’s biography, John Holmes: A Life Measured in Inches, “unearths the human being behind the penis,” and tonight’s reading from the book includes the porn star’s widow, Laurie Holmes; director Bob Chinn, who helmed Holmes’ “Johnny Wadd” films (and was the inspiration for Boogie Nights’ Jack Horner); and actor William Margold, one of Holmes’ co-stars. Cake and Art in West Hollywood will provide the (we assume) phallus-shaped cake. And if you’re still watching dirty movies in a raincoat, the Silent Movie Theater hosts a free and not-so-silent midnight screening of Eruption, starring Holmes. Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., W. Hlywd.; Fri., Aug. 8,7-9 p.m. (310) 659-3110. Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A.; Fri., Aug. 8, mid.; $8. (323) 655- 2510.
Fri., Aug. 8, 7 p.m., 2008

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