The Road Through Wonderland

Overview

A young girl survives unimaginable cruelty and violence

Painstakingly honest, this chilling memoir reveals how a teenager became immersed in the bizarre life of legendary porn star John Holmes. Starting with a childhood that molded her perfectly to fall for the seduction of “the king of porn,” this autobiography recounts the perilous road that Dawn Schiller traveled—from drugs and addiction to beatings, arrests, forced prostitution, and being sold to the drug underworld. After living through the horrific Wonderland murders of 1981, she entered protective custody, ran from the FBI, and turned in John Holmes to the police. This is the true story of a young girl’s harrowing escape from one of the most infamous public figures, her struggle to survive, and her recovery from unthinkable abuse.

Reviews

"Curiously enough for a book concerned with notorious pornographic film star John Holmes, there is very little emphasis on sex here. Instead, Schiller, who met Holmes in 1976 when she was just 15, details their five-year love affair, the stability he provided in the wake of her troubled childhood, and the deterioration of their relationship after Holmes became addicted to cocaine and was ultimately arrested." —Booklist

"The emotions are strong throughout this well-written book and lead the reader into a world few travel and survive. I was unable to put the book down!" —Susan Murphy Milano, violence expert and author, Time's Up: A Guide on How to Leave and Survive Abuse and Stalking Relationships

"Dawn Schiller manages to write so beautifully about something so shatteringly repulsive." —National Center for Victims of Crime

"Gritty and starkly honest." —Mike Sager, writer at large, Esquire; author, Scary Monsters and Super Freaks

"Dawn Schiller's courageous and intimately detailed memoir has given us a rare backstage glimpse at the tragic life of one man whom the porn industry used to sustain its myth-making machinery—and the havoc he wreaked in the life of a vulnerable young woman." —Dr. Jackson Katz, author, The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help

"The most mesmerizing memoir since Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle." —AOL News

"[Schiller's] unflinching prose makes a gruesome story that much more compelling.” —Los Angeles Magazine

"Schiller's writing is gripping, and the reader gets sucked in to this twisted tale. The story is so shocking it's hard to believe that she lived through these terrifying events. This book is hard to put down and definitely provokes the reader to want to continue to see what happens next." —Nicole Will, Portland Book Review (March 2011)

Author Biography

Dawn Schiller was an associate producer and consultant on the 2003 movie Wonderland, which depicted the life of John Holmes in and around 1981. She is a member of a variety of committees—including the President’s Commission on the Status of Women and the National Center of Victims of Crime—and she has developed a program called Throwaway Teens: Who Are They and How Can We Help?, which brings awareness to the experiences of kids targeted and groomed by predators.