She whipped up a storm

Roopinder Singh

WHY would you read Stormy Daniels’ book? Curiosity? Certainly. Sneaking admiration for the woman who took on the most powerful man in the world?  Quite so. Because you have been asked to? Yes. No matter what the reason for going behind the cover of this biography, the book reveals, shocks, and engages the reader.

President Donald Trump’s tryst with Stephanie Gregory Clifford, winner of 28 awards, mainly as a porn star and a director, is now well known. His lawyer had negotiated a gag order with Stormy, but when the tale leaked anyhow, the President denied it. His supporters retaliated with many an attack on her, primarily cyber and also, according to her, a verbal threat to her and her daughter. The pugnacious girl from Baton Rogue, capital of Louisiana, gave as good as she got. Her dogged persistence won her admirers, as she raised a storm in a teacup.

The story of a “straight As” student, whose life fell apart after her father left her mother, is one of struggle against odds. She is a survivor, has a keen sense of capitalism, and you can feel her loyalty to her friends from the manner in which she protects them, or discusses them. Here is a woman who loved horse riding and got herself a horse while she was in school. She wrangled a pole dancer’s job while she was underage, and got herself a prominent place in the world of adult films, acting, writing scripts and eventually directing such productions. There are enough misadventures in her life that make you shake your head, and some graphic descriptions that many readers may well skip.

The chapter that has garnered most attention is naturally the one of her encounter with Trump. “I noticed that he was looking at my face, not my breasts,” she says while recounting how the first day began.  Trump’s bodyguard extended her an invitation from his boss for dinner, to which she agreed. They spoke about their respective industries during the said dinner, how they were non-drinkers, his daughter Ivanka and his family...and then it happened. “It may have been the least impressive sex I’d ever had.” He had dangled an appearance in The Apprentice in return, and she kept up with him until it became evident that it was not happening.

Her rationale for “coming forward” with the story is her attorney’s advice: “the only way for you to keep your family safe is for your story to be out there.” However, she was persuaded to sign a non-disclosure agreement, for which she got $80,000 in her husband’s account. How she decided to get out of the agreement and met the “gorgeous” Michael Avantti is another tale. 

Far from being a narration of a life of glamour, we also find out how her family life suffered and the break-up with the father of her daughter, Glen. 

Stormy’s story is one of struggle, of a bright girl, a Republican from the forgotten, unglamorous America, who consciously became a part of the adult entertainment industry. Her tryst with a randy married man would have been a footnote in history, as would she have been, had he not become the President of the United States of America. As we read the book, we are reminded of the sneaking admiration we had of the spunky, sassy replies of the woman who took on the might of the Trump machine.