Boring

The last thing I expected of a story about Hugh Hefner was that it would be boring, yet this author spends so much time on cultural influences that it's more like a textbook than an engaging life story.

5 people found this helpful

Disapointing

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

People who are more interested in the magazine than the man

What was most disappointing about Steven Watts’s story?

Very little insite into Hugh Heffener himself

What does Ray Porter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Peserverance

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment

3 people found this helpful

Great book but a little long

Very interesting story of how Hugh Hefner started and an interesting look into his life. The only problem was after a while it started to drag on and on. Overall a very interesting story and it's easy to see why so many men idolize Hugh Hefner; including me!

3 people found this helpful

An interesting portrait of American culture.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I didn't want something that felt like fifty years of "The Girls Next Door" or lengthy descriptions of Hefner's sexual exploits. I wanted something compelling, something that could explain what made Playboy what it has become, and that is what I got with this book.
Each decade from 1953 until now is described in great detail. The Playboy empire is at the forefront, but the social climate of America is the other main character. Playboy changed with the times, shapeshifting to keep up with the trends. It's a common business model. Reinventing yourself over and over to remain a classic.
My only complaint about this book is that I found it to be a little repetitive at times, there were definitely moments where I was having flashbacks of having heard the exact same sentences a couple times before. I think it just has to do with the style it was written in.

2 people found this helpful

Great Book About Influence of Playboy

If you are looking for a book primarily about Hef's sexlife and all the wild things that have happened under the Playboy banner then you aren't going to get much about that. This book is mainly a scholarly work about the influence of Playboy on our culture and the dynamic phenomenon the organization became.

Its a great book with a great reader about how Playboy was started, its iinfluence on Hef, how he and the organization have changed over time, and why Playboy influence has gone were no other girlie mag ever has.

Had fun with it.

2 people found this helpful

Fantastic Story

A very thoughtful, and well narrated story that illustrates Hugh Hefner's successes and failures in the context of great social and economic changes over the course of a half century.