Playboy's Hugh Hefner: Empire of Skin - ...

Playboy's Hugh Hefner: Empire of Skin offers an approach to understanding Playboy icon Hefner that goes beyond the empire he built to consider his lasting impact on sexuality in America, delving into his approaches to entertainment and male privilege (among many other considerations of his life and influence).

 

Readers must throw out any preconceived notions about what a Hefner biography would look like in order to consider the multifaceted approach of Playboy's Hugh Hefner: Empire of Skin because it toes the line between a gossip piece and a broader inspection of Hefner's authority.

 

It should also be mentioned that this is no light piece. Over five hundred pages of facts about Hefner are culled from some 50 years of research from a former bureau chief and entertainment reporter at the Miami Herald. Playboy's Hugh Hefner contains a satisfying blend of factual reporting and discussions of affairs, Playboy politics, and Hefner's psyche, motivations, influences, and ambitions.

 

Readers who want to learn more about either Hefner or the Playboy empire's evolution, and who like their facts couched in a gossipy tone of drama to create compelling insights and reading, will relish Playboy's Hugh Hefner, and won't consider its length to be daunting.

 

Black and white photos of people, places, and memorabilia abound, complimenting and breaking up text and providing a fine visual embellishment to interviews and Hefner's own perceptions of himself.

 

The result is spicy, revealing, fact-based, and compelling: the kind of reveal read that appears weighty and daunting, but proves to be accessible, involving, and hard to put down. Playboy's Hugh Hefner is highly recommended reading for anyone who would learn more about Hefner, his world, and his times.

Holly Madison, former girlfriend of Hugh Hefner in the hit reality show The Girls Next Door describes how her years inside the Playboy Mansion went from a fairytale of A-list celebrity parties to an oppressive regime of strict rules, scheduled sex, and a total loss of identity, so much so that she even contemplated suicide. Holly then turned her life around by becoming the Peep Show star, mother, wife and author. Meow! The claws are out in this tell-all book about the Playboy Mansion and it's in Holly Madison, former girlfriend of Hugh Hefner in the hit reality show The Girls Next Door describes how her years inside the Playboy Mansion went from a fairytale of A-list celebrity parties to an oppressive regime of strict rules, scheduled sex, and a total loss of identity, so much so that she even contemplated suicide. Holly then turned her life around by becoming the Peep Show star, mother, wife and author. Meow! The claws are out in this tell-all book about the Playboy Mansion and it's inhabitants. I listened to the audio-book that Holly Madison voiced and it was AMAZING! Holly dished the dirt! Whew! It was juicy! This is one of the best celebrity memoirs I've read in a long time.

A biography of Hugh Hefner is not complete without delving into the Playboy Mansion, the rotating round bed and the infamous grotto …I understand that. A biography of Hugh Hefner is not complete without looking at Mr. Hefner’s personal sexual philosophy … I get that too. This book offers just a little too much of all that. Titillating? Not so much … parts of this book could have been called The American “Wet” Dream.

Okay, with that rant out of the way, the rest of book was extremely interesting. His childhood and college years, his relationship with his first wife and all the experiences that eventually translated into Playboy Magazine were interesting. His “mission statement” for the magazine and his dedication to making it newsworthy, intellectual and always current was enlightening. There is no doubt that the introduction of Playboy changed the sexuality of the times. Mr. Watts did an admirable job in conveying all the information.

Overall it was a interesting book about an even more interesting man.