Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream

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Circulation peaked in the swinging ′70s (as did an ugly drug controversy); the ′80s were less kind, as the brand seemed dated. constructs a nuanced portrait of Hefner′s life that also serves as a panorama of hip culture from the 1950s onward Sinatra, JFK and many others put in appearances. Choice Reviews , May 2009) ""Just past the round rotating bed, beyond the hot-tub grotto but before the pajama-draped walk-in, lies … what? Los Angeles TimesGorgeous young women in revealing poses; extravagant mansion parties packed with celebrities; a hot-tub grotto, elegant smoking jackets, and round rotating beds; the hedonistic pursuit of uninhibited sex. Playboy" is no longer the cultural force it used to be, but it made a stamp on society' - "Associated Press".

Like it or not, Hugh Hefner has affected all of us, so I treasured learning about how and why in the sober biography' - "Chicago Sun Times". Although advocating women′s sexual freedom and their liberation from traditional family constraints, the publisher became a whipping boy for feminists who viewed him as a prophet for a new kind of male domination. Clocking in at over 500 pages, this is not a gossip book but a well–documented biography written with access to Hefner′s over 1800 scrapbooks, the company archives, and interviews.If we re to believe this book, it s the Truth about Hugh Hefner and, by proxy, about American life since the 1950s. constructs a nuanced portrait of Hefner's life that also serves as a panorama of hip culture from the 1950s onward-Sinatra, JFK and many others put in appearances.

Critics sought to ban Playboy, with many accusing it of contributing to a moral degradation of society.But Watts, a history professor prone to interpreting American Dreamers (he has written stellar works on Henry Ford and Walt Disney), is wise to draw a narrow bead on Hef qua Hef, dividing his life into tidy quadrants of postwar influence and iconography: as sexual liberator, avatar of consumerism, pop–culture purveyor, lightning rod for feminist ire.