Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream Book

Hefner is certainly a cultural player worthy of a thoughtful biography; however, i remain unconvinced that mr. playboy needed its full 453 pages. my biggest complaint was the wordiness, the repetitiveness. i felt the book could have been shortened by at least 100 pgs. entire chapters felt unnecessary, such as chapter seven which, except for a few paragraphs about his political interests, was largely a reiteration of ideas well covered in previous chapters. while there is some discussion of how the playboy aesthetic differed from more traditional, explicit pornography, the author could have delved deeper. the playboy look was well crafted--natural girls, mostly unknown, photographed in natural poses, often as if interrupted mid-task. this aesthetic always seemed, to me, to be the magazine's most pervasive, lasting effect on culture as well as one of its most interesting aspects: the unabashed fuckability of the 'everyday' girl. whether a waitress, coed, or "radical political activist," the available girl could be anywhere, is everywhere.

overall, i wanted to see less generalized discussions of hef's role in the sexual revolution and the counterculture of the 60s, and more analysis about how specifically he helped foster, as the author argues throughout, said cultural changes.

a fun clit fact: the first instance of the word clitoris in playboy is during the 1968 interview with masters and johnson whose research hef's playboy foundation helped fund.