Playboy , Hefner''s ideal for living -- marked by his allegiances to Tarzan, Freud, Pepsi-Cola and jazz -- proves to be a kind of gloss on the Protestant work ethic. No missing or damaged pages, no creases or tears, no underlining or highlighting of text, and no writing in the margins.

A] nuanced portrait of Hefner’s life that also serves as a panorama of hip culture from the 1950s onward…Probably the last word on the man behind a million adolescent fantasies. Playboy tells the compelling and uniquely American story of how one person with a provocative idea, a finger on the pulse of popular opinion, and a passion for his work altered the course of modern history. He also has appeared in a variety of programs on CBS, NBC, CNBC, NPR, Fox, Fox News, C-Span, Bloomberg News, MSNBC, BBC, and Irish National Radio. They have been reviewed in nearly every major newspaper and magazine in the United States, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Review of Books, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Newsday, Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, Denver Post, USA Today, New Republic, Nation, Commentary, Atlantic, Harper’s, Economist, National Review, Reason, and many others.If we re to believe this book, it s the Truth about Hugh Hefner and, by proxy, about American life since the 1950s. Granted unprecedented access to the man and his enterprise, Watts traces Hef''s life and career from his midwestern, Methodist upbringing and the first publication of Playboy in 1953 through the turbulent sixties, self-indulgent seventies, reactionary eighties, and traditionalist nineties, up to the present. Playboy", Hefner's ideal for living - marked by his allegiances to Tarzan, Freud, Pepsi-Cola and jazz - proves to be a kind of gloss on the Protestant work ethic' - "Los Angeles Times". Change country: -Select- Australia Bermuda Canada Germany Greenland Japan Mexico New Zealand Puerto Rico Saint Pierre and Miquelon United Kingdom United States Virgin Islands (U.

Watts convincingly argues that Hefner anticipated a number of distinct trends that transformed American society, including postwar consumerism, feminism (whose adherents, generally speaking, castigated Hef) and, of course, the′60s sexual revolution.

He didn't stop thrusting in and out until they reached their climax and shouting in so much satisfaction. highly–readable and thought–provoking biography written by academic historian, Stephen Watts" ( Desire , November 2008) Hugh Hefner started Playboy magazine in 1953 using purchased photos of Marilyn Monroe, and including the article "Miss Gold Digger 1953" about women who "manipulate the legal system for alimony. Examining Playboy archives (Hef is something of a pack rat) and Hefner′s own journals, Watts (History/Univ. The Horatio-Alger-with-a-libido case he makes-where else but in America could a repressed midwestern boy rise, and fall into so many sacks, while creating and brand-managing a multimedia empire?

But, time and again, anyone who opposed Hefner or his viewpoints - and there were many, many such people - is depicted as misguided, malicious, downright evil, or even mentally ill. This book also illustrates how the social conditions of this post-war period changed to cater for the individual consumerist desires of today.Playboy, Hefner's ideal for living — marked by his allegiances to Tarzan, Freud, Pepsi-Cola and jazz — proves to be a kind of gloss on the Protestant work ethic.

He reveals that from the beginning Hefner believed he could overturn social norms and take America with him. Los Angeles Times Gorgeous 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. Publishers Weekly , July 28, 2008) Detailed assessment of the debatably enviable life of America′s bachelor.The publisher played a crucial role in the sexual revolution that upended traditional notions of behavior and expectation regarding sex. 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