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About
When Hugh Hefner quit his job at Esquire to start a magazine called Playboy, he didn't just want to make money, he wanted to make dreams come true. The first issue had a Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, an article on the Dorsey brothers, and a feature on desk design for the modern office. Hefner wrote much of the copy himself and drew all the cartoons. But the most memorable part by far was the set of pictures he bought from a local calendar printer of a scantily clad Marilyn Monroe. In this wise and penetrating biography, intellectual historian Steven Watts looks at what Hugh Hefner went on to become and how he took America with him. Hefner became one of the most hated and envied celebrities in America, standing just barely on the wrong side of decency—with as many as seven million subscribers to his magazine.
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Reviews
"Porter's rich, resonant reading cruises along at a comfortable, relaxed gait. Given the wealth of information…Porter's delivery could become monotonous, but he modulates his tones, bringing emphasis and clarity to the details…Webb brings legitimate research to this reliable account of an American icon. Porter's strong reading makes this extremely palatable."
Booklist
"[F]ascinating…offers readers new insights into the life of one of the most renowned entrepreneurs of the twentieth century. Ray Porter gives a rousing, commanding reading that exercises his captivating voice. His strong voice contains a certain journalistic integrity that holds the listener's attention, and his unbiased tone allows listeners to draw their own conclusions about Hefner."
Publishers Weekly
"Steven Watts biography presents a more complex personality lurking behind the pipe and smoking jacket, and Ray Porters courtly manner suggests indignation, and near envy, over Hefners excesses. The tension is well suited to the tangled web of contradictions that Hefner embodies."
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