-
Mr. Playboy
- Hugh Hefner and the American Dream
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $21.80
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
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.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Down the Rabbit Hole
- Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny
- By: Holly Madison
- Narrated by: Holly Madison
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The shocking, never-before-told story of the bizarre world inside the legendary Playboy Mansion - and finally the secret truth about the man who holds the key - from one of the few people who truly knows: Hef's former number-one girlfriend and star of The Girls Next Door.
-
-
Entertaining but a bit one sided and snobby
- By Kindle Customer on 06-28-15
By: Holly Madison
-
Counting the Cost
- By: Jill Duggar, Derick Dillard - contributor, Craig Borlase - contributor
- Narrated by: Jill Duggar
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jill and Derick knew a normal life wasn’t possible for them. As a star on the popular TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting, Jill grew up in front of viewers who were fascinated by her family’s way of life. She was the responsible, second daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle’s nineteen kids; always with a baby on her hip and happy to wear the modest ankle-length dresses with throat-high necklines.
-
-
A Naive Account from a Reality TV Personality
- By Lora Kyle on 09-12-23
By: Jill Duggar, and others
-
Making It So
- A Memoir
- By: Patrick Stewart
- Narrated by: Patrick Stewart
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From his acclaimed stage triumphs to his legendary onscreen work in the Star Trek and X-Men franchises, Sir Patrick Stewart has captivated audiences around the world and across multiple generations with his indelible command of stage and screen. Now, he presents his long-awaited memoir, Making It So, a revealing portrait of an artist whose astonishing life—from his humble beginnings in Yorkshire, England, to the heights of Hollywood and worldwide acclaim—proves a story as exuberant, definitive, and enduring as the author himself.
-
-
Incredible! So much more than a memoir
- By Jason on 10-04-23
By: Patrick Stewart
-
The Vegas Diaries
- Romance, Rolling the Dice, and the Road to Reinvention
- By: Holly Madison
- Narrated by: Holly Madison
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When you've come out the other side of the bizarre, twisted world of the Playboy mansion, where do you land? If you're Holly Madison...there's no place like Las Vegas. After making the sudden decision to reclaim her life, Holly broke free from the sheltered, deceptive confines of the mansion (which meant exiting a hit television show) and was determined to start her life over...from scratch. Without the security of a job or a relationship, she set out to reinvent herself on no one's terms but her own.
-
-
Wait is this Mother Teresa or Holly Madison?
- By Veruka on 05-19-16
By: Holly Madison
-
The Rational Male - The Players Handbook
- A Red Pill Guide to Game
- By: Rollo Tomassi
- Narrated by: Trey Radel
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this final master-work of The Rational Male series, Rollo Tomassi breaks down the fundamental mechanics of Game, intersexual social skills, and the nuts and bolts psychology that makes it work. The Players Handbook is not a "how-to" book, it's a "why-it-works" book. It’s not an instruction manual—it is the missing textbook on Game and understanding intersexual dynamics. Game is an adaptive set of social skills and best practices in navigating intersexual dynamics in a modern sexual marketplace.
-
-
poorly edited
- By Ethan T on 07-24-22
By: Rollo Tomassi
-
The Book of Numbers
- Analyzing the ROI on the Pursuit of Women
- By: Aaron Clarey
- Narrated by: Kevin Sapp
- Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This essay aims to inform the reader about the real mathematical chances of success he faces in the pursuit of women, as well as the modern-day risks, so that he may make an informed economic decision as to how he best invests his life. It also aims to align the reader's expectations with reality so his life is not ruined by delusion or hope, both of which have ruined millions of lives in the past. But in short, this essay is nothing less than the most important cost-benefit analysis any man will read.
-
-
Not worth the time
- By Adam Hucker on 03-07-21
By: Aaron Clarey
-
Down the Rabbit Hole
- Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny
- By: Holly Madison
- Narrated by: Holly Madison
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The shocking, never-before-told story of the bizarre world inside the legendary Playboy Mansion - and finally the secret truth about the man who holds the key - from one of the few people who truly knows: Hef's former number-one girlfriend and star of The Girls Next Door.
-
-
Entertaining but a bit one sided and snobby
- By Kindle Customer on 06-28-15
By: Holly Madison
-
Counting the Cost
- By: Jill Duggar, Derick Dillard - contributor, Craig Borlase - contributor
- Narrated by: Jill Duggar
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jill and Derick knew a normal life wasn’t possible for them. As a star on the popular TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting, Jill grew up in front of viewers who were fascinated by her family’s way of life. She was the responsible, second daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle’s nineteen kids; always with a baby on her hip and happy to wear the modest ankle-length dresses with throat-high necklines.
-
-
A Naive Account from a Reality TV Personality
- By Lora Kyle on 09-12-23
By: Jill Duggar, and others
-
Making It So
- A Memoir
- By: Patrick Stewart
- Narrated by: Patrick Stewart
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From his acclaimed stage triumphs to his legendary onscreen work in the Star Trek and X-Men franchises, Sir Patrick Stewart has captivated audiences around the world and across multiple generations with his indelible command of stage and screen. Now, he presents his long-awaited memoir, Making It So, a revealing portrait of an artist whose astonishing life—from his humble beginnings in Yorkshire, England, to the heights of Hollywood and worldwide acclaim—proves a story as exuberant, definitive, and enduring as the author himself.
-
-
Incredible! So much more than a memoir
- By Jason on 10-04-23
By: Patrick Stewart
-
The Vegas Diaries
- Romance, Rolling the Dice, and the Road to Reinvention
- By: Holly Madison
- Narrated by: Holly Madison
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When you've come out the other side of the bizarre, twisted world of the Playboy mansion, where do you land? If you're Holly Madison...there's no place like Las Vegas. After making the sudden decision to reclaim her life, Holly broke free from the sheltered, deceptive confines of the mansion (which meant exiting a hit television show) and was determined to start her life over...from scratch. Without the security of a job or a relationship, she set out to reinvent herself on no one's terms but her own.
-
-
Wait is this Mother Teresa or Holly Madison?
- By Veruka on 05-19-16
By: Holly Madison
-
The Rational Male - The Players Handbook
- A Red Pill Guide to Game
- By: Rollo Tomassi
- Narrated by: Trey Radel
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this final master-work of The Rational Male series, Rollo Tomassi breaks down the fundamental mechanics of Game, intersexual social skills, and the nuts and bolts psychology that makes it work. The Players Handbook is not a "how-to" book, it's a "why-it-works" book. It’s not an instruction manual—it is the missing textbook on Game and understanding intersexual dynamics. Game is an adaptive set of social skills and best practices in navigating intersexual dynamics in a modern sexual marketplace.
-
-
poorly edited
- By Ethan T on 07-24-22
By: Rollo Tomassi
-
The Book of Numbers
- Analyzing the ROI on the Pursuit of Women
- By: Aaron Clarey
- Narrated by: Kevin Sapp
- Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This essay aims to inform the reader about the real mathematical chances of success he faces in the pursuit of women, as well as the modern-day risks, so that he may make an informed economic decision as to how he best invests his life. It also aims to align the reader's expectations with reality so his life is not ruined by delusion or hope, both of which have ruined millions of lives in the past. But in short, this essay is nothing less than the most important cost-benefit analysis any man will read.
-
-
Not worth the time
- By Adam Hucker on 03-07-21
By: Aaron Clarey
-
The Evolution of Desire
- By: David M. Buss
- Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If we all want love, why is there so much conflict in our most cherished relationships? To answer this question we must look into our evolutionary past, argues prominent psychologist David M. Buss. Based one of the largest studies of human mating ever undertaken, encompassing more than 10,000 people of all ages from 37 cultures worldwide, The Evolution of Desire is the first work to present a unified theory of human mating behavior.
-
-
Highly naive look on the nature of women
- By Xavier on 12-10-18
By: David M. Buss
-
Love, Pamela
- A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth
- By: Pamela Anderson
- Narrated by: Pamela Anderson
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this honest, layered and unforgettable book that alternates between storytelling and her own poetry, Pamela Anderson breaks the mold of the celebrity memoir while taking back the tale that has been crafted about her. Her blond bombshell image was ubiquitous in the 1990s. Discovered in the stands of a football game, she was immediately rocket launched into fame, becoming Playboy’s favorite cover girl and an emblem of Hollywood glamour and sexuality. But what happens when you lose grip on your own life—and the image the notoriety machine creates for you is not who you really are?
-
-
Pam Anderson Can’t Make Up Her Mind
- By Kimberly Salinas on 02-11-23
By: Pamela Anderson
-
Troublemaker
- Surviving Hollywood and Scientology
- By: Leah Remini
- Narrated by: Leah Remini
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The outspoken actress, talk show host, and reality television star offers up a no-holds-barred memoir, including an eye-opening insider account of her tumultuous and heart-wrenching 30-year-plus association with the Church of Scientology.
-
-
This book is fascinating and funny! Fantastic!
- By Kim on 11-04-15
By: Leah Remini
-
The Setup
- By: Dan Bilzerian
- Narrated by: Jas Patrick
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The much-anticipated memoir of Dan Bilzerian is almost here! Dan takes listeners on a wild ride, from his anything-but-normal childhood, to the insanity that has followed him on his journey to becoming one of the most famous people in the world. Hear about his upbringing, military service, gambling, guns and other toys, and about girls. Lots of girls. And for the first time, Dan talks openly about how he was able to live unapologetically live his dreams using a simple method that he calls "The Setup".
-
-
What a life
- By Pablo on 07-19-23
By: Dan Bilzerian
-
Oscar Wars
- A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears
- By: Michael Schulman
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 21 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic, others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes.
-
-
Fascinating and FUN
- By Peter Riley on 06-11-23
By: Michael Schulman
-
Why Women Deserve Less
- By: Myron Gaines
- Narrated by: Myron Gaines
- Length: 2 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every man alive today faces a paradox. Your hardwired, biological programming is screaming at you to get girls, get laid, and inevitably start a family. However, today’s women could not be less interested in today’s men.
-
-
Y’all are INSANE
- By Ava S. on 06-19-23
By: Myron Gaines
-
BMF
- The Rise and Fall of Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family
- By: Mara Shalhoup
- Narrated by: L. Steven Taylor
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the early 1990s, Demetrius "Big Meech" Flenory and his brother, Terry "Southwest T", rose up from the slums of Detroit to build one of the largest cocaine empires in American history: the Black Mafia Family. They socialized with music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, did business with New York's king of bling Jacob "The Jeweler" Arabo, and built allegiances with rap superstars Young Jeezy and Fabolous. Yet even as BMF was attracting celebrity attention, its crew members struck fear in a city.
-
-
Good listen
- By Lamont on 04-20-20
By: Mara Shalhoup
-
Elvis and Me
- By: Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
- Narrated by: Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The inspiration for the major motion picture Priscilla directed by Sofia Coppola, this New York Times best seller reveals the intimate story of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, told by the woman who lived it.
-
-
What a story!
- By Pen Name on 08-28-22
-
The Husband Hunters
- American Heiresses Who Married into the British Aristocracy
- By: Anne de Courcy
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Towards the end of the 19th century and for the first few years of the 20th, a strange invasion took place in Britain. The citadel of power, privilege, and breeding in which the titled, land-owning governing class had barricaded itself for so long was breached. The incomers were a group of young women who, 50 years earlier, would have been looked on as the alien denizens of another world - the New World, to be precise. From 1874 - the year that Jennie Jerome, the first known "Dollar Princess", married Randolph Churchill - to 1905, dozens of young American heiresses married into the British peerage....
-
-
Bondfide Valuable History Lesson
- By A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. on 09-21-18
By: Anne de Courcy
-
Kris Jenner...and All Things Kardashian
- By: Kris Jenner
- Narrated by: Marcia Strassman, Kris Jenner (introduction)
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kris Jenner executive produces and stars as matriarch on the hit reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians on E!, now in its fifth smash season. Here, this ambitious businesswoman who has catapulted her family into the public consciousness reveals what it’s like living under the celebrity spotlight and touches on themes of love, loss, marriage, divorce, and motherhood.
-
-
Not narrated by author
- By Carol on 11-07-11
By: Kris Jenner
-
Outlaw Marriages
- The Hidden Histories of Fifteen Extraordinary Same-Sex Couples
- By: Rodger Streitmatter
- Narrated by: Christopher Hurt
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than a century before gay marriage became a hot-button political issue, same-sex unions flourished in America. Pairs of men and pairs of women joined together in committed unions, standing by each other "for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health" for periods of 30 or 40 - sometimes as many as 50 - years. In short, they loved and supported each other every bit as much as any husband and wife. In Outlaw Marriages, cultural historian Rodger Streitmatter reveals how some of these unions didn’t merely improve the quality of life for the two people involved but also enriched the American culture.
-
-
Sames Sex Couples Through History
- By Susie on 12-11-12
-
An Unseemly Man
- My Life as Pornographer, Pundit, and Social Outcast
- By: Larry Flynt, Kenneth Ross
- Narrated by: Todd Susman
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This century's most ardent advocate of the First Amendment, controversial and outspoken, hated and adored, the infamous Larry Flynt's life needs no exaggeration to make it one of the most interesting stories of our time. The real events of Flynt's life are captured here for the very first time, from his roots in Appalachia to his troubles in Beverly Hills.
-
-
Not Highly Recommendable
- By AdvancingTheFrontiersofKnowledge on 11-16-22
By: Larry Flynt, and others
Related to this topic
-
Outlaw Marriages
- The Hidden Histories of Fifteen Extraordinary Same-Sex Couples
- By: Rodger Streitmatter
- Narrated by: Christopher Hurt
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than a century before gay marriage became a hot-button political issue, same-sex unions flourished in America. Pairs of men and pairs of women joined together in committed unions, standing by each other "for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health" for periods of 30 or 40 - sometimes as many as 50 - years. In short, they loved and supported each other every bit as much as any husband and wife. In Outlaw Marriages, cultural historian Rodger Streitmatter reveals how some of these unions didn’t merely improve the quality of life for the two people involved but also enriched the American culture.
-
-
Sames Sex Couples Through History
- By Susie on 12-11-12
-
Ayn Rand and the World She Made
- By: Anne C. Heller
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 19 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ayn Rand is the author of two phenomenally best-selling ideological novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, which have sold over 12 million copies in the United States alone. Through them, she built a right-wing cult following in the late 1950s and became the guiding light of Libertarianism and of White House economic policy in the 1960s and '70s. Her defenses of radical individualism and of selfishness as a "capitalist virtue" have permanently altered the American cultural landscape.
-
-
Great history of both Rand and her era
- By Mark on 08-07-10
By: Anne C. Heller
-
Labor of Love
- The Invention of Dating
- By: Moira Weigel
- Narrated by: Kyra Miller
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weaving together over 100 years of history with scenes from the contemporary landscape, Labor of Love offers a fresh feminist perspective on how we came to date the ways we do. This isn't a guide to "getting the guy". There are no ridiculous "rules" to follow. Instead Weigel helps us understand how looking for love shapes who we are and hopefully leads us closer to the happy ending that dating promises.
-
-
Not Meant To Be Useful, But Quite Fun
- By Gillian on 02-14-17
By: Moira Weigel
-
Empire of Self
- A Life of Gore Vidal
- By: Jay Parini
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The product of 30 years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini's Empire of Self probes behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal's colorful life to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truth underlying his celebrity-strewn life. But there is plenty of glittering surface as well - a virtual who's who of the American Century, from Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart through the Kennedys, Princess Margaret, and the creme de la creme of Hollywood.
-
-
Well done!
- By Christopher on 03-22-16
By: Jay Parini
-
Flapper
- A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern
- By: Joshua Zeitz
- Narrated by: Daniella Rabbani
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Blithely flinging aside the Victorian manners that kept her disapproving mother corseted, the New Woman of the 1920's puffed cigarettes, snuck gin, hiked her hemlines, danced the Charleston, and necked in roadsters. More important, she earned her own keep, controlled her own destiny, and secured liberties that modern women take for granted. Her newfound freedom heralded a radical change in American culture.
-
-
Good Book, Poor Performance
- By redsrule1 on 03-16-14
By: Joshua Zeitz
-
Goddess of the Market
- Ayn Rand and the American Right
- By: Jennifer Burns
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Burns highlights the two facets of Rand's work that make her a perennial draw for those on the right: Her promotion of capitalism, and her defense of limited government. Both sprang from her early, bitter experience of life under Communism, and became among the most deeply enduring of her messages, attracting a diverse audience of college students and intellectuals, business people and Republican Party activists, libertarians and conservatives.
-
-
Unfortunate
- By Andrej Drapal on 03-14-18
By: Jennifer Burns
-
Outlaw Marriages
- The Hidden Histories of Fifteen Extraordinary Same-Sex Couples
- By: Rodger Streitmatter
- Narrated by: Christopher Hurt
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than a century before gay marriage became a hot-button political issue, same-sex unions flourished in America. Pairs of men and pairs of women joined together in committed unions, standing by each other "for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health" for periods of 30 or 40 - sometimes as many as 50 - years. In short, they loved and supported each other every bit as much as any husband and wife. In Outlaw Marriages, cultural historian Rodger Streitmatter reveals how some of these unions didn’t merely improve the quality of life for the two people involved but also enriched the American culture.
-
-
Sames Sex Couples Through History
- By Susie on 12-11-12
-
Ayn Rand and the World She Made
- By: Anne C. Heller
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 19 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ayn Rand is the author of two phenomenally best-selling ideological novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, which have sold over 12 million copies in the United States alone. Through them, she built a right-wing cult following in the late 1950s and became the guiding light of Libertarianism and of White House economic policy in the 1960s and '70s. Her defenses of radical individualism and of selfishness as a "capitalist virtue" have permanently altered the American cultural landscape.
-
-
Great history of both Rand and her era
- By Mark on 08-07-10
By: Anne C. Heller
-
Labor of Love
- The Invention of Dating
- By: Moira Weigel
- Narrated by: Kyra Miller
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weaving together over 100 years of history with scenes from the contemporary landscape, Labor of Love offers a fresh feminist perspective on how we came to date the ways we do. This isn't a guide to "getting the guy". There are no ridiculous "rules" to follow. Instead Weigel helps us understand how looking for love shapes who we are and hopefully leads us closer to the happy ending that dating promises.
-
-
Not Meant To Be Useful, But Quite Fun
- By Gillian on 02-14-17
By: Moira Weigel
-
Empire of Self
- A Life of Gore Vidal
- By: Jay Parini
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The product of 30 years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini's Empire of Self probes behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal's colorful life to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truth underlying his celebrity-strewn life. But there is plenty of glittering surface as well - a virtual who's who of the American Century, from Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart through the Kennedys, Princess Margaret, and the creme de la creme of Hollywood.
-
-
Well done!
- By Christopher on 03-22-16
By: Jay Parini
-
Flapper
- A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern
- By: Joshua Zeitz
- Narrated by: Daniella Rabbani
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Blithely flinging aside the Victorian manners that kept her disapproving mother corseted, the New Woman of the 1920's puffed cigarettes, snuck gin, hiked her hemlines, danced the Charleston, and necked in roadsters. More important, she earned her own keep, controlled her own destiny, and secured liberties that modern women take for granted. Her newfound freedom heralded a radical change in American culture.
-
-
Good Book, Poor Performance
- By redsrule1 on 03-16-14
By: Joshua Zeitz
-
Goddess of the Market
- Ayn Rand and the American Right
- By: Jennifer Burns
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Burns highlights the two facets of Rand's work that make her a perennial draw for those on the right: Her promotion of capitalism, and her defense of limited government. Both sprang from her early, bitter experience of life under Communism, and became among the most deeply enduring of her messages, attracting a diverse audience of college students and intellectuals, business people and Republican Party activists, libertarians and conservatives.
-
-
Unfortunate
- By Andrej Drapal on 03-14-18
By: Jennifer Burns
-
When Brooklyn Was Queer
- By: Hugh Ryan
- Narrated by: Hugh Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hugh Ryan's When Brooklyn Was Queer is a groundbreaking exploration of the LGBT history of Brooklyn, from the early days of Walt Whitman in the 1850s up through the queer women who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II, and beyond. In intimate, evocative, moving prose, Ryan brings this never-before-told story of Brooklyn's vibrant and forgotten queer history to life.
-
-
A Love Letter
- By Jeffrey on 06-26-19
By: Hugh Ryan
-
Feminism and Pop Culture
- Seal Studies
- By: Andi Zeisler
- Narrated by: Angela Reed
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether or not we like to admit it, pop culture is a lens through which we alternately view and shape the world around us. When it comes to feminism, pop culture aids us in translating feminist philosophies, issues, and concepts into everyday language, making them relevant and relatable. In Feminism and Pop Culture, author and cofounder of Bitch magazine Andi Zeisler traces the impact of feminism on pop culture (and vice versa) from the 1940s to the present and beyond.
-
-
Really needs an update
- By Lori Grossman on 04-05-18
By: Andi Zeisler
-
Sidney Poitier
- Man, Actor, Icon
- By: Aram Goudsouzian
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 20 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the first full biography of actor Sidney Poitier, Aram Goudsouzian analyzes the life and career of a Hollywood legend, from his childhood in the Bahamas to his 2002 Oscar for lifetime achievement. Poitier is a gifted actor, a great American success story, an intriguing personality, and a political symbol; his life and career illuminate America's racial history.
-
-
The Man, the Star, the Lightning Rod
- By Susie on 01-28-13
By: Aram Goudsouzian
-
90s Bitch
- Media, Culture, and the Failed Promise of Gender Equality
- By: Allison Yarrow
- Narrated by: Allison Yarrow
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To understand how we got here, we have rewind the VHS tape. 90s Bitch tells the real story of women and girls in the 1990s, exploring how they were maligned by the media, vilified by popular culture, and objectified in the marketplace. Trailblazing women like Hillary Clinton, Anita Hill, Marcia Clark, and Roseanne Barr were undermined. Newsmakers like Monica Lewinsky, Tonya Harding, and Lorena Bobbitt were shamed and misunderstood. The advent of the 24-hour news cycle reinforced society's deeply entrenched sexism.
-
-
A surprising look back
- By Laura on 02-05-24
By: Allison Yarrow
-
Emily Post
- Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of American Manners
- By: Laura Claridge
- Narrated by: Christine Williams
- Length: 18 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the excesses of the late 19th-century Gilded Age, through the horrors of World War I, to the transformations of the Roaring 20s that gave birth to her magisterial Etiquette, Emily Post unfailingly took the measure of her era. A Baltimore blue blood with a populist heart, she helped the masses live the American dream with her hugely popular book, which has been continuously in print for over 85 years.
-
-
Typical for Emily Post
- By Stephanie on 01-07-19
By: Laura Claridge
-
Inga
- Kennedy's Great Love, Hitler's Perfect Beauty, and J. Edgar Hoover's Prime Suspect
- By: Scott Farris
- Narrated by: Scott Farris
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In addition to her romance with Kennedy, Arvad married four times - including to an Egyptian prince, the brilliant filmmaker Paul Fejos, and the famed cowboy movie star Tim McCoy. She had affairs with Wall Street financier Bernard Baruch, the noted surgeon Dr. William Cahan, and Winston Churchill's right hand man, Baron Robert Boothby. But by all accounts her admirers among the European and American elite loved Inga not for her physical beauty, but for her joie de vivre.
-
-
Excellent Kennedy Read
- By James P. Barraza on 04-14-17
By: Scott Farris
-
With Amusement for All
- A History of American Popular Culture since 1830
- By: LeRoy Ashby
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 33 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With Amusement for All is the first comprehensive history of two centuries of mass entertainment in the United States, covering everything from the penny press to Playboy, the NBA to NASCAR, big band to hip hop, and other topics including film, comics, television, sports, and music. Paying careful attention to matters of race, gender, class, economics, and politics, LeRoy Ashby emphasizes the complex ways in which popular culture simultaneously reflects and transforms American culture.
-
-
So Much Fun!
- By Paul on 11-28-13
By: LeRoy Ashby
-
Ida M. Tarbell
- The Woman Who Challenged Big Business - and Won!
- By: Emily Arnold McCully
- Narrated by: Emily Arnold McCully
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in 1857 and raised in oil country, Ida M. Tarbell was one of the first investigative journalists and probably the most influential in her time. Her series of articles on the Standard Oil Trust, a complicated business empire run by John D. Rockefeller, revealed to readers the underhanded, even illegal practices that had led to Rockefeller's success.
-
-
Excellent!
- By AKA1 on 03-16-19
-
A Strange Stirring
- 'The Feminine Mystique' and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s
- By: Stephanie Coontz
- Narrated by: Diane Cardea
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on exhaustive research and interviews, and challenging both conservative and liberal myths about Friedan, A Strange Stirring brilliantly illuminates how a generation of women came to realize that their dissatisfaction with domestic life didn’t reflect their personal weakness but rather a social and political injustice.
-
-
Good histroy and well written
- By Hannah Lasher on 06-18-16
By: Stephanie Coontz
-
Confidential Confidential
- The Inside Story of Hollywood's Notorious Scandal Magazine
- By: Samantha Barbas
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1950s, Confidential magazine, America's first celebrity scandal magazine, revealed Hollywood stars' secrets, misdeeds, and transgressions in gritty, unvarnished detail. Deploying a vast network of tipsters to root out stars' sexual affairs, drug use, and sexuality, publisher Robert Harrison destroyed celebrities' carefully constructed images and built a media empire. Confidential became the best-selling magazine on American newsstands in the 1950s, surpassing Time, Life, and the Saturday Evening Post. Confidential's spectacular rise was followed by an equally spectacular fall.
-
-
Fascinating! Painstaking Research & Documentation
- By A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. on 05-22-19
By: Samantha Barbas
-
We Were Feminists Once
- From Riot Grrrl to CoverGirl®, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement
- By: Andi Zeisler
- Narrated by: Joell A. Jacob
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today, feminism is no longer a dirty word, and women purporting to stand up for women's equality now include high-powered names like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Emma Watson. Hip underwear lines sell granny pants with "feminist" emblazoned on the back. In every bookstore, there are scores of seductive feminist how-to business guides telling women how to achieve "it all".
-
-
Fantastic book despite shoddy narration
- By Seth H. Wilson on 05-19-16
By: Andi Zeisler
-
Trailblazer
- A Pioneering Journalist's Fight to Make the Media Look More Like America
- By: Dorothy Butler Gilliam
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dorothy Butler Gilliam, whose 50-year-career as a journalist put her in the forefront of the fight for social justice, offers a comprehensive view of racial relations and the media in the US.
-
-
Struggled to finish
- By SL41639 on 04-06-20
What listeners say about Mr. Playboy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- genevieve
- 09-06-11
An interesting portrait of American culture.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I didn't want something that felt like fifty years of "The Girls Next Door" or lengthy descriptions of Hefner's sexual exploits. I wanted something compelling, something that could explain what made Playboy what it has become, and that is what I got with this book.
Each decade from 1953 until now is described in great detail. The Playboy empire is at the forefront, but the social climate of America is the other main character. Playboy changed with the times, shapeshifting to keep up with the trends. It's a common business model. Reinventing yourself over and over to remain a classic.
My only complaint about this book is that I found it to be a little repetitive at times, there were definitely moments where I was having flashbacks of having heard the exact same sentences a couple times before. I think it just has to do with the style it was written in.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Megawampum
- 03-16-16
Fantastic Story
A very thoughtful, and well narrated story that illustrates Hugh Hefner's successes and failures in the context of great social and economic changes over the course of a half century.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- R Fuller
- 01-14-09
Great book but a little long
Very interesting story of how Hugh Hefner started and an interesting look into his life. The only problem was after a while it started to drag on and on. Overall a very interesting story and it's easy to see why so many men idolize Hugh Hefner; including me!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carl
- 01-05-11
Great Book About Influence of Playboy
If you are looking for a book primarily about Hef's sexlife and all the wild things that have happened under the Playboy banner then you aren't going to get much about that. This book is mainly a scholarly work about the influence of Playboy on our culture and the dynamic phenomenon the organization became.
Its a great book with a great reader about how Playboy was started, its iinfluence on Hef, how he and the organization have changed over time, and why Playboy influence has gone were no other girlie mag ever has.
Had fun with it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- kym
- 07-05-12
Disapointing
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
People who are more interested in the magazine than the man
What was most disappointing about Steven Watts’s story?
Very little insite into Hugh Heffener himself
What does Ray Porter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Peserverance
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Disappointment
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- J. Taliadoros
- 02-03-09
Boring
The last thing I expected of a story about Hugh Hefner was that it would be boring, yet this author spends so much time on cultural influences that it's more like a textbook than an engaging life story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Eugene B.
- 03-28-22
Yawwwwwwn
Too much fluff, not enough substance. This author made Hugh Hefner's life story into a snoozer.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!