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Hef's Little Black Book
Fifty years after inventing the Good Life as no one else had dared, the Master Playboy of the Western World at last shares the secrets that have for generations made him the envy of all free-thinking men and women. Hef's Little Black Book conjures the legendary lifestyle of Hugh M. Hefner as never before, a treasure trove of urbane lore, wry advice, and time-honored wisdom spanning the realms of romance, hedonism, ambition, business, dreams, and, of course, sex. From the pursuit of Love to the politics of the Bedroom, from the inspiration of a single idea to the emergence of a sprawling international corporation built on self-belief, Hef provides an invaluable guide to anyone who has ever thought big.
Accompanied by tantalizing, never-before-seen photographs, the gateway to Hugh Hefner's Dream World of Cool awaits you. If you don't swing, don't ring.
Accompanied by tantalizing, never-before-seen photographs, the gateway to Hugh Hefner's Dream World of Cool awaits you. If you don't swing, don't ring.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2009
13 people are currently reading
181 people want to read
About the author
Hugh Hefner
320 books19 followersHugh Marston Hefner also referred to colloquially as Hef, was the founder, majority owner, editor-in-chief, and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 17, 2008
started: 6/12/08
finished: 6/16
This is by far the most poorly written book I have ever read. It is basically Bill Zehme trying to write a book around many random quotes by Hefner. After getting beyond the incredibly poor writing, the book was fairly interesting and gave some insight into why he is the way he is. I really think it will be interesting when he does pass away because I think it will come out that he has some mental issues, judging by much of his behavior...but that is just my opinion.
pages: 182
finished: 6/16
This is by far the most poorly written book I have ever read. It is basically Bill Zehme trying to write a book around many random quotes by Hefner. After getting beyond the incredibly poor writing, the book was fairly interesting and gave some insight into why he is the way he is. I really think it will be interesting when he does pass away because I think it will come out that he has some mental issues, judging by much of his behavior...but that is just my opinion.
pages: 182
June 4, 2017
Among the unofficial rites of passage for males in my generation was your hidden stash of Playboy magazines. And of course we only hid them away from our parents because we wanted to read all of the articles for legitimate homework assignments. Being something of a nerd I also set aside time to read the Playboy Advisor. It was here that I learned the serious language of high fidelity versus high-frequency - for you youngsters that's not a reference to sexual styles but rather to the machines we bought to play music - OK yes even Playboy made a joke out of those two phrases. From this point of view Hef's Little Black Book is not just look into the life of the man who created Playboy magazine and lived in the Playboy lifestyle.
In no meaningful sense is this book a biography. There are biographies intended for friends and family there are biographies intended to be serious scholarly research in this is biography as written by your pet.. well we can't really use the term that can we<?>; by your personal publicity agent. If we want to get technical Bill Zehme provides some biographical information and his co-author Hugh Hefner a scattering of quotes and Playboy Advisor level dating homilies. As both men are listed as co-authors we could call this an autobiography but either way, the lack of depth is intentional and immaterial.
My Kindle being black and white and having the small screen cannot do proper justice to the carefully selected and the occasionally risqué pictures that illustrate the Little Black Book. This is a limitation of my Kindle and I do not consider this in scoring this book. It should be noted however that the consumerist sophistication and only slightly naughty content of the pictures emphasize the deliberate shaping of Hef's image and avoidance of anything substantial.
What should come across in any good review of this book, is that your approach to it must be slightly wide-eyed and at least a little bit swept up by the whole Playboy lifestyle, mansion, buy a jet put a bed in it and make sure everyone knows you're using both - consumer of fine things and lover of fine women - thing. The kind of person who noticed that that was a poorly constructed run-on sentence is likely to miss that Hef's Little Black Book is more like an extended advertisement of what it might be like to live in a distinctly male fantasy world. It is probably sexist it is clearly a male point of view. The Little Black Book makes more sense if you read it remembering the 60s or 70s male's teenager or college dorm denizen's point of view.
Hef's Little Black Book can be fun, can remind you of who you were when you first smuggled your copies of Playboy but it proudly resists serious analysis
In no meaningful sense is this book a biography. There are biographies intended for friends and family there are biographies intended to be serious scholarly research in this is biography as written by your pet.. well we can't really use the term that can we<?>; by your personal publicity agent. If we want to get technical Bill Zehme provides some biographical information and his co-author Hugh Hefner a scattering of quotes and Playboy Advisor level dating homilies. As both men are listed as co-authors we could call this an autobiography but either way, the lack of depth is intentional and immaterial.
My Kindle being black and white and having the small screen cannot do proper justice to the carefully selected and the occasionally risqué pictures that illustrate the Little Black Book. This is a limitation of my Kindle and I do not consider this in scoring this book. It should be noted however that the consumerist sophistication and only slightly naughty content of the pictures emphasize the deliberate shaping of Hef's image and avoidance of anything substantial.
What should come across in any good review of this book, is that your approach to it must be slightly wide-eyed and at least a little bit swept up by the whole Playboy lifestyle, mansion, buy a jet put a bed in it and make sure everyone knows you're using both - consumer of fine things and lover of fine women - thing. The kind of person who noticed that that was a poorly constructed run-on sentence is likely to miss that Hef's Little Black Book is more like an extended advertisement of what it might be like to live in a distinctly male fantasy world. It is probably sexist it is clearly a male point of view. The Little Black Book makes more sense if you read it remembering the 60s or 70s male's teenager or college dorm denizen's point of view.
Hef's Little Black Book can be fun, can remind you of who you were when you first smuggled your copies of Playboy but it proudly resists serious analysis
January 25, 2024
This was fun, the photos are really nice too. I somehow hadn't anticipated so much dating advice. I would take that with a heavy grain of salt but from a biographical standpoint this was enjoyable.
May 26, 2009
I rate the life of the man a 5. The ghost writer, however, deserves a 1 for his awful writing. Hef needs to write his *own* autobiography. A big, thick book about his entire life. Now, that I would read.
February 21, 2025
3.5 stars.
After reading books on serious subjects such as Palestine, it was time for a change of pace. This Hugh Hefner book fit the bill for me.
The title might have suggested it was a listing of all of Hef’s girlfriends and while he does acknowledge all his past lovers, it’s more of a look inside the Playboy founder’s lifestyle at the Mansion anchored by quotes on his outlook on life.
It’s a pleasant read but not really something to take seriously.
This 2012 edition came with updates on changes going on in his life related to Crystal Harris. They were engaged to be married and she split on him last minute. An interview captures his emotions around the breakup. Subsequently she returned to the Mansion and back to Hef’s life as a girlfriend and another interview was done to update it yet again. The two would end up getting married months after that final interview.
The back and forth at the end felt like whiplash and was kind of riddled with inconsistencies so that kind of weighed down the book even if the intrigue made for interesting fodder.
Playboy and Hugh Hefner fans will enjoy this book. Not so sure about others.
After reading books on serious subjects such as Palestine, it was time for a change of pace. This Hugh Hefner book fit the bill for me.
The title might have suggested it was a listing of all of Hef’s girlfriends and while he does acknowledge all his past lovers, it’s more of a look inside the Playboy founder’s lifestyle at the Mansion anchored by quotes on his outlook on life.
It’s a pleasant read but not really something to take seriously.
This 2012 edition came with updates on changes going on in his life related to Crystal Harris. They were engaged to be married and she split on him last minute. An interview captures his emotions around the breakup. Subsequently she returned to the Mansion and back to Hef’s life as a girlfriend and another interview was done to update it yet again. The two would end up getting married months after that final interview.
The back and forth at the end felt like whiplash and was kind of riddled with inconsistencies so that kind of weighed down the book even if the intrigue made for interesting fodder.
Playboy and Hugh Hefner fans will enjoy this book. Not so sure about others.
July 8, 2025
This 176 page book is not an autobiography as much as it is an author trying to write a book around the rather infamous individual’s quotes.
If you’re hoping for a deeper understanding or insight into this largely mysterious and sort of mythical figure then you will be disappointed. There is no such insight or understanding present here.
Most of the book is dedicated to talking about Hefner’s obsession with love and being able to pine and fantasize about someone. He says many times that life simply isn’t worth living without love and being in love with someone. Which is just odd to hear considering how much sex dominated his life and how he created a sexual revolution.
2/5; I wouldn’t really recommend this unless you want a few interesting anecdotes from Hefner about his obsession with love and being in love.
If you’re hoping for a deeper understanding or insight into this largely mysterious and sort of mythical figure then you will be disappointed. There is no such insight or understanding present here.
Most of the book is dedicated to talking about Hefner’s obsession with love and being able to pine and fantasize about someone. He says many times that life simply isn’t worth living without love and being in love with someone. Which is just odd to hear considering how much sex dominated his life and how he created a sexual revolution.
2/5; I wouldn’t really recommend this unless you want a few interesting anecdotes from Hefner about his obsession with love and being in love.
April 4, 2021
Should have guessed, but was hoping for a bit more biography than what it ended up being. Didn’t know Hugh was from the Midwest. Interesting.
December 27, 2007
This is a good book for fan's of 1970s and 1980's Hef, the information seems a little outdated but does include lots of info regarding the beginning of Playboy, his marriages, the building of the Playboy mansions, etc.
Lots of good pictures of Hef and his Special Ladies but I think I will stick to books writted by angry ex-bunnies.
Lots of good pictures of Hef and his Special Ladies but I think I will stick to books writted by angry ex-bunnies.
January 7, 2008
I put a rating of three out of five, just because it was funny. =D
August 19, 2008
A rather disappointing book, it was not written very well and was jumpy and erratic at times.
August 31, 2009
I actually found this very boring.Sorry to say seeing as I was really looking forward to this one. I am now very leary about trying to read any others on this topic.
November 10, 2011
I found this rather interesting, its about his love life, as well as his feelings on everything else. It was really cool!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews