Only Say Good Things
Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself
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4.0 • 58 Ratings
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • AN APPLE BOOKS STAFF PICK AND AUDIBLE EDITORS SELECT• ONE OF PEOPLE'S BEST CELEBRITY MEMOIRS OF 2024 • NAMED A BEST BOOK TO READ THIS JANUARY BY THE GLOSS
From a former Playboy Playmate, an unflinching look at the objectification and misogyny of the Playboy mansion, a woman’s stolen young adulthood, and her journey to self-acceptance–plus a rare look inside Hugh Hefner’s final days.
Crystal Harris’ life changed forever when she was just twenty-one and attended a party at the notorious Playboy mansion. Picked out of the crowd by Hugh Hefner, Crystal Harris became one of his infamous “girlfriends,” attending glamorous Hollywood parties and traveling the world. But being Hef’s number one girlfriend came at the cost of Crystal’s identity outside her role in the Playboy universe, and she grew increasingly restless to understand who she truly was away from what she saw as Playboy’s toxic culture. Hef controlled his girlfriends with strict rules regarding everything from their hair and makeup to their curfews, forcing them to compete with one another as part of a highly hierarchal system.
Only Say Good Things provides a fascinating look behind the scenes at a powerful cultural icon and brand, and an empowering perspective on hard-won lessons about who we allow to determine our value.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We’ve heard stories about life in the Playboy Mansion, but we’ve never gotten such piercing insights into the darkness that underscored Hugh Hefner’s fantasy world. In her penetrating memoir, Hef’s late-in-life wife, Crystal, talks about the painful childhood experiences that left her desperate to seek validation by joining Hef’s harem of live-in girlfriends and submitting to the media mogul’s controlling rules about money, curfews, and group sex. Despite its title, Only Say Good Things is full of bombshells—from Hef’s drug addiction to the dilapidated mansion’s staggering black mold problem—which Hefner describes with matter-of-fact directness. This may be the first time a Playboy insider has fully opened up about the brand’s dark side.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This juicy debut memoir from Hugh Hefner's widow provides an intimate account of her decade-long stint inside the Playboy Mansion. Adrift during her senior year at San Diego State University in 2008, Crystal was encouraged by a friend to send a photo to Playboy during one of the magazine's open calls. She was swiftly invited to a Halloween party at the mansion, where Hefner picked her out of a lineup to join him in his private quarters; the next day, he invited her to move into the mansion full-time. Crystal enthusiastically accepted, and, over the next five years as one of Hefner's "girls," she unsuccessfully attempted to establish an emotional connection with the much older man, who occasionally exhibited tender feelings toward her but mostly treated her with coldness and cruelty. After Crystal left the mansion briefly to date Jordan McGraw, the son of TV personality Dr. Phil, Hefner proposed to her. She accepted, feeling that he "needed her." Married in 2012, the two remained together until Hefner's death in 2017. Crystal writes at length about the mansion's chilling atmosphere: Hefner kept keys to every door, and insisted Crystal and his rotating roster of other girlfriends maintain their hair and weight (at one point, he taps Crystal's hip and tells her it's "time to tone"). The mogul, who comes across as narcissistic and obsessed with his legacy, insisted that his close contacts "only say good things" about him—when Crystal doesn't, it lands as liberating rather than petty. This tell-all is surprisingly empowering.
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