Only Say Good Things
Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself
-
-
4.2 • 301 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A JANUARY 2024 APPLE BOOKS STAFF PICK AND AUDIBLE EDITORS SELECT
NAMED A BEST BOOK TO READ THIS JANUARY BY THE GLOSS
A raw and unflinching look at the objectification and misogyny of the Playboy mansion, a woman’s stolen young adulthood and her journey to self-acceptance, and a rare look inside Hugh Hefner’s final days.
At just twenty-one years old, Crystal Harris’ life changed forever when she attended a party at the notorious Playboy mansion. Picked out of the crowd by Hugh Hefner, she became one of his infamous “girlfriends,” attending glamorous Hollywood parties and traveling the world. Yet this seemingly alluring lifestyle had a dark side. Hef controlled his girlfriends with strict rules regarding everything from their hair and makeup to their curfews, and Crystal was forced to compete with other women for her spot in the highly hierarchal system. Living at the mansion, she felt more like a fixture than a resident.
She quickly rose to the top, but being Hef’s number one girlfriend came at the cost of Crystal’s identity outside her role in the Playboy universe. Her fate seemed sealed when Hef surprised her with a marriage proposal she could not imagine refusing. But as Crystal Hefner, she grew increasingly restless to understand who she truly was away from what she saw as Playboy’s toxic culture.
In ONLY SAY GOOD THINGS, Crystal offers a vulnerable and clear-eyed look at how her experience with Hugh Hefner catalyzed her transformative journey from someone who prized external validation over all else to a person who finally recognizes her true worth. This candid memoir provides a fascinating look behind the scenes at a powerful cultural icon and brand, and an equally 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.
Customer Reviews
Another romantic Fantasy crashed.
Very interesting book. GOOD READ. Being from that area and driving those old streets and rodes I can definitely remember Hefner’s Playboy Mansion and all the famous parties. An era gone but not forgotten. A+
Surprised
I rarely read books by celebrities. I was mildly surprised at this one. It’s a quick easy read. The author doesn’t go into a lot of details, but writes in a way that’s easy to read between the lines.
She (the author) remains quite respectful through the book to all written about.
I feel it was an honest carefully written memoir.
It’s an okay read
It was about what we already knew happened in that house. It seemed to dwell on the same feelings over and over. But nice to hear her perspective.