Description:
Only Say Good Things - Crystal Hefner - 2024
Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself
By: Crystal Hefner
Narrated by: Crystal Hefner
Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 01-23-24
Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Entertainment & Celebrities
Language: English
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Format: mp3 64/48 stereo
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.
©2024 Crystal Hefner (P)2024 Grand Central Publishing
Critic reviews
"[Hefner's] frank memoir scratches some of the glitter off Playboy’s notorious legacy of sexual freedom, luxury, and excess. An illuminating tell-all." —Kirkus Reviews
"[A] juicy debut memoir. . . This tell-all is surprisingly empowering." —Publishers Weekly
"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." —Apple Books
Editorial Review
A compulsive memoir elevated by performance
I listen to memoirs for one of two reasons: to hear stories similar to my own, and to hear about lives so different from my own. I’m not sure what exactly made me pick up Crystal Hefner’s memoir—I’d never been particularly interested in the mystique of Playboy and its patriarch, the late Hugh Hefner—but I’m sure this time it was the latter. Before the narrative even ventured into any of the shocking, salacious details of her time at the infamous Playboy Mansion, I was impressed by Crystal’s performance. There’s a real warmth and vulnerability to her voice, amplified in those moments she breaks into a self-deprecating chuckle as she recounts her misguided exploits or audibly chokes up recounting the heartache she experienced. Before I knew it, I had listened to the whole thing, and it had turned out to be not only a fascinating (often horrifying) glimpse into a life few could imagine—I certainly never had!—but an earnest personal reckoning. Only Say Good Things is a great example of a memoir that’s meant to be heard. —Sam D., Audible Editor
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