Bunny: The Real Story of Playboy

by Russell Miller

Traces the thirty-year history of "Playboy" magazine, from its modest beginnings, through its soaring success in the heyday of the sexual revolution when it became the cornerstone of the Playboy corporate empire, to the internecine warfare that brought it

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History

371 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Russell Miller (born c. 1938) is a British journalist and author of fifteen books, including biographies of Hugh Hefner, J. Paul Getty and L. Ron Hubbard. While under contract to The Sunday Times Magazine he won four press awards and was voted Writer of the Year by the Society of British Magazine Editors.

Reviews

[BeeQuiet]

In journalistic terms, this is heavily biased, but at least Miller recognises this himself. That taken into account, this is an absolutely fascinating read. I particularly enjoyed discovering that Playboy has actually held some incredible interviews with people of real interlectual prowess. Certainly worth a look.

[Emily Eymundson]

This is a great read, very funny and informative. I learned a lot about Hugh Hefner and the other big players of the corporation, their weird schemes, and the victims of their antics. It’s not super well-edited unfortunately, and whenever there are many grammatical or spelling errors it takes me out of the story. However, considering this was published in the 80s it really holds up!

[Mary]

Read this many years ago and enjoyed it, but the downside would be the almost index like manner that the author used to give details of the magazines success in numbers and figures, too much useless information really.

[SouthWestZippy]

Good book. A behind the scenes book about the Playboy in is beginnings. A real eye opener.

[Danni Fuentes]

This book started off really promising. I was way into the first half because I appreciated the focus on the characters involved. After the halfway point this book focused way too much on the business and numbers side of the company for my taste. I came for the tea and by the end it was cold! Still getting 3 stars because I appreciated the insight into some juicier vignettes of the company’s lifespan.

[Jamie Hicks]

I've read 2 books about Playboy - one was a fluff piece and this was a mud sling. I'm sure that the truth is somewhere in between.

[Rick]

A definitive history.

[Kristina the Book Forager]

I have read this years ago and always loved Russels work!

[Katie pratt]

This book is really interesting, but unfortunately a pain in the arss to finish because the last 4 chapters is bogged down with numbers and ligistics. However it gives the reader an excellent insight to the beginnigs, struggles, and ultimately success of playboy. Helps understand the magazine and creator on a new level and how they get all my favorite and famous authors hidden between the bare asses and breasts of their models. All in all i enjoyed it!

[Bambi]

A thorough chronicle of the rise and fall of the Playboy empire. It evaporates into tedium towards the end when Miller recounts the crackdown on London's casinos, which dealt the death blow to Playboy's tenuous grip on the entertainment industry.