Monday, September 25, 2006
The parties. The girls. The sex. The legend. These things come to mind when Hugh “Hef” Hefner, the founding father of “Playboy,” is mentioned.
In chapters such as “The Blonde Boob Brigade” and “Play mates at Play,” former live-in girlfriend Izabella St. James discusses all of these and more in her tell-all book, “Bunny Tales: Behind Closed Doors at the Playboy Mansion.”
In a recent press interview with the Toronto Star, St. James discussed her decision to write her book. “I didn’t want to kiss and tell,” she insisted. “But our society is absolutely fascinated by sex. I’m giving them what they want to hear.”
It was at her second year at Pepperdine when St. James had a chance encounter with Mr. Playboy himself, “Hef,” at a Los Angeles nightclub. After meeting Hefner, she would eventually move into the Playboy mansion.
She notes, “That night, although I didn’t know it, I was being recruited.”
In the book, St. James chronicles her life and the seduction of Playboy, and her eventual moving into the mansion, where she lived for almost three years. She was one of the infamous seven girlfriends, before his now-established trio of blondes. Her storytelling approach is very matter-of-fact, from the detailed mansion layout, to the chronological order of his revolving door of girlfriends.
No doubt, she is very aware of her audience. She teases, “You probably want details, don’t you?” and then delivers.Does Hefner really sleep with all his girlfriends? In a word, yes. In the chapter entitled, “How to Make Love like a Rabbit,” St. James describes the unconventional sexual routine that goes on in the master bedroom.
Sexual acts were a spectator sport, with multiple women and, of course, one man.
According to St. James, it was all a routine, from the beginning to end of the orgies. She says that there were actually designated days of the week for sex.
St. James claims to have written this book so that she “could finally set the record straight.” However, this is clearly a cautionary tale. She wishes to debunk all the rumors of grandeur and excess, and expose the mundane reality of living in the mansion and being Hefner’s girlfriend.
She stresses the catfights, the lack of privacy, and how “there are too many unwritten rules, too many power plays, and everyone acts.” St. James reveals some surprising details, such as the strict 9 p.m. curfew, and the fact that Hefner does not actually own the mansion but rents it.
In the book, it’s clear that that she viewed other girls who came in and out of the mansion as beneath her. St. James says she was the “token smart girl that validated the group in an intellectual way.”
Her apparent goal is to have the audience sympathize with her, which we can at some points, but other times readers may wonder why she stuck around for as long as she did. If she so detested the lifestyle she was living, then why did she get a Playboy bunny tattoo?
She does seem hypocritical at times, quick to mention Hefner’s negative traits, but at the same time, lovingly writes how he is such a “good person.”
If you wish to hold onto the allure and mystique of Hefner, and all things Playboy, then this book is not for you. Her apparent goal is to kill all the daydreams and fantasies that Playboy and Hefner have to offer.
If you hold a deep curiosity, and enjoy watching the e! television series, “The Girls Next Door,” this will be a delicious read.
