Playground

A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion

De: Jennifer Saginor

Narrado por: Kassidy Cortese

In the vein of Running with Scissors, Playground is the glitzy, glamorous, and surreal true story of a young girl who grew up inside the Playboy Mansion and never learned where the party stopped and the real world began.

You are six years old. Every day after school your father takes you to a sprawling castle filled with exotic animals, bowls of candy, and half-naked women catering to your every need.

You have your own room. You have new friends. You have an uncle Hef who's always there for you.

Welcome to the world of Playground, the true story Jennifer Saginor who grew up inside the Playboy Mansion. By the time she was fourteen, she'd done countless drugs, had a secret affair with Hef's girlfriend, and was already losing her grip on reality. Schoolwork, family, and "ordinary people" had no meaning behind the iron gates of the Mansion, where celebrities frolicked, pool parties abounded, and her own father—Hugh Hefner's personal physician and best friend, the man nicknamed "Dr. Feel Good"—typically held court.

Every day was a party, every night was an adventure, and through it all was a young girl falling faster and faster down the rabbit hole—trying desperately hard not to get lost.

"Totally surreal. This is one of those books you simply can’t put down."—Ben Affleck

“Utterly compelling….It’s one helluva book!”—Larry King

©2006 Jennifer Saginor (P)2024 Mark Alan Miller

Missing Mom

The story was really entertaining, but I kept wondering where was her Mom? I compared it to the printed book and they cut out all the sections about her Mom in this audio book. It seemed like part of the story was missing.

exposed childhood

i can empathize with her upbringing. only i was in the ghetto not a fabulously rich dr for a dad

surreal

great story, glamorous at times then starts the reality, every drug one can think of, sex wherever whoever one wants to have sex with. And the playmates, wel in this story they are pathetic

A new turn around each corner

Seriously I couldn’t stop listening to this rollercoaster ride. Truly a thrilling read! Each time she went over a new twist my jaw dropped and kept me hooked in. Crazy to hear about the wild world of playboy and Dr. Feelgood

Not what I expected but..

I really enjoyed this one, it was very insightful. I’m not sure exactly what I expected but I loved every chapter, I have so many questions though! I’d love to know more! Maybe another book wouldn’t be a bad idea! Like where is Kendall now?! I can hardly find answers to my questions online lol

Nothing

It was an ok listen I feel like the ending was so abrupt. I hope there will be a part two

This book was A+ and anyone who says otherwise either has an axe to grind with Hef or they suffer from lack of taste!

This book was unbelievably written and narrated so well! The only thing I thought it lacked was information on Jennifer’s mother. We need a book number 2 … Come on Jennifer— you’re a great writer. My favorite book of all time!

Great Story, but a bit depressing

overall, I enjoyed the story and the readers voice really worked well with the theme of the book. however, it was a sad story with lots of detailed stories basically about Minors in drug and SA situations

Eye opening!

Heartfelt story told by Jennifer! It truly is such an eye opening story into the playboy world that once was. The narrator did an excellent job, her voice was very soothing to me. I would highly recommend this book!

Not what you’d typically expect from a memoir.

A drug-induced, dreamy expression of the unspoken horrors of the Playboy Mansion. The entire book was full of unremarkable details of shoe brands and luxury purses to hide the disturbing realities of what Jennifer went through.
Sex, drugs, and paranoia, we follow Jennifer’s retelling of being in the Playboy Mansion from a small child to a grown adult and how her relationships with both the bunnies, Hef, and her addict father shaped her.
The sexual and drug abuse mentioned in the story make it uncomfortable as Jennifer mentions it easily as though she is recalling the perfume someone was wearing or the clothing choices someone made.
Overall it’s good, abeit not as in depth as one would expect from a memoir coming out today. It was a very engaging listen and I could easily see it becoming rhetorical basis of someone pitch script to A24.