Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars | 2,251 ratings

Price: 17.05

Last update: 12-20-2024


About this item

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AN APPLE BOOKS STAFF PICK AND AUDIBLE EDITORS SELECT ONE OF PEOPLE'SBEST CELEBRITY MEMOIRS OF 2024 NAMED A BEST BOOK TO READ THIS JANUARY BY THE GLOSS

From a former Playboy Playmate, an unflinching look at the objectification and misogyny of the Playboy mansion, a woman’s stolen young adulthood, and her journey to self-acceptance–plus a rare look inside Hugh Hefner’s final days.

Crystal Harris’ life changed forever when she was just twenty-one and attended a party at the notorious Playboy mansion. Picked out of the crowd by Hugh Hefner, Crystal Harris became one of his infamous “girlfriends,” attending glamorous Hollywood parties and traveling the world. But being Hef’s number one girlfriend came at the cost of Crystal’s identity outside her role in the Playboy universe, and she grew increasingly restless to understand who she truly was away from what she saw as Playboy’s toxic culture. Hef controlled his girlfriends with strict rules regarding everything from their hair and makeup to their curfews, forcing them to compete with one another as part of a highly hierarchal system.

Only Say Good Things provides a fascinating look behind the scenes at a powerful cultural icon and brand, and an empowering perspective on hard-won lessons about who we allow to determine our value.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Jenny
    5.0 out of 5 stars powerful woman
    Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2024
    This book is amazing. It’s so powerful I don’t yet have words to describe it fully or explain in depth how it has affected me. It’s raw, sad, yet beautiful. It’s a story about survival, self discovery, struggle, and so much more. I especially related to the struggles of a woman being objectified and the anger/hurt it causes. I can relate to the desire to be seen for more than what I look like. I think everyone, regardless of gender identity, could benefit from Crystal’s story. It’s funny I don’t know her but I feel so proud of her for sharing her story in this way and the journey she has made.
    I wish I could know Crystal in real life because she has a beautiful soul!
  • KZ
    4.0 out of 5 stars Self discovery and healing
    Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2024
    This book is the story of self discovery and healing. You never really know what someone's life is really like behind the scenes. It's her honest depiction of life within the playboy life. It's a pretty fast read.
  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Journey of Healing and Self Discovery
    Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2024
    Every individual within society has an opinion, and this book will receive many opinions, especially now that it is released. I have taken the opportunity to read many individual's opinions on Crystal Hefner, and many of them were unfavorable. However, that is far from my opinion.
    If you take the time to read this book, then you will be on a journey with Crystal of healing and self-discovery.
    Her story is tastefully written, and she wrote a pellucid account of her life with Hugh Hefner and living behind the mansion walls. She was a young woman when she entered the mansion, and like many thought, this surreal world was a piece of a fairytale. The truth is that Hugh Hefner was not prince, and his world was a far cry from a fairytale. Despite public open Crystal Harris was a girl that after losing her father and her true love lost a part of herself. As she became a part of Hef's world, she lost not only a part of herself but everything that encompassed her as a woman.
    This story portrays a woman who had true empathy and compassion. A woman who learned never to rely on a man again for her happiness and a woman who fought to create her own financial freedom. Furthermore, this is a story that while trying to keep her word to "only say good things," she also reveals her truth. Hugh Hefner was a narcissist who manipulated and exposed women for his own personal gain.
    I would like to see Crystal write another book documenting her healing journey and the steps she has taken to heal and to find her voice that was lost for so long. This is definitely a must-read book!
  • Sier
    3.0 out of 5 stars decent biography
    Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2024
    No major bombshells. Pretty sure Holly dropped all those. Still interesting to hear about Hef’s final years from her perspective. An ok read
  • Austinlinda
    5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely amazing read.
    Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2024
    This book is an accounting of Crystal’s decade living a life as a key member of Hefner’s life - as his girlfriend, and ultimately his wife-and finally as his protector, to the end.
    Her skills as a writer - and in many ways a historian - are top notch.
    I grew up in So. California many years before her story takes place-those years where we watched “Playboy After Dark” on TV, and observed the growth of Hefner’s empire unfold.
    Although I lived in the area, the Mansion was never anywhere I wanted to go. As a young woman growing up in the late 60’s we had already begun living a life of new freedoms-none of which went along with the Playboy lifestyle.
    Hefner’s world seemed old-fashioned to us back then. But the Playboy Mansion, and the Playboy Club, with its scantily-clad bunnies at the door, was a major part of life in LA during the 70’s and 80’s.
    I had very little knowledge of Mr. Hefner’s world after that time-and Ms. Hefner’s wife Crystal writes an amazingly thorough historical compilation of an even later period.
    Her capable writing skills are obvious, and she is someone who readers can appreciate her ability to tell this story without succumbing to the usual practice that celebrity writers have of including “tell-all” lists of famous names and their overtly suggestive stories in their books.
    For this reason and for the expertise she exhibits in relating her own stories to Mr. Hefner and his lifetime,
    I very much enjoyed reading this book.
  • Sue
    4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly well written and captivating
    Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2024
    I admit I thought I might regret purchasing this book. I was afraid it might contain a lot of specifics about sex, which I just wasn’t interested in reading. I’m ashamed that I made that judgment. Instead Crystal wrote an intriguing and thought provoking book with very little specific description of sex. It was an insightful look at what led her to the mansion and kept her there. Her story is heartbreaking, fascinating, and inspiring. I’m very glad I read it, and very glad that she is finally free and healing.
  • Stella Carrier
    5.0 out of 5 stars Being UnReserved In Writer Artistic Form
    Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2024
    The audible book of Only Say Good Things; Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself narrated by Crystal Hefner is a blunt though also a magnetic rollercoaster ride retelling of both Crystal Hefner's life both before meeting Hugh Hefner and events involving the aftermath of when she both met and eventually married Hugh Hefner. Even the history of how Crystal Hefner's parents meet is very fascinating. Hefner recalls the timelines of when her mother and father met in England and eventually first tried life together in the United States. Crystal Hefner also recalls the abundant amount of love that she had for both parents. However she also is honest in how her mother's love life may have colored some of the ways that she approached her love life. Crystal Hefner also recalls how she met Hugh Hefner and provides ample details on some of what contributed to some of the reasons why she was chosen to eventually become his wife. Some of the events preceding the end of her former late husband's life are also recalled.

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