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Description
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. Read more
Publisher : Harper Paperbacks
Accessibility : Learn more
Publication date : March 17, 2009
Edition : Reprint
Language : English
File size : 293 KB
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
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Top Amazon Reviews
Format: Kindle
This biographical story is memorably well-told. The author really does put you right where she is at every innocent misstep of her young life. I am probably of her mother's generation with a daughter of approximately Jennifer Saginor's age who would have had similar social references up until the moment Jennifer Saginaw's childhood is interfused with the lives of her criminally neglectful father and all of the players in the unconstrained, dissolute mansion that is indeed her Playground. At six years old she is gradually moved into the infamous Playboy Mansion where her father is Doctor Feelgood to Hugh Hefner. To jealously control her life away from her mother and yet maintain his never really in jeopardy position as pusher and physician to the star(s) her father insists on keeping her wherever he is which is right by the side of Hef at the mansion. Jennifer has a natural childish curiosity and the awareness that she is living in the most inappropriate environment imaginable and that while at the mansion she will have absolutely no supervision is not entirely lost on her. She is initially oblivious to the other side of what she is experiencing and seeing. but slowly and very surely it all becomes the currency of her life. For a while she is the ultimate cool kid in school, but her lack of boundaries takes her to places even her school friends don't want to go. Through all of this Jennifer is very aware that this is not the normal childhood and adolescence that she frequently craves and the awful truth that she lives with everyday is that there is no such safe place in her life. Remember, this is a true story and although many names have been changed there are several who are named and shamed throughout this book. Her father "Doc" Saginor sits firmly atop this list. He is a perpetually psychopathic and corrupt golden chain around her neck and his self indulgent, ambitious depravity drags her through his downward spiralling drug-addled life. Then there is her mother who is missing in action from her daughter's life. Jennifer is not an easy child and the woman seems to be an emotional coward who knowingly stands on the sidelines watching her little girl's mind and body be wrecked. It is easier than any of the alternatives. Then there are all of the characters who make their appearances at the Playboy mansion - some of them are very well known; some not so much or not at all; the many and various fun naked people performing sex acts and using very hard drugs in the presence of a child and in some cases offering to share them with her; the kindly staff who appear to have handed over their consciences in return for their jobs and who would probably never allow any children in their own lives anywhere near the place. Finally there's "Hef" who gets a total pass from Jennifer. In her telling he has never wronged her or judged her. Hef is like a benign and blithely unaware uncle that sometimes pops up in the narrative, except he's none of those things. This book was hard to read inasmuch as I wanted to reach in and grab child Jennifer and adolescent Jennifer and haul her out of there. As hard as it was to read some of her accounts, it had to be extraordinarily difficult for Ms Saginor to take herself back to each instance and recreate the scenes, smells, her and others' actions, reactions and most of all her feelings. I feel she is a strong person and I hope her telling of her truth helps to put away the monsters of her youth. I thoroughly recommend this book.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2018 by Kindle Customer
Format: Kindle
This was a good read but very sad and full of so much dysfunction. I do recommend this book. I wonder what ever happened to the girl that overdosed and died in the book If her father ever found her body and found out the truth.. This is very haunting and I just kept wondering " God isn't here" at all in these peoples lives. Its heartbreaking!! Satans playground for sure.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2015 by Morningheart
Format: Kindle
My reading of Playground is perfectly timed with Hugh Hefner's 90'th birthday and the end of an era. This book although sensational, is scandalous and disturbing! Marc Saginor (Hef's personal physician, confidante and best friend) is a narcissistic and mentally abusive father who is so consumed with Hefner's lifestyle, he chooses to live in his shadow for the majority of his life. What some people don't know is that Hefner grossly interfered with the publication of this book by thwarting scheduled appearances and canceling interviews in an effort to make the release nearly impossible. Jennifer Saginor prevails and is able to tell her salacious memoir in what some would describe as the "watered down" version made suitable for publication. Her vivid recollection of the 70's and 80's, a time when the Playboy Mansion was in full splendor is impressive! Regardless of what you think of her writing style or whether the dates are 100% accurate, she paints a very clear picture of life at the mansion and the effect if has on her childhood. What is interesting is that Hefner never denied the events taking place. His only real concern was being exposed for engaging in illicit behavior with underage girls. Some of the dates were changed. A lot of material was omitted. Big deal. It doesn't mean it never happened! The author clings to a world filled with fashion, music, sex and drugs when clinging to a loving family life isn't possible. It's a tragically irresistible read!!!
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Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2016 by Amazon Customer
Format: Paperback
Playground is billed as a story about a childhood lost in the Playboy mansion, but that isn’t entirely accurate. Though much of the beginning and end of the story takes place at the notorious mansion, the mansion is mostly absent in between. During Jennifer Saginor’s high school and college years, which constitute the middle/bulk of the story, the Playboy mansion is on the periphery, at best. Even so, her life story is incredible. So incredible she writes that at least at one point in her high school life she sought out the mansion for its comparative calm and normalcy. There’s a lot of name dropping in Playground and there are many characters who could not be identified by their real names for legal reasons, but there is one person, very prominent in terms of Playboy and the time period covered, who’s never mentioned or even alluded to. Namely Kimberly Conrad, Hugh Hefner’s second wife who resided with him at the mansion from 1989 to 1998. If all you knew of the mansion is what Playground presents, you would never know that the mansion and life within it was very different during those ten years. I’ve read three books written by women who lived within the mansion, but none of them provides any real information about the years Kimberly Conrad lived there. Jennifer Saginor is the star of her story, but it’s her dad, Marc, who’s the most bizarre. He’s a gifted medical doctor with the integrity and personal character of a Jerry Springer Show guest. In other words, a worthless degenerate who’s far more dangerous than the average degenerate because he has a license to dole out drugs. That’s some father. That which shocks most in Jennifer Saginor’s story is the amount of law breaking that regularly occurred in her life. Hard-core drug abuse, driving under the influence, assault, prostitution, even homicide. It’s hard to fathom how she and the people around her never spent time in prison. Sad too when you realize people who’ve done far less have. I guess it’s for that reason most of all that I have no sympathy for the author, who never lets you forget she’s the victim of a demented upbringing.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2019 by G. Binda
Format: Kindle
Dear Jennifer, Thank you for sharing your emotional journey … you are courageous in your telling. I wish you peace and healing.
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2026 by julie anderson
Format: Paperback
I wish I could give this book 6 stars. If you want to know the true story behind the scenes at The Playboy Mansion, look NO further than this book. Written by someone who lived it from the time she moved into the mansion at the tender age of 6, she saw it all: The sex, the drugs, the overall debauchery. Jennifer Saginor's father was Hefner's personal physician. More than anything else, this book is a scathing indictment of Dr. Saginor whose main purpose in life became sex with 19 year old coke whores. I doubt that two have spoken in many years. Jennifer goes into heartbreaking detail of how growing up in that environment nearly destroyed her and how she later overcame it all.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2022 by Robert Orme
Format: Kindle
Jennifer grew up in a wild world. I was left with questions about her dad and the things he did and why. I also wondered about the girl who overdosed and the results of that. Overall, I’d recommend.
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2024 by Arw783
Format: Paperback
A fascinating, extremely interesting take on a young child from a tender age who started living in the Playboy mansion. Her dad was Hef's doctor AKA Dr. Feelgood for 30 plus years. His daughter saw it all and then some. There were things that a young child should not see and in a way damaged her. She had her own room, transport to school, endless women who were friendly and mom like to her etc.. Hugh Hefner ran his world behind these walls and did what ever he wanted as a "ruler" of his empire. It seemed like his own harem with all the women coming and going, but all and all this was a really good book to read!
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Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2022 by Lexilu1