Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion

Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion
Playground A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion
Author: Jennifer Saginor
ISBN-13: 9780060761578
ISBN-10: 0060761571
Publication Date: 6/1/2006
Pages: 288
Edition: Reprint
Rating:
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 37

3.4 stars, based on 37 ratings
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

16 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

Erinyes avatar reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on + 279 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
It reads like a hair-raising cautionary tale. I've read articles where the auther, Ms. Saginor, says she had to take out a large portion and water down the rest.
If that is true, then I hope God has mercy on her. I literally read this book in three hours. I kept having to remind myself of her extremely young age. It is unreal what drugs and money and power can do to destroy lives.
I cannot imagine a more condemning book of the loose lifestyle. Yikes.
Yoni avatar reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on + 327 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
I enjoyed reading this book a great deal...but in the same way that I enjoy reading "Star" magazine in the checkout at the grocery. It is a very guilty pleasure. The name dropping was exciting and annoying at the same time. I could not identify with the author, and found it hard to feel any kind of sympathy for her. With that said, I still had a great time reading it. If you are looking for an intellectual read, this surely is not IT!! If you find pop culture titilating (no pun intended) then take this book to the beach.
ilovebooksanddogs avatar reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on + 356 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I honestly had trouble reading this book, her writing was very disjointed, she repeated herself numerous times and sometimes just rambled about things that weren't relevant to what she was writing about at the moment. I didn't find her to be much of a writer and I just didn't find it that good of a read.
animlgrl avatar reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on + 84 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Couldn't get into it. Read the first 30 pages, and all it was about was her first visit to the Mansion where she witnessed sex for the first time. I got sick of the name throwing (I saw Jim Belushi, I knew Liza Minelli) and again, I only read 30 pages! Thought it would be more exciting. How many times does she think I can read the line "Hef greated us with his warm voice...". And her dad's behavior was making me sick.
KristinF avatar reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This book definitely offers a peak into the lives of those that live and frequent the playboy mansion. If you've ever been curious to the R rated version ... here you go.
Sex, drugs, celebrities, parties, trips, you name it .. this book has it.

However, you have to wonder how much of this supposed true account is true. The author gives a very vivid account,even though she claims to be messed up on cocaine and other drugs while spending time there. She also gives memories from her childhood and not many youngesters can remember that much in such detail such as her account of catching John Belshi "making it" with a Playmate in the Grotto.

I found this read to be very sad because if it is true the author really did have a messed up childhood or one big axe to grind with her parents. Her father is very messed up and does little to raise and protect his daughter. He treats her more like a girlfriend or sidekick than a daughter. Her mother stood by, watched and did nothing to protect her either. I also think there are many things this author left out regarding her relationship with her father. So many adults in her life and not one tried to rescue her.

This book satisfied a little curiosity but left me feeling very sad for Jennifer Saginor. I hope she was able to release some demons and make some money by recounting her childhood for the world to read. She can never get back the innocence of her childhood that was lost.
reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Very messed up childhood this girl went through!
murder101 avatar reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on
Helpful Score: 2
This book was really great it gave you a behind the senes look at the goings on of the Playboy Mansion,and also the story of a girl coming of age in a very priveliged but highly disturbing household. I read it in aday it was hard to put down .
reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Definitely a summer read. The writing was terrible and the name dropping was annoying. It was as if the author thinks she is a celebrity because she was at the mansion. Not quite. I was disappointed because the last chapter was still full of celebrity sightings. Nothing life changing, but it got me through a road trip.
reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on + 23 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Such a thought provoking book! I couldn't believe what went on behind closed doors in the Mansion. Really a good read.
MTGirlAtHeart avatar reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on + 13 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I was rather disappointed by this book. I was expecting it to be about a childhood spent living at the Playboy Mansion, but it was really more focused on the drugs she used, who she slept with, and naming as many famous people as she could. You learn a lot about her highly dysfunctional family, but there are a lot of better memoirs to be read if that's what you're interested in.
reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on + 31 more book reviews
This book was a quick read and horrible. It was a lot of celebrity name dropping and "i wore ___ designer to this event." It is scary the things that she went through at such a young age and I hope the effects are not long lasting.
reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on + 14 more book reviews
Could not put this down. Disturbing, but a great read.
getinmybellykelly avatar reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on
So, so sad. Makes me really appreciate my parents and my childhood and my normal, wonderful life.
starkissed2012 avatar reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on + 16 more book reviews
This book was unbelievable, surreal. Author brings you inside the Playboy Mansion, a place most of us will never get to see the inside of. It is troubling to know what this woman went through as a child, growing up so fast in that environment. Very descriptive ...it reels you right in. It was hard to put down.
reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on + 6 more book reviews
This book is like watching a train wreck. How bad can it get?? But you just cant stop watching it. Drugs, sex, lost childhood, guns in the kitchen?? Kind of glad I grew up 'normal'. It was interesting to say the least.
reviewed Playground : A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion on + 13 more book reviews
Intense and incredible...lots of 80s fashion references that I didn't understand!