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 of a young girl 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.

"On her first visit to the Playboy Mansion, six-year-old Saginor happened across John Belushi having sex with a Playmate. What was a child doing alone in such a place? Saginor's dad, a 'fitness' doctor liberally prescribing weight loss and other prescription pills to show-biz types, sports figures and Playmate wannabes, had became one of Hugh Hefner's cronies, with his own quarters at the Mansion. Divorced from Saginor's mother, he took his daughter everywhere and let her run wild once there. Saginor grew to love the Mansion, her own 'magical kingdom' with constant attention from servants and Playmates, where she never had to follow her mother's boring rules. As soon as she could, she asked to be in her father's custody, though she feared his bipolar rages, aggravated by compulsive promiscuity and the ubiquitous drugs of the 1970s and '80s. Predictably, as she grew older she joined the nonstop party; as a high school sophomore in 1985, she dated both an older soap-opera actor and, surreptitiously, Hef's own 'girlfriend.' Names have been changed throughout this made-for-daytime-talk memoir, except for walk-on celebrities (who misbehave only when safely dead, like Belushi), but readers seeking colorful general-issue dish, sleaze and bad behavior will find it in spades. Agent, Jennifer Joel. (June 14)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

The daughter of Hugh Hefner's personal physician, Saginor was six when she visited the Mansion for the first time. It became her fantasy escape from the rules of her parents and structure of school. More than a peek into a sex-infused world, this is a candid exploration of a complex, confused, dysfunctional family set against the backdrop of the ultimate playground.

In the vein of Running with Scissors, this is the glitzy, glamorous and surreal story of a young girl who never learned where the party stopped and the real world began.

The daughter of Hugh Hefner's personal physician and closest friend, a man who was immortalized in Motley Crue song Dr. Feelgood, spent most of her youth in the Playboy Mansion (and still visits every weekend). In this wholly original coming-of-age memoir, Jennifer Saginor recounts her time living a double life - as a child who had to teach herself how to survive, and as a fixture at the Playboy Mansion, where life was always a party, and where anything she wanted was at the touch of her fingertips.

This is a great summer read for anyone who wants to take a look inside the walls of the Playboy Mansion, as well as a heart wrenching look into the psychological effects of a glamorous, yet broken, upbringing.

 

 

Jennifer Saginor was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where she still lives. She has worked in production and development at Spelling Entertainment, Miramax Films, and the Motion Picture Corporation of America.