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 enlarge | Authors: Robert Coover, Maureen Gibbon, Jay Mcinerney, Daphne Merkin, Robert Stone, Paul Theroux
Creators: Hugh M. Hefner, Dave Hickey
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Category: Book
List Price: $500.00
Buy New: $200.00
You Save: $300.00 (60%)
New (16) Used (1) Collectible (1) from $200.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 365311
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 720
Shipping Weight (lbs): 35.7
Dimensions (in): 27 x 15.5 x 6.5
ISBN: 0811860590
Dewey Decimal Number: 779.28
EAN: 9780811860598
ASIN: 0811860590
Publication Date: November 22, 2007
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
Playboy - The Complete Centerfolds February 18, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Well worth the discounted price offered by Amazon. For anyone/everyone who is a fan of Playboy Magazine, and not just for the articles, I recommend this book highly (if one can afford it)! The women are spectacular, and the photography is the best in the business. The protective leather suitcase is a really nice touch, and the quality of the paper is also excellent. (It weighs a lot, though). Again, well worth the $$!
DON'T BUY IT AT THIS PRICE! February 12, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
For awhile the price was dropping by about $10 a day, as if they were trying to find the price people were willing to pay -- for a couple of days it listed as low as $170, and then it suddenly jumped back up to $315 (and now I'm regretting that I didn't grab that price while I could). If nobody buys it at the current price maybe it'll start dropping again. It's worth a try...
 An Interesting Record of American History January 24, 2008
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
I frequently ask this question: Who had the most fun in the twentieth century? The answer I've maintained for some time is: Mick Jagger. (Keith would be second, but I disqualify him because I don't think he remembers much.) Hugh Hefner would be the next in line. What a career. What a legacy. Some people might maintain that his legacy is vacuous and that his career is insipid. I disagree, and immediately sense either jealousy or ignorance. Hefner has done wonderful things for women (as well as us men, obviously), women's rights, and countless other charities and causes, First Amedment and beyond. His decades of frolicking with babes only a fraction of his age is a well-deserved reward for his numerous efforts on various fronts, and thereby advancing the notions of freedom and enlightenment. Hefner is straight out of an Ayn Rand novel, a bold visionary who believes life is to be lived for ample doses of work and pleasure, and whose self-indulgence has as a byproduct vast benefit for his fellow man. (True, I do think his epic life-story would have a fabulous ending if he now married a woman close to his age, and made a proclamation of some sort advancing romantic ideals, to work in conjunction with his previous accomplishments relating to sexual idealism.)
I mention the man who is the publisher of this book because I thought of him and his decades of accomplishment as I flipped through each and every page of this vast tome. Imagine, the first picture is of no one other than Marilyn Monroe! But my personal favorite was about a year later: Bettie Page! I was also struck by the photo of Dorothy Stratten. There are lots of stories here, lots of history. Indeed, most of the shots are very appealing, and actually much sexier than I had remembered. (True, the recent shots of girls who have shaved themselves are, in my opinion, grotesque.) Although my favorites are somewhere between 1965 and 1978, each decade has its appeal. These pictures really jump out at you, the printing quality is first-rate, and the vast volume of beautiful female imagery is probably unmatched by any other book anywhere. It took me almost two hours to flip through these pages.
The briefcase: I was curious if it was real "leather." No, it is not. Is it kind of cheesey? Yes, very. The dilemma posed by the briefcase is that you have to find a place to stash the darned thing. You can't really place it on a bookshelf. Really, I wish they had built a slip-case for the book instead of this vinyl, goofy briefcase. However, the briefcase is kind of useful because the book is so heavy that it otherwise would be cumbersome to move about. But the thin vinyl reminds me of an old cassette tape case, and I suspect that before long the vinyl will crack or get holes punctured in it. The book itself, however, in contrast, is very solid with a nice cloth binding. I do wish it had a nice ribbon book mark, because there was one babe in particular in 1978 who really deserved a rigorous marking! (I guess I'll just have to flip through this thing again soon and re-locate her.)
All told, this book is perhaps the best single summary of an incredible publishing legacy. Thank you, Mr. Hefner, for all you've done to enrich our lives the last sixty years. While many of us primarily read Playboy during our "fraternity years," the lessons taught in this magazine about living the good life, and being a gentleman, have endured long after that.
Best of the Best January 11, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is a piece of history. I was around when the first playboy was issued. So that means a long time.This comes in a black briefcase with combination locks and a raised playboy bunny. Just the case alone is stunning.The book inside contains all the centerfolds unfolded in real size.The cover and binding are first rate. The pages inside are printed on top notch paper. This is well worth the money. This book and case weigh 37.5 pounds. Once you see it you will realize you have a true collectors item if that is what you are into. I debated on whether I should spend the money on it and took a chance, because I have three other playboy books,now I am glad I did, because you will not see any other kind of book bound like this and in a case like this, let alone for the money. It is unique among any type of book.
It is not something you buy just for the pictures, you could have saved all the single issues and have them all, but of course they would be folded and in this book they are not. It is something that you buy for the volume, binding and case itself. A piece of history, that usually would never be produced in any other book. Think of it a large page from every issue of this magazine. I doubt that any other magazine of any kind will ever do what Playboy has done. This is a show stopper as a book.
I stopped reading Playboy because I considered the girls to be too one dimensional and the pictures to be to contrived. They don't seem real. I like my women to look like women, not fake breasts, shaved pubic hair and airbrushed plastic dolls. But I did buy this book because of the quality, besides a lot of the centerfolds in the earlier issues looked more like real women before Hef got old and silly.
Everything a man could possibly want. December 14, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Playboy has been a big part of lives of men all over the world. This book is what Playboy is all about the Playmates, to me its all been about the Playmates> not the Celebrites. We all remember our first Playboy Playmate "viewing" we all have our favorites and it's with this book that pays tribute in awe and respect to every! Playmate that have made our life very, very good and this gentlemen, is the best of that wonderful experience> Awesome book forgot about the price tag with this book your buying a lifetime of pleasure.
Ken Pereira
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