A Few Words With Steven Watts

This month, John Wiley & Sons published Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream, a 544-page biography of the world’s most famous philosopher of the boudoir. Hef granted author Steven Watts, a professor of history at the University of Missouri, unrestricted access to his archives. Kirkus Reviews calls Mr. Playboy a “nuanced portrait of Hef’s life that also serves as a panorama of hip culture from the 1950s onward.” We call it essential reading, easily the most comprehensive survey of a legendary American figure. We asked Watts what it was like to work on this book.PLAYBOY: It’s unusual for a historian to have this sort of access to his subject. There are obvious benefits to that, but there must be perils as well.WATTS: There are two perils. First, you can become so friendly with your subject that you lose your... [read full story]