Bunny Tales [Hardcover]

Izabella St. James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 2006

What happens in the Mansion, doesn’t stay in the Mansion! How did I get here? I was raised a nice Catholic girl in Ontario, Canada. I am an only child whose parents lavished their attention and resources on me. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree and a law degree, and I’m studying to take the California bar. I am comfortable with my own sexuality, responsible for my own orgasm, and have never been sexually or emotionally abused. And yet for two years, I lived at the infamous Playboy Mansion, rolled in a posse of seven succulent beauties, and was a co-girlfriend of the father of the sexual revolution and the world's largest living hedonist. What is wrong with this picture? The Bunnies. The Girlfriends. The Mansion. The Grotto. The Myth. The Man. The Fantasy. The Reality. Izabella St. James left colder climes for the beaches of Malibu. Young, blond, and pretty, she was looking for fun, and the SoCal nightlife was a powerful magnet. Out clubbing one night, she met Hugh Hefner and his friends. Beyond the silk robe and age-proof good looks, Hugh was a genial man who invited Izabella to join his group of friends and then to move into the world-famous Mansion as one of Hef’s girlfriends. (Plural.) Bunny Tales is Izabella’s story-of a party girl who discovered what work it is to play all the time. Plastic surgery, gorgeous clothes, cool cars, and a generous weekly allowance are the perks of Mansion life, but Hef’s girlfriends are a clique, a sorority, a group of best buds, and bitter rivals, the worst of high school in an adult party circuit. Izabella was witness to the growing pains of an empire-and legend-built on a revolution long over. Like the best relationships, Bunny Tales is honest and fun, revealing and real, satisfying and surprising.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Izabella St. James is a writer and an actress and has never considered herself a "model." She and her pet menagerie live in Los Angeles. She holds a law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law, and is still hoping to use it one day. She is currently working on her second book.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Running Press; First edition. edition (August 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762427396
• ISBN-13: 978-0762427390
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (130 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #569,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sour grapes, November 30, 2006

By 

Noelle (Los Altos, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Bunny Tales (Hardcover)

I've seen the Girls Next Door, so I was curious about how the whole "girlfriend" things works. Izabella explained it. She explains how they were recruited, how much they were paid, and what was expected of them in and out of the bedroom. It is an interesting glimpse into a fantasy world that is maybe not so fantastic after all (which is, of course, not surprising).

That said, the book itself is terribly written. I don't think anyone proof-read it before it was published. The grammatical mistakes and obvious typos are too numerous to ignore. Izabella is obviously trying to profit as much as possible from her time at the mansion. She is also trying to justify her life there. Most of those attempts come off as fake and insincere. She talks about how horrible it was for the girls she didn't like to be using Hef for the wrong reasons, then announces she was never attracted to Hef (who she claims was a bad lover). Most of the book is about how much money and stuff she could squeeze out of this man she was not attracted to in the two years she lived at the mansion. He paid for her car, her clothes, her plastic surgeries, and gave her a weekly allowance but she complains bitterly he didn't pay for her school loans or get her the exact car she wanted.

Overall the tone of the book is a bit condescending and... misguided.

76 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Pathetic, self-serving and poorly written!, February 11, 2007

By 

StilettoGirl (Syracuse, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bunny Tales (Hardcover)

Do not waste your time or money on this useless, indulgent piece of self-promoting drivel.

I bought this book after reading an excerpt from it in a magazine. I wanted some fun, light reading to give me a break from studying for my bar exam. What I did not realize is that while the magazine had an editor, this book did not. St. James can no more write a clear sentence than she can hold an opinion.

If only the grammatical errors were the book's only problem. St. James is so busy sucking up to every famous person she ever met that, even if she criticizes them, she quickly recants with something insipid like "but they were nice!" She constantly critiques the other Girlfriends and playmates who pursued the same lifestyle as hers while valorizing her choice b/c she had "an education" (one that apparently did not include a single English course or creative writing seminar).

St. James is so busy trying to validate her choices as those of a strong, indepdendent woman that her insecurities and lack of intelligence are all the more glaring. Worse, she introduces each chapter with a random quote that she does not contextualize--her use of Milton is particularly appaling and demonstrates her lack of English 101.

I didn't expect this book to be brilliant or even witty, but I did expect it to be fun and frivilous. Unfortunately, St. James is so in love with herself and so hateful of other women--particularly those with whom she shared a boyfriend and career--that her bitterness (and last minute efforts at making nice lest anyone be mad at her) overwhelms what should be a frothy treat.

Here's hoping St. James gets herself a therapist, remedial English lessons and a women's studies class stat.

48 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This bunny has little to offer, March 4, 2007

By 

Nancy "Nancy Reader" (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bunny Tales (Hardcover)

I could comment on the poor editing or the obvious typographical errors in the book - but this has been addressed in many of the other reviews.

Sadly, what stood out to me while reading this book is what a sad commentary this makes about how a woman can take advantage of a wealthy, older man. She meets Hef and states that from the beginning - she was not attracted to him sexually or physically. Yet, she decides to become a "Girlfriend" and is more than ready to accept her weekly allowance from Hef and request all sorts of expensive gifts like a car downpayment and plastic surgery. She clearly does not feel any great affection for the man, mocks his sexuality and describes how she laughed at him on numerous occasions and avoided his bedroom. She doesnt sound like much of a "girlfriend" to me. With friends like her - who needs enemies? Of course, she would have liked more. More cash really. She would like Hef to pay off her student loans from law school - and shockingly - he turned down some of her requests for money.

Throughout the book she continually mentions the fact that she graduated from law school - to impress us with the fact that she is really intelligent (of course, she has not been able to pass the bar), but working for a living does not seem to be too high on her list of priorities, or being grateful for everything she was given while in residence at the Mansion. The book is a disappointment and I found it to be a sad reflection of the type of woman that preys on a wealthy, older man. I am sure she is looking for the next one now.