Customer Reviews

The Bunny Years: The Surprising Inside Story of the Playboy Clubs: The Women Who Worked as Bunnies and Where They Are Now

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book after watching "A Tale of Two Bunnies" on ABC sparked my curiosity. I thought it was just going to be a bunch of ex-bunnies telling stories about the club but the book went beyond that. It managed to discuss the beginnings of the club, the evolution of the bunny costume, the training of the women who worked there, advantages of working in the club, and the kind of women that were hired. It was fascinating to see so many different races and backgrounds being sought in the 60's. Of course it had personal tales (no pun intended) along with the whole "where are they now" bit. The pictures are wonderful and at times very candid. I recommend this to anyone who wants to know the real deal behind the ears.

Kathryn Leigh Scott has managed to write an insider's look at being a Bunny in one of the famed Playboy Bunny Clubs (New York!!). It isn't what you expect. It's all about the hard work, the costumes(that alone is priceless!!)and of course the customers. You feel like you are stuffing yourself into that suit, slapping on the ears, collar, etc... and then marching out to do one of the hardest jobs in the world: waitressing. She has absolutely no regrets about being a Bunny (BRAVO!!) and the stories about her customers and Bunny Mother, the description of the club late at night with the smoke-filled rooms and music take you right inside. More power to these women who chose to make a living earning more money than their own parents at times so they could pursue their real dreams! Stepping off the farm onto the streets of New York to be an actress (and boy did she hit the jackpot w/Dark Shadows!)is scary, exciting, and she was daring, never hesitating. Shame on Gloria Steinheim (aka FAKE BUNNY) for berating these hard-working women who had visions of "respectable" careers, paying their own way and THEY DID IT!!!
A must-read for any Bunny fan or someone who wants to go to NY or know that the saying "if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere" is absolutely true!

I thought this was a very good book. It showed so many women who have made great contributions with their lives after getting started in what was not an easy job. Waiting tables is not easy, especially in high heels.

This book is not formatted properly for the Kindle at all, which was really disappointing. The personal accounts seem to cut each other off and run together so that it doesn't always create a cohesive narrative - you're never really sure who is talking because it jumps around. There are also ALOT of typos. I'm not sure if that's just the Kindle version or not. I really loved the concept of the book and I loved all the stories and thoroughly enjoyed the book overall. It was just very disappointing that it was so hard to follow on the Kindle version.

For anyone interested in Playboy bunnies, women in America or history of Playboy the The bunny years is a invaluable resource.

The layout of the book may seem confusing at first but it all makes sense as you read through it.
The book starts out with an introduction from the writer and her own story of her experience at Playboy, it then moves on to the history of the clubs, talking about the idea behind them and how it was made into a reality.
Then it moves on to stories from the women who worked at the clubs starting with the ones who were there from the very beginning, divided into chapters by club locations.

Through the course of the book the story is told in as good a chronological order as possible and it ends with the demise of the club and stories from the women who were there til the very end.
From the stories you clearly get the sense of change that was going on in America at the time.
Being a Playboy bunny was groundbreaking. Never before had women had an opportunity such as this to make money, advance in a job and learn valuable skills for organization and business.
Many of the women note that the things they learned at Playboy is what got them to where they are today... many of the a great success in their selected fields.

So this book along with being a great historical resource is also a motivational tool, giving you the sense of empowerment that with an open mind and a sense of adventure you can achieve many great things in life!

The Bunny Years: The Inside Story of the Playboy Clubs and the Women Who Worked as Bunnies

I thought this book was wonderful and insightful! I've always been mesmerized by the Playboy Bunny and this book gave great insights about the Bunny Years. It was great to have the interviews from the early years all the way to when the Clubs closed and the Bunny as we knew it was over.

This book should be read by anyone interested in 20th century American cultural history. It is an example of how the media, feminism and our own prejudices created a Playboy Bunny stereotype that was not true. My wife had been a NYC school teacher for nearly two years when she had a baby. She needed a nightime job so that she could care for our child during the day and still earn money while I finished medical school. The New York Playboy Club had recently opened in December 1962 so she applied to become a Bunny and was accepted immediately. She loved her job. As this book documents, being a Bunny meant hard work but in a safe, protective environment that had rules. Her income as a Bunny was much higher than her previous teacher's salary and for fewer hours of work. This was a lifeline from heaven. A $20 tip was worth $300 in today's inflated currency. The Bunnies were treated well and the club was way ahead of its time in granting flexible work schedules to students and mothers and in hiring women of various ethnicities. The author lets each Bunny tell her own story. The result is some repetition of the facts but the result is a large body of evidence that the feminists were wrong in their criticism and their "women-as-victims" view of Playboy Bunnies. In fact, these were tough, determined women taking charge of their own lives. If Studs Terkel were still with us, I think he would recommend this book for its quality and content, while in no way endorsing the values of men who needed a Playboy key to increase their self-esteem. I purchased this book just to read about the New York Playboy Club (featured on "Madmen") where my wife worked but I couldn't put it down until I had read the whole thing. These stories are from the real world in the early 60's when rules were rules, dollars were precious and there were limited opportunities for women. Its almost like being there early in the sexual revolution. By the 70's the Playboy Club had become irrelevant and American culture was beginning to go off the tracks into a world with few rules and increasingly lower standards of behavior. So READ THIS BOOK! You will be entertained and enlightened and you will LOL.

Scott throws a glamour over what is essentially a book about working. But our media needs to pay more attention to the fact that people really do work jobs that are not white-collar, so this book fills a necessary gap and perhaps will be a herald of things to come. _The Bunny Years_ is composed in response to Gloria Steinem's _Show_ magazine article criticising the sexist practices of the Playboy Clubs, and the willingness of the employees to be demeaned. Scott points out, radically (and this is one of the book's chief strengths) that Steinem was looking at the job from a privileged upper-middle-class position, and that she would have seen _any_ serving job as "beneath" her. The Bunny costume was not outlandishly revealing for a cocktail costume, and the club (unlike many supper clubs and restaurants) was very careful to protect the interests of its employees over and against the whimsicalities of its customers. _The Bunny Years_ is a welcome voice on behalf of the serving industry; Scott and her former colleagues speak for working people, and do so with class and style.

The Bunny Years is by far one of the most interesting reads around. I don't think anyone else could have captured the true feeling of how it must have been to be a Bunny better than Kathryn Leigh Scott. She shows us how these were not just women serving drinks in skimpy costumes, they were of the trailblazers of their time, they weren't just Bunnies, but a part of history.

After reading this book you come out at the other end with a renewed sense of self confidence and excitement. I honestly believe that the Bunny Years goes beyond the usual "Where Are They Now" books that are cranked out year after year, it is inspirational. I came away feeling that anything is possible all you need to do is try.

The Bunny Years tells wonderful stories of women looking for work and independence despite the double standards and taboos that faced them. I love the fact that these women kept their self-resepect and were able to aim for thier goal outside of the club.