Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny

Title: Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny

Author: Holly Madison

Genre: Memoir

Time: 6.4 hours

The Devoted in Death felt a little bit too dark for me so I decided on holding off on reading another one and opt for something light and fluffy.  I got a lot of books in my last haul so I chose this one thinking it would be shallow, superficial and maybe a bit funny kinda like the White Girl Problems by Babe Walker book.

I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t.  I’ve read a couple of memoirs from celebrities and not all of them are good.  But this was actually a very well-written, well structured book.  I know, I know, I’m being stereotypical thinking blonde = not very smart… or it could be that she has a very good ghost writer.

Years ago, I would sometimes catch Girls Next Door on TV and with my penchant for reality shows, I was fascinated to say the least.  Of the three girls, I liked Holly.  Kendra was annoying and the “spontaneous, bubbly girl” act seemed forced and fake.. and frankly didn’t think she was pretty (dunno, that kind of beauty doesn’t appeal to me).. Bridget was sweet but it felt like she was the stereotypical ditsy blonde and yeah, she is beautiful but she looked like every other beautiful blonde starlet.  Now Holly was my favorite.  I was probably in the minority as she probably seemed snobby and stuck up to people but I think that’s probably how I seem to others as well.  Being an introvert, you don’t like being the center of attention and you prefer listening and observing at the sidelines instead of being the life of the party and people would assume you’re not friendly… or who knows, I could be totally wrong and maybe Holly is really a stuck up bitch in real life?  But I liked her.  In the show, she struggled to be taken seriously, trying to learn the behind-the-camera work instead of just posing in front of it and be pretty… and I liked that too.. although, knowing what I know now with reality TV, the whole thing could just have been faked… >.<

As I always do when reading memoirs, I take with a grain of salt as we’re only getting one side of the story, so of course, the story teller would obviously want to come out looking good… and there’s that thing of exaggerating things (or maybe even out right lying) to up sales numbers.. In the book she made out herself to be the outsider of the group with the other girls picking on her for being quiet and she just let them.. this might be true but I bet she also let her claws come out when needed, especially when she wasn’t the “newbie” girl anymore..

Yes, it was a tell-all kinda book where she dished dirt on how life in Playboy mansion isn’t all what it’s cracked up to be—the backstabbing, manipulation, strict curfews, sex with someone old enough to be your grandpa, verbal abuse, etc. etc., etc.  I liked that she was very careful of not to sound totally ungrateful.  She acknowledged that there were good things like living in this amazing house for free, clothing and salon allowance, free use of cars and more… but it came with a price and she also took responsibilities for her part of it and owned up to making the wrong decisions… I thought it was cool of her to tone her book that way as she could have easily played the victim card and put the blame on everyone else.. and she sounded graciously grateful to the people who helped her along the way. 

What stuck with me was 1) Does Hef have pedo-bear tendencies? She did not outright say it but mentioned 2 instances that hinted to it… or maybe it was just me reading into things that aren’t there? 2) I know Hef comes from the Dinosaur Age (and we don’t encounter people like that so much anymore) but that reading about his sexism was very off putting.. But I read somewhere that his daughter runs (or has heads some part of?) Playboy… so it doesn’t mean he thinks all women are stupid, right?  Or is it like a Madonna-Whore Complex kinda a thing where you’re an either/or but cannot be both… like you can be smart or pretty but not both… there was a part there where Holly got so annoyed with Hef’s condescension that she wanted to shout her SATs score at him.. Makes me wonder, does Holly have genius lever SATs scores?? That would really piss me off knowing you’re super smart and you’re treated like a bimbo.. I wouldn’t last a month there.. 3) Holly, Kendra and Bridget got lucky coz they were the girlfriends when the GND show happened… if not, they could have ended like the many girlfriends before them… god knows where they are now… come to think of it, I really do wonder where the they are now? Especially the girls Holly mentioned when she first started out in the Playboy mansion 4) Book sort of confirms that Playboy hasn’t been doing well..