Title: Dear Playboy Advisor: Questions from Men and Women to the Advice Column of Playboy Magazine Author: Chip Rowe, Editor Publisher: Playboy Press Publish Date: 2006 Pages: 358 Genres:: Self-Help, Compilation, Non-Fiction Reviewer: J. Henry

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Playboy adds another title into their library with Dear Playboy Advisor. This latest book is a compilation of some of the more interesting questions and answers from their version of the ‘Dear Abby’ section. Editor and advisor since 1994, Chip Rowe notes in his introduction that Playboy is not all about sex; so many of the questions the advisor receives do not directly correlate to physical intimacy while numerous others do.

Separated into various sections in alphabetical order by subject: Anal, Automotives, Cigars, Etiquette (sexual and otherwise), Fashion, Kink, Masturbation, Stereos and Threesomes, the Advisor has various approaches—some informational, some cynical—to answer those questions you’ve been wondering about but may not have had the courage to ask. With the anonymity factor of being known by your initials and your city of residence, many can convey their deepest fantasies or most disturbing realities to someone with enough insight not to judge.

The more serious questions that arise receive the least sarcastic responses. Inquiries about what types of weights work best to build muscle mass or what is the best way to enjoy a cigar, to even wondering if you should get married to the woman who irritates you most of the time, yet the sex is astounding. Chip Rowe professes his expertise by not only giving his own advice but noting insight from professionals. In sections such as the one for Fashion, Rowe provides informative advice such as: “When you wear dress shoes and trousers, should your socks match the shoes or your pants?” (Answer: “Your socks should match your trousers.”)

Then there are the moments when Rowe reveals his jab at some questions that simply do not require a realistic, analytical answer and uses his acerbic wit to suspend interest, such as when J.H. from Dallas asks: “What do you think about guys who wear thongs?” (Answer: “We try not to.”) While sections like Fashion and Automotives and Etiquette may seem like “nonsexual” portions of the Advisor, there are a few questions that take us back to what the word “playboy” in itself is automatically associated with.

The questions published in Advisor were many that Chip Rowe found interesting enough to publish, but he also reveals that there’s plenty more than those printed within these 300+ pages. He even provides us a sneak peek at some that didn’t quite make the cut, “but not for lack of trying.” Dear Playboy Advisor as a whole is a good read from start to finish, some sections like Cigars may not be as tantalizing as Masturbation per se, but they do provide ample information for those who may be connoisseurs or at least have an inkling of interest in the topic.

The range is what makes Advisor interesting, but it’s the subject matter proposed and the responses received that make one feel that they’re learning something. Whether you’re made aware that some of your kinky fantasies aren’t as torrid as you thought or that if you’re a bald man who hasn’t had sex in years, don’t worry there is hope out there and people can commiserate. The fact that Rowe also incorporates chain letters (responses to the Advisor’s response on a question, whether they’re negative or positive) also helps to bring full circle the diversity of Playboy’s fan base.

There is one instance that a reader may not agree with Rowe’s response to a woman who writes in that she’s insecure because she’s a size 16. Instead of being realistic outside of the Playboy world, Rowe agrees with her self-deprecating tone that men are rarely attracted to plus-sized women. To Rowe’s credit, he does post several letters from angry male and female readers that convey their sympathy for the woman and shock at Rowe’s elitist attitude towards the female body. After a few paragraphs, Rowe concedes acknowledging that larger ladies get love as well but doesn’t hesitate to close this particular section off with a letter that sides with his original response.

What the Playboy books are doing are revealing the alternate and more ‘legitimate’ side of the entity as not just a sexual center that reveals women as fantasies and not realistically, but also as a form of media that is interested in entertainment, politics, sports, and health. With the Dear Playboy Advisor, the publishing imprint extends the intelligence and versatility of Chip Rowe as a representative of Playboy and gatekeeper to the barrage of questions that range in personal, psychological, sexual, and physical.

Whatever Rowe cannot answer on his own, he supplies the advice of someone else who can. Obviously many of these answers have been researched before being printed, but Rowe’s aptitude to provide his opinion, honest and unfiltered is refreshing in lieu of the more ‘watered-down’ and blasé advice columns available today. Who else would praise a woman for finding a new aspect to her sexuality after having sex with a woman while admonishing her for having her first girl-on-girl affair with her ex-husband’s fiancé? Yes, only the Playboy advisor could be that daring and appealing to read.