

Most likely you are surprised that such a thing exists. You are not alone.

When I discovered Playboy in Braille years ago, it was in a box in an abandoned building. I found myself in a state of disbelief. The kind you feel when you’re being chased by a leprechaun with a crossbow.

It’s normal to not want Playboy in Braille to exist. Because it’s weird. It raises too many questions. Questions like: Why is the government printing Playboy in Braille? And: How do you explain a naked woman to a pubescent, visually impaired teen?

“Elka leans against a wall, wearing only a carpenter’s tool belt. She’s hot. Believe me.”

“Katsumi arches unnaturally over a coffee table. You can see the whole thing.”

“Anja’s Mediterranean skin is a warm brown, like the craft paper Playboy you’re reading with your finger.”

Playboy in Braille makes you think. It’s exciting but uncomfortable at the same time. Like Courtney Love fixing your stove.

Run your fingers over the pages, never really knowing if you’re touching a gorgeous blonde or an essay by Tom Clancy. Was that Cindy Crawford’s bum, or an interview with Gore Vidal? Frankly, it’s whatever you want it to be.

That’s the glory of Playboy in Braille. November 1995.Volume XLII, No. 11.

It’s number 2 in a 4 part series. I don’t know where the other parts are, but you’d only miss them if you could read Braille. And you can’t, because you’re reading this.

This would be a terrible gift for the visually impaired, because you don’t give the visually impaired one quarter of a decade-old Playboy as a gift.

But for you? Put it out on the coffee table like I did. Owning Playboy in Braille is like having a Day-Glo orange monkey that can curse in Farsi. It gets attention. People talk.

You want Playboy in Braille. Playboy in Braille wants you.

At least that’s what I think it says.









[In a fit of irony, eBay removed the listing, citing it as being for “Mature Audiences.”]