An inside account of men's magazines through the eyes of a journo who's been bang in the middle of it.
Sex & Money: growing up in the men's magazines is the story of Mark Dapin's rise from the gutter (where he found himself one sad morning with no money and no shoes) to editor-in-chief of Ralph magazine. Along the way, he has his ribs broken by world welterweight boxing champion Kostya Tszyu and his heart broken by supermodel Claudia Schiffer. He visits a lap-dancing club with confessed killer Chopper Read, and hangs out with SAS troopers and Foreign Legionnaires. But the most mercenary and least trustworthy people he meets always wear suits and ties.
As he stumbles to bring order to a life spent losing wallets, memories, girlfriends and - at one point - his office door, Dapin tells the history of men's magazines in Australia, from Playboy, Penthouse and The Picture to FHM, Ralph and Men's Health. He explains how women become cover-girls, and how cover-girls become perfect women using Photoshop, airbrushes and an art director's imagination.
It's a funny, pointless, beer-sodden adventure that leads him towards the top of the corporate world, where he begins to miss the gutter because it's cleaner.
