Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
Grove Press (1997), Edition: (15th), 442 pages
Description
Dolls: red or black; capsules or tablets; washed down with vodka or swallowed straight -- for Anne, Neely, and Jennifer, it doesn't matter, as long as the pill bottle is within easy reach. These three women become best friends when they are young and struggling in New York City and then climb to the top of the entertainment industry -- only to find that there is no place left to go but down -- into the Valley of the Dolls.
Media reviews
Valley of the Dolls is a zipper-ripper that has been called trashy, tawdry, glitzy, lusty, sordid and seamy — and that's just the beginning of its appeal.
Valley Of The Dolls can be enjoyed as the ultimate plush, trash, human-interest story - three decades of gossip columns distilled into one fat novel - but also as a document of some cultural interest, published as it was in 1966, but spanning the years from optimistic postwar 1945 to world-weary
Show More
pre-deluge 1963. Kierkegaard's theorem that life can only be lived forwards and understood backwards has been used as an excuse to dignify a lot of silly, frivolous cultural frills and furbelows with far greater significance than they actually had - including the mini-skirt, Barbie dolls and atheism. But the sheer breadth and depth of this particular disco-ball gives it lasting clout. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member kaionvin
Or How To Write An American Classic
This is going to sound crazy, but hear me out: The Valley of the Dolls is totally like The Great Gatsby.
One is a culturally-important, best-selling, drug-fueled, homoerotic classic with several unfortunate movie adaptations; the other is well, a
"Give me back my hair, you little bitch," Helen yelled. "It cost me three hundred bucks!"... "Hey--what the hell are you doing?" Helen screamed. She turned to Anne. "Jesus, she's throwing in the can, I bet. I'll kill her, that little bitch!"
Actually there a lot of other parallels: the themes of reinvention through false identities, focuses on the American dream of success (note that it's becoming a stinking rich capitalist for men and a famous and revered for women), and plots that hinge on characters doing stupid shit because of LOVE.
But the similarity that really jumped out at me was how both novels exploit our obsession with wealth (and fame) by luxuriating in its excesses, and then reassure us about our lack of these things by depicting its wealthy (and famous) main characters as incredibly miserable and/or terrible people.
Hey don't be fooled by the persona. I may spend some of my free time reading and deeply thinking about important literature, but people who know me also know I am a habitual online reader of celebrity gossip. It probably speaks to some weird primal impulse to raise individuals to mythic proportions and then tear them down, but also, more relevantly to this discussion, a manifestation of the rather schizophrenic cultural attitudes that define "success". If we really think "success" should be moral and material, why do we think they are contradictory?
Hell if I know. And if any book offered the answers, perhaps novels that followed this narrative arc and purpose would be less compelling. Until that day though, it's a winning premise, and I will probably never stop reading celebrity gossip pages, no matter how much I know on an intellectual level that the "information" they dispense is totally a)false, b)trivial, and c)ethically deplorable.
Does this make The Valley of the Dolls a good book? Heck no. Each of the three main characters we follow hardly has two characteristics to rub together: Anne is a frigid New Englander, Neely is talented and needy, Jennifer is beautiful and… untalented. For all it’s supposedly about their personal success, really it’s all about them defining themselves solely through their men—a mistake made by Susann as much as the characters, as she quickly scuttles the interesting backstage-show-business angle to squeeze in more torrid sex/love affairs. This obsession with the men in their lives is all the more baffling for how none of the male characters barely even has one characteristic, let alone any attractive ones. Susann's pacing is all over the place, she appears to lose interest in Jennifer at some point, and her idea of what is shocking is actually mostly campy, sometimes to the point of hilarity like the mentally-disabled crooner. On the plus side, this makes The Valley of the Dolls a mostly painless read, one that I finished fairly quickly and which left me enough brain cells free to come up with the idea that it's totally like The Great Gatsby. Rating: 2 stars
To summarize:
1. Money. Think Cribs.
2. Sex. Preferably the good kind. Only literary critics like sad, bad sex.
3. Drugs. Obviously catered to the time period/setting.
4. Punish characters for getting the money, sex, and drugs. Because we are hypocrites.
5. Sprinkle in some homoerotism. Only for the flavor or the titillation, don't be doing any real treatment on the topic, it will doom the novel to the "genre" ghetto.
6. Don't forget the tragic ending. At least one character should die via suicide.
7. Don't bother coming up with complex motivations for when you need your characters to do stupid, destructive shit: just pin it on love.
8. "Women be bitches" OR "Men be assholes". But remember, similarly to #5: if you make a male-viewpoint novel, it will be hailed as literature for everyone; if you make it a female-viewpoint novel, it will be branded for the "women's literature".
This is going to sound crazy, but hear me out: The Valley of the Dolls is totally like The Great Gatsby.
One is a culturally-important, best-selling, drug-fueled, homoerotic classic with several unfortunate movie adaptations; the other is well, a
Show More
culturally-important, best-selling, drug-fueled, homoerotic classic with this gem in it: "Give me back my hair, you little bitch," Helen yelled. "It cost me three hundred bucks!"... "Hey--what the hell are you doing?" Helen screamed. She turned to Anne. "Jesus, she's throwing in the can, I bet. I'll kill her, that little bitch!"
Actually there a lot of other parallels: the themes of reinvention through false identities, focuses on the American dream of success (note that it's becoming a stinking rich capitalist for men and a famous and revered for women), and plots that hinge on characters doing stupid shit because of LOVE.
But the similarity that really jumped out at me was how both novels exploit our obsession with wealth (and fame) by luxuriating in its excesses, and then reassure us about our lack of these things by depicting its wealthy (and famous) main characters as incredibly miserable and/or terrible people.
Hey don't be fooled by the persona. I may spend some of my free time reading and deeply thinking about important literature, but people who know me also know I am a habitual online reader of celebrity gossip. It probably speaks to some weird primal impulse to raise individuals to mythic proportions and then tear them down, but also, more relevantly to this discussion, a manifestation of the rather schizophrenic cultural attitudes that define "success". If we really think "success" should be moral and material, why do we think they are contradictory?
Hell if I know. And if any book offered the answers, perhaps novels that followed this narrative arc and purpose would be less compelling. Until that day though, it's a winning premise, and I will probably never stop reading celebrity gossip pages, no matter how much I know on an intellectual level that the "information" they dispense is totally a)false, b)trivial, and c)ethically deplorable.
Does this make The Valley of the Dolls a good book? Heck no. Each of the three main characters we follow hardly has two characteristics to rub together: Anne is a frigid New Englander, Neely is talented and needy, Jennifer is beautiful and… untalented. For all it’s supposedly about their personal success, really it’s all about them defining themselves solely through their men—a mistake made by Susann as much as the characters, as she quickly scuttles the interesting backstage-show-business angle to squeeze in more torrid sex/love affairs. This obsession with the men in their lives is all the more baffling for how none of the male characters barely even has one characteristic, let alone any attractive ones. Susann's pacing is all over the place, she appears to lose interest in Jennifer at some point, and her idea of what is shocking is actually mostly campy, sometimes to the point of hilarity like the mentally-disabled crooner. On the plus side, this makes The Valley of the Dolls a mostly painless read, one that I finished fairly quickly and which left me enough brain cells free to come up with the idea that it's totally like The Great Gatsby. Rating: 2 stars
To summarize:
1. Money. Think Cribs.
2. Sex. Preferably the good kind. Only literary critics like sad, bad sex.
3. Drugs. Obviously catered to the time period/setting.
4. Punish characters for getting the money, sex, and drugs. Because we are hypocrites.
5. Sprinkle in some homoerotism. Only for the flavor or the titillation, don't be doing any real treatment on the topic, it will doom the novel to the "genre" ghetto.
6. Don't forget the tragic ending. At least one character should die via suicide.
7. Don't bother coming up with complex motivations for when you need your characters to do stupid, destructive shit: just pin it on love.
8. "Women be bitches" OR "Men be assholes". But remember, similarly to #5: if you make a male-viewpoint novel, it will be hailed as literature for everyone; if you make it a female-viewpoint novel, it will be branded for the "women's literature".
Show Less
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
James T. Kirk: You'll find it in all the literature of the period.
Spock: For example?
James T. Kirk: Oh, the neglected works of Jacqueline Susann, the novels of Harold Robbins....
Spock: Ah... The giants.
--Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Actually, although I blush a bit to admit it, I really relished
The "dolls" of the title are pills. The red Seconals, the yellow Nembutals, the "little green" Dexedrines and unnamed blues and blue-striped. It's the women, too--ambitious, beautiful, and hollowed out. The central character is Anne Welles. She comes to New York City straight out of Radcliffe determined to leave her small town New England roots behind and resists being subsumed by rich men demanding she give up her dreams for a career--only to find that the man she does want feels "castrated" by her success. Then there are her friends and roommates who are destined for success in show business. Neely O'Hara is only seventeen when she gets her first break on Broadway, and by the time she's twenty she'll be taking a rainbow of pills to keep her slim, keep her up and bring her down. Jennifer North, in her mid-twenties when the book begins, lives and dies by her face and figure.
This is by no means a happy tale and quite cynical really. But Jacqueline Susann and her husband were both involved in show business, and many of the details in her portrait of it rings true enough. The books seems quite risque for its time; there are homosexual affairs, infidelities, mental illnesses, suicides, abortions, plastic surgeries and more. There's also a lot of the picture of life in post-World War II New York City that interested me--such as the near impossibility of finding a good apartment and how that little box called television changed the rules. The picture of a sanitarium in the book was particularly scary and surreal. And yes, I did care about these characters. So, even if I do find it hard to picture this book being read 250 years from now, no Susann doesn't deserve to be lumped in with the likes of Harold Robbins.
Although, you know which Susann book I out and out adored when I was really young? Every Night, Jossephine! Her non-fiction book about her and her poodle. Yes, really.
Spock: For example?
James T. Kirk: Oh, the neglected works of Jacqueline Susann, the novels of Harold Robbins....
Spock: Ah... The giants.
--Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Actually, although I blush a bit to admit it, I really relished
Show More
reading Valley of the Dolls--which I basically gobbled down in one sitting--all 400 odd pages. Trash it may be, it's good trash--a compulsively readable, sometimes cheesy soap opera. With admittedly eye-rolling moments. And a voyeuristic vibe since you get the feeling characters are based on real people such as Ethel Merman, Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe. A blurb inside the cover from The Village Voice calls it "proto-feminist" and I can see that, even if more in a cautionary tale than girl power sense. This is set in the age of Mad Men, in New York City from September of 1945 to January of 1965 and was published in 1966. The "dolls" of the title are pills. The red Seconals, the yellow Nembutals, the "little green" Dexedrines and unnamed blues and blue-striped. It's the women, too--ambitious, beautiful, and hollowed out. The central character is Anne Welles. She comes to New York City straight out of Radcliffe determined to leave her small town New England roots behind and resists being subsumed by rich men demanding she give up her dreams for a career--only to find that the man she does want feels "castrated" by her success. Then there are her friends and roommates who are destined for success in show business. Neely O'Hara is only seventeen when she gets her first break on Broadway, and by the time she's twenty she'll be taking a rainbow of pills to keep her slim, keep her up and bring her down. Jennifer North, in her mid-twenties when the book begins, lives and dies by her face and figure.
This is by no means a happy tale and quite cynical really. But Jacqueline Susann and her husband were both involved in show business, and many of the details in her portrait of it rings true enough. The books seems quite risque for its time; there are homosexual affairs, infidelities, mental illnesses, suicides, abortions, plastic surgeries and more. There's also a lot of the picture of life in post-World War II New York City that interested me--such as the near impossibility of finding a good apartment and how that little box called television changed the rules. The picture of a sanitarium in the book was particularly scary and surreal. And yes, I did care about these characters. So, even if I do find it hard to picture this book being read 250 years from now, no Susann doesn't deserve to be lumped in with the likes of Harold Robbins.
Although, you know which Susann book I out and out adored when I was really young? Every Night, Jossephine! Her non-fiction book about her and her poodle. Yes, really.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ericnguyen09
Given her background—a television starlet, who didn't quite make it to the top—it was impossible that Jacqueline Susann had written a novel. It was even more impossible that she had written anything worth reading. However, as it figures out, Jacqueline Susann didn't care about logic, and
Show More
instead of the smutty predecessor of the modern chick lit novel, we get a socially conscious, audaciously feminist literary novel underneath the veil of a roman á clef in the now infamous and classic 1966 Valley of the Dolls. Chronicling the lives of three friends in a twenty year period, from 1945 to 1965, as they strive to reach the top in the social world of men, Susann's novel is stirring and beckons the reader to turn the page—again and again. Yet most striking, and what makes its readers continue, are her characters: Anne, the plainly beautiful protagonist who just wants to make a life of her own; Neely, a small but powerful lady with a voice to match; and Jennifer, the gorgeous lady who wields her power with her youthful body, all of whom are drawn out so completely, in their flaws, perfections, and most of all their power and claim to it, that readers have not choice but to believe and most importantly care. Simply put, Susann is a masterful storyteller. Running through the plot are themes of woman empowerment, the ability to choose, and the disdainful society treat women who have mastered these concepts. Sadly, this is lost in Susann's legacy of shock and scandal and perhaps at her sometimes (very) unskillful and clumsy writing, or as Truman Capote phrased it "typing." However, in the same vain that Jennifer Weiner claimed that chick lit was an elitist term, perhaps holding and labeling Susann's novel as merely romance (which is it not for many reasons) and popular literature of no use for serious readers is an elitist practice that bars us from socially active literature such as this 400-page volume of a story. Show Less
LibraryThing member Katie_H
One of biggest selling novels of all time, this epic cult classic is about drugs, sex, and betrayal. Set in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, it follows the lives of three women in their struggle for fame and fortune: Anne, a cosmetics model, Jennifer, a starlet, and Neely, a singer and showbiz wannabe. These
Show More
friends rely on their bodies and stunningly good looks to catch them a man, so when the their boobs start to sag and fine lines begin to appear, their worlds come crashing down. "Dolls" is a euphemism for pills - barbiturates to go to sleep and dexies to perk up and lose weight. I found this readable, though it rambled at times, and the characters were shallow and stereotypical. I can imagine how it may have been liberating and educational for 60s women, but it doesn't quite hold up for modern women who generally don't long for a man to solve all of their problems. All in all, this novel is trashy, cheesy, and scandalous, but sometimes that's just what the doctor ordered. Show Less
LibraryThing member mrn945
Oh, the pretty little dolls. Or, it is creepy to call them dolls? After all, we are talking about drugs - uppers, downers, diet pills.
Now, I'm sure most people have probably read this book at one point or another, or at least seen the movie version. Just in case though I'll give you a brief
During the 60's, three young girls become swept up in the excitement and addiction of fame and fortune in New York's entertainment industry. None
of them end up unscathed. Multiple marriages, drug addictions, alcoholism, cheating and a couple of wanted and unwanted children later the group of once close friends has dwindled. They are more than a little worse for the wear and, unfortunately, not a lot wiser for all their troubles.
Although this novel is as scandalous as it promises, it holds up surprisingly well considering it was written 40 years ago. Maybe it's not the best written book ever but the action, dialogue and intrigue of the novel is wonderfully fun. I still maintain that it would be a great summer indulgent beach novel, even after all of this time.
Now, I'm sure most people have probably read this book at one point or another, or at least seen the movie version. Just in case though I'll give you a brief
Show More
synopsis. During the 60's, three young girls become swept up in the excitement and addiction of fame and fortune in New York's entertainment industry. None
of them end up unscathed. Multiple marriages, drug addictions, alcoholism, cheating and a couple of wanted and unwanted children later the group of once close friends has dwindled. They are more than a little worse for the wear and, unfortunately, not a lot wiser for all their troubles.
Although this novel is as scandalous as it promises, it holds up surprisingly well considering it was written 40 years ago. Maybe it's not the best written book ever but the action, dialogue and intrigue of the novel is wonderfully fun. I still maintain that it would be a great summer indulgent beach novel, even after all of this time.
Show Less
LibraryThing member RebeccaLee
Ahead of it's time! Great quick read but a little sad.
LibraryThing member Amzzz
Set primarily in the 1940s, this book covers how fame, power and money affect different women, and the relationships that they have with one another, and with men. Very hard to put down, but very depressing as well.
LibraryThing member MsNikki
Trashy, silly fun, about 60s excess and entertianment industry ambitions.
Just stating the obvious, the dolls she's talking about are pills.
Just stating the obvious, the dolls she's talking about are pills.
LibraryThing member CarolO
This was my first trashy novel, the one I hid from my parents and read under covers with a flashlight at night. It is a little worse for wear after traveling with me to college, my first apartment…and now my own home. I just reread it after coming across it to log it on LT, not nearly as shocking
Show More
these days as it was to the schoolgirl me, but still a fine trashy novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member moonstormer
I know it's 'trashy', but I loved this book! It was so dark, and the brilliant thing is how it stands the test of time - despite it being written so many years ago, it is still relevant and fantastic!
LibraryThing member bhalpin
A classic that belongs in everyone's library
LibraryThing member brose72
Racy story of stardom and hollywood and drug abuse
LibraryThing member katiemullen
Trashy? yes. Kitschy? yes. But not exactly fun. After a slow beginning, the book does become extremely entertaining; however, it simultaneously becomes extremely depressing. The story's depressing content is not necessarily a flaw in itself, but coupled with characters that I had a hard time caring
Show More
about, it put a bit of a damper on my enjoyment of the novel. Nevertheless, as far as beach reads go, they don't get much better than this. Don't expect great literature or happy endings. Do expect lots of drugs, lots of sex, and lots of old school diva tantrums. Show Less
LibraryThing member booknurse11
This is an amazing book. I really like the books that make you fall in live with the main character so deeply you feel her pain. This is it. I cried and I was angry for her. You follow her thru making it in the big city, to losing it ALL, and coming back again. I strongly recommend Shadow of the
Show More
Dolls, its by a different author who picked up where J. Susann left off with Valley after she died. I was just as good. Show Less
LibraryThing member pinkcrayon99
I was compelled to read The Valley of the Dolls after my mom asked me to order her the VHS tape of the movie. After reading a few reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, I decided that I had to read it. I was held captive in the Valley until the very end. I did not expect this book to be so “profound”
We begin the story with Anne Welles moving from small town Lawrenceville to the big city of New York. She soon befriends a young girl in her building, Neely O’Hara. Neely and Anne become best friends instantly. Anne is the refined yet rigid New England girl while Neely is the young, vibrant, and immensely talented “discarded” teen. Anne lands a job as secretary at the famed Bellamy and Bellows Agency which represents some of the top names in show business. From Bellamy and Bellows, Anne engineers Neely’s success and falls in love with Lyon Burke. While working with various shows both ladies befriend Jennifer North. The story is narrated by all three friends and you soon find yourself caught up in this whirlwind of drama.
Anne comes across as the most grounded and well put together of the three but we soon come to realize that she is weak and failing in love. Anne had what seemed as the “perfect” life but she never had “peace of mind.” She made huge sacrifices in relationships but they repaid in hurt and pain. Neely was one of the most self destructive characters I have ever read about. She captures your heart at first but by the end of the story fame has eaten away at her humanity until she is unrecognizable. Jennifer was the most endearing of all. On the outside she had it all but her inner demons consumed her. The love affairs of these women were of rollercoaster proportions like their emotions. The drugs and alcohol that they all eventually turned to-to cope with their emotions gradually overwhelmed them. Susann tackled issues of sexuality, abortion, women’s mental health, and women in the work place head on considering all were very controversial in 1966.
The reviews I read prior to reading this book mainly focused on the “dolls” the name given by the ladies to describe their prescription drugs. The “dolls” were ever present but in my opinion the theme of the book was heartless deception and betrayal. By the end I was heartbroken. This book was heart wrenching yet well written and well paced.
Highly Recommended
Show More
and “current.” In the Valley of the Dolls the “fame monster” destroyed lives, friendships, and families forever.We begin the story with Anne Welles moving from small town Lawrenceville to the big city of New York. She soon befriends a young girl in her building, Neely O’Hara. Neely and Anne become best friends instantly. Anne is the refined yet rigid New England girl while Neely is the young, vibrant, and immensely talented “discarded” teen. Anne lands a job as secretary at the famed Bellamy and Bellows Agency which represents some of the top names in show business. From Bellamy and Bellows, Anne engineers Neely’s success and falls in love with Lyon Burke. While working with various shows both ladies befriend Jennifer North. The story is narrated by all three friends and you soon find yourself caught up in this whirlwind of drama.
Anne comes across as the most grounded and well put together of the three but we soon come to realize that she is weak and failing in love. Anne had what seemed as the “perfect” life but she never had “peace of mind.” She made huge sacrifices in relationships but they repaid in hurt and pain. Neely was one of the most self destructive characters I have ever read about. She captures your heart at first but by the end of the story fame has eaten away at her humanity until she is unrecognizable. Jennifer was the most endearing of all. On the outside she had it all but her inner demons consumed her. The love affairs of these women were of rollercoaster proportions like their emotions. The drugs and alcohol that they all eventually turned to-to cope with their emotions gradually overwhelmed them. Susann tackled issues of sexuality, abortion, women’s mental health, and women in the work place head on considering all were very controversial in 1966.
The reviews I read prior to reading this book mainly focused on the “dolls” the name given by the ladies to describe their prescription drugs. The “dolls” were ever present but in my opinion the theme of the book was heartless deception and betrayal. By the end I was heartbroken. This book was heart wrenching yet well written and well paced.
Highly Recommended
Show Less
LibraryThing member tealightful
I loved this book. It was trashy, required no thought on my part and was a great junk book to devour up.
Having just started watching Mad Men a few weeks prior to reading the book, I found the book even more enjoyable. It was like seeing Mad Men from the women's points of view. Wonderfully
I think the author's fame is a teensy-weensy bit over-stated on her profile. "Most successful in the history of American publishing". Hmm.. I don't know if I'd go that far.
Quotes:
1) "Love is companionship, having friends in common, the same interests. Sex is the connotation you're placing on love, and let me tell you, young lady, that if and when it does exist, it dies very quickly after marriage."
Having just started watching Mad Men a few weeks prior to reading the book, I found the book even more enjoyable. It was like seeing Mad Men from the women's points of view. Wonderfully
Show More
complimentary and certainly helped put me in the headspace for the book.I think the author's fame is a teensy-weensy bit over-stated on her profile. "Most successful in the history of American publishing". Hmm.. I don't know if I'd go that far.
Quotes:
1) "Love is companionship, having friends in common, the same interests. Sex is the connotation you're placing on love, and let me tell you, young lady, that if and when it does exist, it dies very quickly after marriage."
Show Less
LibraryThing member booksniff
Very good book, depressing story but kept my interest! I'm glad I read it!
LibraryThing member nikkitm
The ultimate guilty pleasure which I felt was justified after it was serialised on radio 4. I laughed and cried and loved every minute.
LibraryThing member MelissaAnneS
This is a fast read, a book that takes us on the journey of a young woman making her way through many layers of New York, New York.
LibraryThing member melancholy
fantastically wonderful filth.
LibraryThing member kepkanation
Delicious, wicked fun!
LibraryThing member TheLoisLevel
A classic cheese fest...but in the right mood, I still like it!
LibraryThing member Esquiress
One of the suggested tags on Shelfari for Valley of the Dolls is "trashy cult favourite." Is it a little trashy? Yes. Can I see why it would be a cult favorite or, as the back of the book deems, a "pop culture classic"? Absolutely. Another tag describes it best, I think - "trashy in a good
Once I started, I couldn't stop. I finished this book in under two days - all 442 pages of pretty small print. It sucked me in and didn't let me go. In a way, it was like being drawn to a terrible car crash - not wanting to look, but feeling compelled to look anyway.
The alternating chapters worked for me, even though it wasn't alternating perspectives, per se. Third person limited worked well for me here.
By the end of the book, I hated Neely and would have liked to strangle her. I can't help but wonder what comes next for Anne, and I'd like to smack Winston. Lyon is a tool, and Harry is an enabler.
It must've been pretty good if I can feel so strongly about the characters.
Show More
way."Once I started, I couldn't stop. I finished this book in under two days - all 442 pages of pretty small print. It sucked me in and didn't let me go. In a way, it was like being drawn to a terrible car crash - not wanting to look, but feeling compelled to look anyway.
The alternating chapters worked for me, even though it wasn't alternating perspectives, per se. Third person limited worked well for me here.
By the end of the book, I hated Neely and would have liked to strangle her. I can't help but wonder what comes next for Anne, and I'd like to smack Winston. Lyon is a tool, and Harry is an enabler.
It must've been pretty good if I can feel so strongly about the characters.
Show Less
LibraryThing member SaraFist
Fan-fucking-tastic. The ultimate summer trashy novel; I read it every year. Jacquie Susann popped out a roman a clef of the entertainment industries of her time, and though the characters and prose are laughable, it's still an absorbing read.
Read it on the beach or the plane when you need a light
Read it on the beach or the plane when you need a light
Show More
distraction. Show Less
LibraryThing member bcrowl399
There was a lot of hoopla about this book when it came out. It wasn't an inaccurate account of some people's lives, then or now.
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1966
Physical description
442 p.; 8.5 inches
ISBN
9780802135193