Valley of the Dolls: A Novel

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Summary: It brings to life the unfortunate truth of how we relate...
Review: The book has always been one of my favorites for many reasons.Through a straightforeward and simple plot outline, Susann takes the reader on a 20 year journey through the eyes of characters that most people can relate to in some way. The story is set in a bygone era, yet the reader can instantly identify with the times and realize that the problems of the characters are so similar to today's. Whether a man or woman, the reader can feel the emotions of Susann's characters as we see inside their hearts and minds. All three women in this story, although wanting fame and fortune deeply want someone to love them for who they are. In the end however, the surviving characters, men and women alike wind up settling for so much less. Although originally published in the 1960's, the core of the story is real enough today.

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Summary: ADDICTIVE
Review: One of the greatest novels ever written. I found myself identifying with the character of Anne, routing for her throughout her battles. Was devasted by Jennifer North's tormented life. And was appalled by Neely O'Hara's self-serving nature. Once I started reading I could not put this book down. As an actress who has had the experience both in New York City and Los Angeles, I found the portrayal of these women's experiences and the backstabbing nature of showbiz bitterly truthful right to the end. ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!

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Summary: "Valley of the Dolls' is a novel that time can only improve
Review: On its initial release, Valley of the Dolls was roundly denigrated by literary critics as nothing but trash. They were and are right, but high art and the modernist novel have nothing to do with the daily lives and everyday obsessions of America's crude, vital pop culture. This book is practically a Bible of America's true interests - sex, celebrities, drugs, money, and a Puritan moralizing that makes every character suffer for their pleasure. In the thirty years which have elapsed since it was published, America has only become more obsessed with the phenomena and personality types chronicled by Susann. That said, "Valley" is also terrifically entertaining, often hilarious, and always over-the-top. Although virtually ignored by most reviewers, I think one of the book's key strengths is the power and rude vigor of its language - this is the way America really talks. Susann's characters speak a vernacular bursting with vitality and peppery slang. The ch! aracters themselves, despite their somewhat improbable names (although are they really more improbable than the names of people like "sylvester Stallone" or "Tori Spelling?") are treated with the utmost understanding and sympathy by Susann. I've read this book many times, and each time I enjoy it more.

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Summary: An Awesome Must Read for All
Review: I read this book for the first time in my teens. I am now 30. It is such a great book that I buy it whenever I see one for sale at a book sale. I never tire of reading it again and again. It doesn't have the most wholesome plot, but it is true to life and draws you in.

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Summary: Valley of the Dolls, the book that started it all!
Review: "Valley of the Dolls" was the very first "adult" novel that I ever read; I discovered my mother's hidden, dog-eared copy in the attic one rainy, summer day, along with copies of Harold Robbins and Judith Krantz novels. Jacqueline Susann did it better than anybody!!! "Valley of the Dolls" forever changed the face of fiction, and has influenced practically every writer that has come since, myself included. Sure, it's trashy and decadent, but that's the appeal. If it weren't for Jackie and The Valley, writers like Jackie Collins, Judith Krantz, Sidney Sheldon and Danielle Steel would not have had careers. I would recommend "Valley of the Dolls" to everyone interested in learning how life used to be, for this novel is a mirror reflection of its time, and will forever represent Post WWII America, at its best and worst...

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Summary: the most marvelous trash i've ever read
Review: This was the trashiest novel I've ever read. Drugs, sex, ambition. Glorious. I would recommend it to anyone who has tried to read all the classics but failed or to people who have too much dignity to read Danielle Steel.

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Summary: A Wonderful, BAD Book
Review: Bought this book because I'd gotten a hankering for delving into American pop culture and boy, was this great!! As an American living overseas, I now enjoy things that are 100% USA, and Valley of the Dolls would have to rate pretty high. I love the characters, faults and all. While dated, still a page-turner!

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Summary: AMAZING...the best book that I've ever read!
Review: VALLEY OF THE DOLLS is more addictive than the pills that its heroines take. Sure, its trashy, but trash is by far the most entertaining form of literature. The story of three women's fame and descent into a miserable state of drug use and alchohol is entertaining all the way through. You learn to get to know the characters. You also get to love them, hate them, sympathize for them...its completely spellbinding. I looked forward to picking it up every night, and each night it was practically impossible to put it down ("COME ON..stop reading! You have to go to school tomorrow!") But I got to sleep easily, because each night after I reluctantly put the book down I would fondly recall what I had read. Its just fantastic...maybe I'll read it again. If you're a fan of the movie, I reccomend it even more. Its MUCH better than the film (which I LOVE). Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy, NOW!!!

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Summary: the best book i ever read!!!!!!!
Review: This book is absolutely fabulous! I could not put it down. The characters were very realistic and superbly developed. BUY IT NOW!!! You are missing out on the greatest story of your life.

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Summary: Falling into the Valley
Review: Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann was an amazing piece of entertainment. I would rate this book an 8 because of the fascinating story Susann tells of three extraordinary women and the choices they make throughout their lives. Valley of the Dolls takes the reader into a world of lights, cameras, and glamour at its peak; a place where the average person rarely gets to enter. Susann takes you behind the scenes of the music, Broadway, film, and television industries. The attractive and dazzling lifestyles of the famous are not always what they seem to the common observer. These women have the high-life status, but they go through the same trials and tribulations that all people do. There are cheating husbands, cheating wives, gold-diggers, sex, drugs, and alcohol. Everything that makes up a steamy and very interesting slice of fiction. Susann illustrates the ambition and drive needed to truly make it in the entertainment business, the power people acquire once they have grasped stardom, and the security love gives them above all things. Appearances are also of the upmost importance in the energetic novel. The lives of the characters are so unique and out of the ordinary, it is impossible to put the book down. The spicy romance and the tangled subplots are gripping the whole way through. Each of the characters has a totally different personality which makes it easy to love and hate certain characters. This sensational book of the faults, needs, and lack of self control people suffer from, is a book everyone should read in order to keep from falling into the "valley of the dolls."