Rating: 
Summary: A Guilty Pleasure
Review: I picked this book up in the dusty half-price basement of a campus bookstore. The bright pink paperback cover initially repulsed me: I usually try to avoid pastel covered books--such covers almost invariably conceal insipid romances, the sort that I usually refuse to read. What drew me back was the familiarity of the title. I recalled vague references to the movie-version that I had read in magazines, references linked to discussions about drug and alcohol abuse--not the typical subject matter of a romance. I decided to fork over the three dollars for the book, and I set to reading it that night.
I enjoyed the book more than I might have expected to. Many of the characters proved compelling, particularly Anne Welles (the reserved New England lady). The other two main characters (Neely and Jennifer)I had more trouble believing in; any time either character appeared in the book I fought the impulse to cross out the name printed and write in "Judy" or "Marilyn" (the parallels with Garland and Monroe were far too obvious and ill-concealed).
What I found most intersting and valuable about the book was the picture that it painted of the evolving entertainment industry during the 1940's and 1950's. What I read in Valley of the Dolls resonates with documentaries that I have seen about the period. While I consider Valley of the Dolls more than a little sensational in its depiction of the period, I think that the book makes a point about the demands of the entertainment industry that could not have been made by making polite references to hard truths.
I should not neglect to mention that I consider Valley of the Dolls a legitimate guilty pleasure for reasons that I will not elaborate. Try it and see for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: An all-time favorite 4 me!
Review: I love this book. It has a very intriguing plot and isn't a difficult read. Susann's characters are so real, and I feel that her portrayal of the entertainment world is a vivid and accurate one. I keep this exceptional novel on my winner's bookshelf to be enjoyed for many years to come.
Rating:
Summary: This is the best book I've read all year!
Review: I cannot BELIEVE it took me so long to read "Valley of the Dolls!" So many people have raved about the book to me, and I just dismissed it as another cult novel. I finally got around to reading it, though, and I was blown away. It was INCREDIBLY entertaining! The characters are fun, fresh, and easy to relate to. The story of three women struggling to find themselves in brutal New York City never gets dull for a second. It's a pretty long book, but I finished it very quickly because I never wanted to put it down. I highly recommend this book to everyone!
Rating:
Summary: An Oldie but Goodie
Review: I purchased this because my original copy was worn and torn. Through the years this book and a few others have been on my I can read it again list.Jacqueline Susann had a unique type of writing style that made her characters seem lifelike and real. That's the type of books I've always been drawn to.Jacqueline may be gone, but surely not forgotten. I recommend this to new readers as well as to old fans with worn copies like mine in need of replacement. Don't forget, The Love Machine along with, Once Is Not Enough both exceptional reads.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good, but disappointing ending.
Review: I loved this book, and the hype of it is very real. It is a story about three women in the celebrity scene of NY and LA. Three women struggle and attempt to survive their tumultuous lives, with the use of sex, booze, and their precious "dolls" or Seconals. One girl comes from a small town in Massachusetts in search of real love and opportunity. Another girl comes from a burlesque type background and wants to make it on Broadway. The third girl is a georgeous movie star that is more interested in reality than what men seek in her. All three have their rises and falls, but the end is not as good as it could have been. Something about accepting the way things are and dealing with it by numbing yourself with drugs just isn't "happy." But I guess that is the point isn't it?
Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favorite books
Review: Three downwardly spiraling lives of the 40's, 50's, and 60's, told in their own separate sections, written by the lovely Jacqueline Susann only to come out a book generations to come will read and never forget. I know I won't. Well, the three girls, Anne, Jennifer, and Neely, each landed an ultimately unfortunate life of their own which lured them into sleeping pills (or "the little red dolls") and soon addiction. This book showed us the fasinating life of those three different cases of the addicted and misfortunate that only ended up addicted and misfortunate. (Hey, since when is a happy ending a requirement for a good book?) The girls were each quite famous and wealthy though but this novel shows that fame and fortune come at a high price and do not garuntee happiness. It was a life that instead of having to live, we got to just simply read about thanks to Susann. The real-ness of this book made it like you were living it though. It was an amazing reading experience. You could almost feel what they were feeling. The awkward, quirky love scenes between Anne and Lyon, the violent personality change of Neely caused by her fame, the seductive Jennifer's softer side...it was vividly written and full of heart-beating reality that doesn't die out at even the last page. (Pay no mind to the review below. I was on the wrong name.)
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Dolls
Review: I'm probably not saying anything new, but I'll say it anyway. I absolutely LOVE this book. My mother gave me my first copy of the book when I was 14-15. For the first six months it lay unread on a shelf. Then one day, having nothing else to read, I decided to give it a try. I read it in one sitting! As soon as I finished, I turned back to the beginning and started again. Now I'm on my fourth copy. I couldn't even begin to count how many times I've read it. Most people ask me why. Well, I love re-reading great books. That's as simple as I can state it. Susann begins with Anne arriving in NYC in 1945. It was right after WWII. The novel ends in 1965--20 years and a lifetime later. Of course, anyone who has even read a review knows that the three main characters are: Anne, Neely, and Jennifer. Susann describes the characters and situations they're placed in so vividly you think you're looking in on them, not reading about them. Their lives revolve around the entertainment business. Anne is the blonde New England beauty who begins as a secretary for an entertainment firm (against the advice of people who tell her to go to modelling agencies.) Neely starts as an enthusiastic, bubbly teenager. And Jennifer begins as the sexpot. As the story progresses, so do the characters. Not just the main three, though. Susann throws in plenty of extras and rounds them out as well. There's Lyon Burke, the love of Anne's life. He's handsome, charming, and a bit stand-offish at first. Henry (Anne's boss, then friend) Tony Polar, Jen's singing-sensation husband who was born with an incurable brain disorder. Tony's sister, Miriam, who at first seems like a miserly spinster. Then we find out that she's really just looking out for her brother. Helen Lawson (can't forget to mention her!) is THE Broadway star, stressing the Broad part. She seems like a battleaxe, and often times has to be, but is very lonely. All of these characters age, grow and intermix with each other over the span of the book. Their relationships change, their attitudes change, but most importantly, THEY change. Aside from the characters and imagery however, is the seedy side of glamour. Everyone loves that. If we didn't, tabloids would be out of business. The affairs, the sex, the betrayals and (naturally) the drugs play an intrical part of each character's life.
Even though "Dolls" is approaching it's 40th anniversary, it doesn't seem stale. Some of it is a little dated, to be sure. Broadway isn't the entertainment staple it once was, and television is huge now. Movies are still around, but most of the glamour and glitz is gone. The best part of Susann's writing is that she makes her characters so believable. We can compare them to modern day people. It's this factor that makes it a modern classic (sorry for the oxymoron) I highly recommend this to anyone, but just reading reviews and listening to fans babble about it isn't going to give one a clear picture. Pick it up at the library, borrow it from a friend, whatever. But READ this book--it's absolutely wonderful.
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