Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating page-turner...
Review: I picked this up at the library when I heard about the movie telling Susann's life story. It was a quick read, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I had a hard time not wanting to bash every man I saw when I finished! I became Anne's bestfriend and Neely's worst enemy. I wanted to flush Helen's wig down the toilet, too, as well as all of the dolls! I really hated finishing the book; I'm still wondering what happened to Anne and Lyon! I definitely plan on reading more of Susann's novels. Great weekend lounge-reading!
Rating:
Summary: Can't Sleep, Can't Eat...
Review: Can a book so enjoyable be so timeless? This book found its way from my mother's hands to mine and there it stopped. I am on my sixth reading of this wonderful story and don't think I will ever tire of it. Susann's characters are real, her settings perfect backdrops to their story, and her words flow like milk and honey. I was immediately drawn into Ann's thirst for life and passion for Lyon. Shocked at "Old Ironsides", I fell in love with Henry, and thought if we'd ever meet, I knew we'd be old friends. Reading this book again and again has been like watching my favorite movie, curled up on the couch, eating buttery popcorn and drinking an ice cold Diet Coke. One of life's experiences not to be passed up!
Rating:
Summary: Riot Grrrrl
Review: Valley of the dolls is definitely a novel that has it all. It tells the story of the Beautiful women who go to New York as stars, and end up in more of a lifestyle than they had ever imagined for themselves. Before you read this novel, be prepared for a culture shock: Reality. The way the author tells the story of the washed-out and faded lives of these women is awesome, and compelling. The reader can't help but turn the page! This novel takes a reader with an open mind, or someone who wants to learn how the "other" half lives. This novel will hopefully blow your mind, and help you to see that women can be whatever it is that they posses. In reading this I have learned more about myself, and how I have more right's as a woman in the 90's, then the characters in thier time ever thought of having. After reading this novel, if you consider it trash, than you might as well call all of the women of today "Ahead of thier time- Trash!"
Rating:
Summary: A Real Camp Powerhouse
Review: As wonderful and satisfying as the film version of "Valley of the Dolls" is, nothing can compare to the dizzying rise and utter destruction of Susann's three heroines found in this, the original source material. Here are all the delicious cat-fights, the bleary eyed, drug-induced bitchiness we have grown to love and expect from Jacki's novels. Here, too, is MORE MORE MORE of the tough-as-nails Helen Lawson, a portrait only glimpsed at in the cimematic version. When Helen gives the demure Anne a tour of her penthouse pad uttering the imortal line, "See that bed? It's eight feet wide," Suzann knows she's hooked us for the long haul.A classic and necessary primer for all lovers of pure camp! Politically Correct? Suzann never heard the phrase in her life. Thank God.
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Summary: AN ABSOLUTE CLASSIC OF THE 60s
Review: I'm 41 yrs old now, and I can remember vaguely hearing about "Valley of the Dolls" back in 1966 and 1967-- all the sensation that it was causing. Then in 1972 I saw the movie, and a bit later I bought THE BOOK and... and became completely hooked-obsessed with it all. When Jacqueline Susann died on Sept. 21 1974, I was stunned, I thought the world had come to an end. Now 25 years later... "Valley of the Dolls" "The Love Machine" and "Once Is Not Enough" are still, truly, three of the greatest novels ever written. Jackie Collins can't ever hold a candle to Jackie Susann. Jackie Collins hasn't ever written a word that could compare to Jackie Susann. PERIOD.
Rating: 
Summary: A masterpiece of sorts
Review: Well, it's great to see so many people are reading and enjoying the work of Jacki Susann long after her untimely demise (so take that, Truman Capote). What can I say that hasn't been said already? Yes, "Dolls" is sudsy and over-the-top. Some of the characters are cartoonish, and a lot of them have really ridiculous names (Ted Casablanca? Tony Polar?) But, you know, after you strip away all the camp, melodrama and silliness, 'Valley of the Dolls' is quite simply one of the bleakest books I've ever run across. In the end, all you have is a person who can't live with the things she's wanted so badly all her life: all she wants to do is sleep. It's a devastating indictment of Western materialism, and I find it personally a hell of a lot more moving than the stuff written by literary-establishment types like Ursula Hegi or Toni Morrison. Long live Jacqueline Susann!
Rating:
Summary: Ten Stars If I could
Review: Ok deeply depressed when I was done with the book. Part of that could be the fact that I almost got fired from my job since I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! What a fantastic read. It was genuine in its look into the minds of a sweet New Englander, a Born Star, and a Natural Beauty Queen. There were some definite cliques, but they were on the money in the scheme of things. Trust me I know people like this in fact I am a little bit of all of them! I felt for Anne, Neely and Jennifer and laughed and cried (I definitely Cried!) with them. I was still shocked on certain events towards the end that were pretty much obvious, but they were still delivered with such grace I was taken a back! Excellent book! I am ordering all of Jacqueline Susann's novels now and plan to be unemployed by the end of the week! =)
Rating:
Summary: My favorite!
Review: Valley of the Dolls is the best, most entertaining novel I have ever read! I've read a lot of books but Valley of the Dolls is by far my favorite. I found myself so involved with the characters that I thought about them after I put the book down. I mean can you believe the nerve of Neely after everything Anne did for her? Jacqueline Susann really knew her stuff!!!
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN
Review: This book is so on the spot that I use it as a sort of bible. I feel like I'm the characters and it is so filled with insights into the human character. I've read it multiple times.
Rating:
Summary: Un chef-d'oeuvre choquant et fascinant
Review: I work at a hotel as a bellperson so I have a lot of free time to read where there aren't any customers around. Yesterday was one of those days so I pulled out Valley of the Dolls, something I had checked out of the library the previous month. I didn't get through much at work but when I arrived home, I began reading. And reading. I didn't get to bed last night until 5 a.m. I woke up today promptly at noon and resumed where I had left off. I finished the book today at work at 10 p.m., devouring the novel at a rate of 50 pages an hour. True, any book one can read at that speed can probably not be classified as intellectually stimulating, however the novel more than makes up for it in emotional content. At one point, I was hitting the page, trying to warn a character not to submit, attempting to make her see matters more clearly. I suppose that is proof of how enveloped I was by this book. True, I don't consider myself smarter now, but I do see myself as wiser after reading the novel. It's a perfect example of how beauty, which is so exalted by our society, can be so detrimental. At the same time, it also showed me how unglamourous the world can be. I only come across this type of book about once every six months so now I'll have to go through another inevitable literary slump. Why did that book only have to be 442 pages? Oh well, I guess I'll never know.
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