Once Is Not Enough

Rating:
Summary: Once is Never Enough!
Review: "Once is Not Enough" is Jacqueline Susann's third blockbuster bestseller. January Wayne had always been Daddy's little girl. As the daughter of a superstar Hollywood producer, she always had her father's attention and love. However, as a teenager, January is in a motorcycle crash and awakens from a coma to learn her father's career is on the skids and that he had to marry a wealhy woman to help pay the bills. January now begins a search for love...a search that can only end in tragedy because the only man she has ever loved is her father

Rating:
Summary: You can't go home again...
Review: ...but I tried by picking up this book. When I was 13 my mother refused to allow VALLEY OF THE DOLLS in the house so I read it bit by bit at the local library and was thrilled by the fast-lane problems, hard characters and handy pills. Even as an early adolescent it was easy to recognize good trashy fun.

ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH is not great literature but it still delivers and now, in retrospect, points up the 70s as a kind of innocent time when everyone went to New York City to find their fortune and fill their heart's desire, as well as drempt of being rich enough to travel around in style. Susann knows that it's entertaining to read about folks who travel at a moment's notice to Los Angeles, London, Rome, Cannes and Switzerland to play out their caprices. It seems daring of Susann to write about January's ambiguous love for her father and to describe nearly sexual scenes between them. The book remains steadfastly moral however, and January, who has everything anyone could wish for, remains alone and unloved, realizing too late that one moment of happiness is not enough.

Rating:
Summary: You can't go home again...
Review: ...but I tried by picking up this book. When I was 13 my mother refused to allow VALLEY OF THE DOLLS in the house so I read it bit by bit at the local library and was thrilled by the fast-lane problems, hard characters and handy pills. Even as an early adolescent it was easy to recognize good trashy fun.

ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH is not great literature but it still delivers and now, in retrospect, points up the 70s as a kind of innocent time when everyone went to New York City to find their fortune and fill their heart's desire, as well as drempt of being rich enough to travel around in style. Susann knows that it's entertaining to read about folks who travel at a moment's notice to Los Angeles, London, Rome, Cannes and Switzerland to play out their caprices. It seems daring of Susann to write about January's ambiguous love for her father and to describe nearly sexual scenes between them. The book remains steadfastly moral however, and January, who has everything anyone could wish for, remains alone and unloved, realizing too late that one moment of happiness is not enough.

Rating:
Summary: Welcome To The Camp
Review: Does anyone remember the feud between Truman Capote and Jacqueline Susann? I've read that in a Tonight Show appearance, he described her as looking like "a truck driver in drag." For her part, Susann parodied Capote through characters in her books, including this one. Ultimately, though, Capote got the last laugh on Susann: While most bookstores carry Capote reprints, few, if any, offer Susann novels for sale. If you do get your hands on a Susann book--or at least, "Once Is Not Enough"--you'll see why. Her dialogue, description and characters are unoriginal and average, at best, while the storyline itself is simply over-the-top. As described by the book jacket on the old copy I read, "Once" deals with the theme of mental incest. See, there's this beautiful, innocent little number named January Wayne who's crazy about her movie mogul dad, Mike. In trying to cope with the fact that he's recently remarried, she ends up lost and afraid in a world she never made of parties, vitamin injections and the sex-obsessed rich and powerful. Quite the combination, eh? Well...I have to admit, as bad as the book is, I appreciated it in the same, awful way I enjoy the Spice Girls. And in many aspects, "Once" can be considered a mirror of early 1970s society. In one scene, January shops for clothes, marveling over the mini- and maxiskirt lengths--even purchasing a semi-formal patchwork dress at one point. Now, how cool is *that*

Rating:
Summary: Once is not enough, but twice is better!
Review: Having read Valley of the Dolls, I expected this book to be one of the same type of books. Wrong! This is a very powerful and poignant look into the subject of mental incest. January Wayne is the main character. Having Mike Wayne as a father, she had the perfect role model. Strong, no-nonsense, and always ready for action, after a tragedy befalls her, January returns to Mike and the life he arranged for her. January tries to fit his perfect daughter image, but along the way she finds out that daddy isn't the only one who can get what he wants. Enter Linda Riggs, editor-in-chief of Gloss Magazine. Hard, nonplussed and ambitious, Linda brings January into her office and changes her idea of life. After getting a job at Gloss with Daddy's approval, January replaces Daddy dream man with Tom Colt, an Exceptional writer and larger igame of daddy himself. When January falls in love with Toma nd forgets about Daddy, Dee (Mike's new wife) cuts January out of her will. Or, almost! Mike finds out about January and Tom's affair, and tries to get January to end it by attacking Tom. But, Daddy's girl turns on him and tells him to leave. Then, a tragic accident befalls someone very close to January, and she is left with only ten million dollars to keep her happy. Afterward, she finds that life really wasn't all that great, but once is not enough. If you liked Valley of the Dolls, read Once is not Enough. You will enjoy it!

Rating:
Summary: Once is not enough, but twice is better!
Review: Having read Valley of the Dolls, I expected this book to be one of the same type of books. Wrong! This is a very powerful and poignant look into the subject of mental incest. January Wayne is the main character. Having Mike Wayne as a father, she had the perfect role model. Strong, no-nonsense, and always ready for action, after a tragedy befalls her, January returns to Mike and the life he arranged for her. January tries to fit his perfect daughter image, but along the way she finds out that daddy isn't the only one who can get what he wants. Enter Linda Riggs, editor-in-chief of Gloss Magazine. Hard, nonplussed and ambitious, Linda brings January into her office and changes her idea of life. After getting a job at Gloss with Daddy's approval, January replaces Daddy dream man with Tom Colt, an Exceptional writer and larger igame of daddy himself. When January falls in love with Toma nd forgets about Daddy, Dee (Mike's new wife) cuts January out of her will. Or, almost! Mike finds out about January and Tom's affair, and tries to get January to end it by attacking Tom. But, Daddy's girl turns on him and tells him to leave. Then, a tragic accident befalls someone very close to January, and she is left with only ten million dollars to keep her happy. Afterward, she finds that life really wasn't all that great, but once is not enough. If you liked Valley of the Dolls, read Once is not Enough. You will enjoy it!

Rating:
Summary: Once was definitely not enough for Jacqueline Susann
Review: Her third consecutive #1 bestseller, ONCE was also her last completed novel before her tragic early death. Susann knew she was dying when this book was written, and this may account for the book's hysterical and desperate emotional tone. Like all her novels, ONCE is a tale of alienated relationships, sexual obsession, and unrequited love, with a little hint of incest for added spice in this case. The characters are more sympathetic than in any of her previous novels, but the plot is so far out and the dialogue so extreme that ONCE comes dangerously close to high camp. Then again, the early 1970's (the culture which produced this book) was an era of extremes at every level, so perhaps this is not surprising. ONCE still packs a punch (particularly in the final orgy scenes), and like all Susann, is written in such a vivid manner that you can't put it down. Definitely recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Oh how I loved this book!
Review: I didn't know if Jacqueline Susann could live up to "Valley of the Dolls" with this book, but she sure did! "Once is Not Enough" is thoroughly entertaining. The story revolves around January Wayne, a tragic heroine who has an unnatural adoration for her father and is unable to have a successful relationship with another man because of it. When her father marries a wealthy woman to secure his family's financial future, January finally falls in love. Unfortunately for her, the man she falls for is Tom Colt, a married man who is older than her father. Tom replaces "Daddy" for January, but it's only a matter of time before the relationship drags her down into the drug-induced haze that every Susann heroine eventually falls victim to.

Like "Valley of the Dolls," "Once is Not Enough" boasts many colorful characters whose lives intersect in a variety of unexpected ways. There are some funny moments in the book, but for the most part it consists of tragedy and unhappiness. The final few chapters threw me for a loop because the ending is more depressing than either of Susann's other novels. Still, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an entertaining read. You won't be able to put it down!

Rating:
Summary: Tasty bubblegum
Review: I feel this book isn't quite like its predecessor, Valley of the Dolls, but then, nothing could be quite like Valley. Anyway, this book is terribly, terribly bad, nasty, ugly, whatever you want to call it, but also engrossing and enjoyable. At least I enjoyed the crazy, soap-operatic plot, and January Wayne really is an endearing, touching character, always looking for happiness in all the wrong places and trying so hard to be loved. In other case I would have ruthlessly dictaminated that she was a moron, but she spent the best years of her life cooped up in a secluded clinic, so it's easier for me to understand her astounding naivete. The other characters are less likable, even January's father, for all his practicality and relative good sense, although Karla is quite a person, and not nearly as stupid as she tries to make others believe. Very, very bad book, but very, very well written and thought-provoking.

Rating:
Summary: Tasty bubblegum
Review: I feel this book isn't quite like its predecessor, Valley of the Dolls, but then, nothing could be quite like Valley. Anyway, this book is terribly, terribly bad, nasty, ugly, whatever you want to call it, but also engrossing and enjoyable. At least I enjoyed the crazy, soap-operatic plot, and January Wayne really is an endearing, touching character, always looking for happiness in all the wrong places and trying so hard to be loved. In other case I would have ruthlessly dictaminated that she was a moron, but she spent the best years of her life cooped up in a secluded clinic, so it's easier for me to understand her astounding naivete. The other characters are less likable, even January's father, for all his practicality and relative good sense, although Karla is quite a person, and not nearly as stupid as she tries to make others believe. Very, very bad book, but very, very well written and thought-provoking.