Customer Reviews

Valley Of the Dolls

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I am very happy with my purchase of Valley of the Dolls I received it at a good price in great condition I am very happy with my transaction and would do again in the future.

I really beleived these women existed. It's true, I had a hard time thinking they didn't while I was reading this book. Of course it's a work of fiction and I'm well aware of that but with witty prose and likeable characters, Susann manages pull you in deep within their world.
I can see why this books is considered a classic. It's timeless and hopefully generations for years to come will enjoy it.

Jacqueline Susann's "Valley of the Dolls" was such a heartbreaking story, but one that you simply could not stop reading. I could not put this book down! As the reader, you follow these three girls looking to make a life for themselves -- all involved in show business. Suddenly they are thrust into the spotlight -- through unwanted engagements, success on Broadway thanks to a hotheaded fame hungry performer past her prime, and a marriage to a world famous singer. This book explores the notion that it is nearly impossible to maintain any sense of normalcy while living under a microscope and in the public eye. While this is especially and explicitly evident in Neely's character, Anne was the one character I found myself rooting for, to make it through everything without finding out about the evil world of addiction.

I don't want to spoil the book for future readers, so I won't give away the ending, however I was moved by the lengths that these women went to to get what they wanted. It showed the truly horrible side of fame. Great read!

I love this book! In the summer I went to Seattle and had to stop and browse Barnes and Noble. So I did. I walked in and started searching around. Fifteen minutes later I came across Valley of the Dolls. I never read a book by Jacqueline Susann before in my life. I heard of her only from hearing about the movie Valley of the Dolls. I decided to buy it since I am one of those people who buy a book before getting it at the library. I started the book that night in my hotel room. I was amazed how good it was. I couldn't put the book down because I wanted to know what would happen next!

I have three books that are my all-time favorites, reading them over and over. They are Dunne's "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles," McCrae's "The Bark of the Dogwood," and this one, "Valley of the Dolls." The emotions that Susann draws upon so exquisitly pulled me through the ups and downs of each character. Neely, Anne, and Jennifer each have traits that anyone could relate to and seem so real that it's almost shocking that they are fictional. The trust, lust, love and betrayal keep the reader enthralled as very important underlying themes run rampant through this novel. I initially saw the movie first and was captivated. Then, years later, decided to read the book. The book is even better if you can believe that!!!

Would also recommend: "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles" and "Bark of the Dogwood."

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.)

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 those three different cases of the addicted and misfortunate only to end 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.

i am a jackie collins fan and usually read only her books until someone one day suggested this book. It was amazing and i couldnt put it down. I would suggest this book to anyone especially jackie collins fans

This is a wonderful book. I read once and could never put it down. I read after I saw the movie Isn't She Great, which is about the author. This book is about the friendships of Anne, Jennifer, and Neely. They all become famous and start taking "dolls." Dolls are pills, uppers, and downers. Neely becomes a famous actress, who ends up, in a rehab. She makes a come back though. Anne goes from being a secretary to a model for make-up on TV. She has a couple of men in the book, Allen, Kevin, and Lyon Burke. She ends up still on dolls, but married to a cheating Lyon, and has a kid. Jennifer goes from being married to a prince, to be married to Tony. She gets pregnant, but has an abortion, when she finds out the horrible truth about Tony. Then she becomes an actress, who in makes "dirty" movies, in France. Then she comes to back to America. She finds out she has lumps on her ovaries. She has them removed, along with a lump in her breast. They tell her she needs to have her breast removed. She refuses, and goes home and takes a whole bottle of red "dolls." Also know as the powerful sleeping pills Secondals. There is a movie based on this book. I feel that the movie screwed up this book. I think this is great for everyone

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.