- Unknown Binding: 442 pages
- Publisher: Cassell (1966)
- Language English
- ASIN: B001NN2OZC
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Doesn't it seem like the best books are the ones that you've had on your wish list forever and just seemed to keep skipping over? I've had Jacqueline Susann's `VALLEY OF THE DOLLS' on my Amazon wish list for years and never got around to actually ordering it but I decided to start of the New Year with something different and this cult classic was just what the doctor ordered!
Anne, the wide-eyed girl from Lawrenceville escapes her doomed future as a housewife by moving to New York City in hopes of finding a life for herself. But no sooner than she arrives and gets settled in her new job and home does she end up on the cover of every newspaper and the talk of the town. But over the years Anne learns that the life she'd always dreamed of wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.
Neely is seventeen with all the enthusiasm her little body can handle. A performer in vaudeville since childhood Neely has what it takes to be a star. She is the ultimate triple threat she dances, sings like no other and can act too! Inevitably, by the age of twenty-one Neely becomes the biggest star around; unfortunately her ego grows just as big as her rising star. And with the help of her red, yellow and green "dolls" washed down with a little scotch nothing can stop her.
Jennifer has the face and the body to go far, however all she really wants is love. But unfortunately love doesn't pay the bills. And after a few failed marriages to some of Hollywood's most prominent players Jennifer realizes that her body is her ticket to stardom. Soon she becomes Europe's biggest star... because in Europe anything goes.
I absolutely could not put this book down. Originally it was the old school style that hooked me, I felt like I was watching an old movie with the 1960's dialogue such as "Hey, what's this, a gag?" or the regular use of the words geez and golly but soon I was sucked in by the lives of Anne, Neely and Jennifer as they each rose to stardom and fell just as easily.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'd always imagined this book to be chick lit (and I hate chick lit)from the past but I was really surprised. The tragedy is wise and insightful yet the book is easy to read and gripping. I found the book to be current and not at all outdated.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Initially I found the book a little dull and thought it was just old-fashioned chick lit, but actually it's really good and addresses a lot of issues that women have to deal with today including careers, being financially independent, when to have children and how to protect a man's fragile ego if you earn more or have a better job than him.
Three women - Anne, Jennifer and Neely - meet up and become friends in New York in the mid-1940s and the book traces their friendship and their lives through the 1950s and 1960s. All the women work in the entertainment industry and go on to be really successful in their fields, but the success doesn't bring happiness and they all wind up relying on pills to keep them awake and thin, put them to sleep or simply to help them forget how lonely they are.
Sadly, the men always seem to disappoint and this book paints a grim picutre of them, but I suppose that's how some women saw men in the 1950s and early 1960s. In Valley of the Dolls, the men are weak, vain, shallow and reluctant to commit or even be loyal to the women they profess to love.
Most of the time they are more concerned with having a pretty, young and thin women hanging off their arms and off their every word than being with an equal. Even Lyon who is younger, more intelligent and has seen more of the world and should know a little better is just as bad.
The book is a sad reminder that yet again, it's really hard for a woman to have it all - a good job, a good man and children. You can only get a couple of those at most but not all three!
Anyway, it's a good book and very readable!
Three women - Anne, Jennifer and Neely - meet up and become friends in New York in the mid-1940s and the book traces their friendship and their lives through the 1950s and 1960s. All the women work in the entertainment industry and go on to be really successful in their fields, but the success doesn't bring happiness and they all wind up relying on pills to keep them awake and thin, put them to sleep or simply to help them forget how lonely they are.
Sadly, the men always seem to disappoint and this book paints a grim picutre of them, but I suppose that's how some women saw men in the 1950s and early 1960s. In Valley of the Dolls, the men are weak, vain, shallow and reluctant to commit or even be loyal to the women they profess to love.
Most of the time they are more concerned with having a pretty, young and thin women hanging off their arms and off their every word than being with an equal. Even Lyon who is younger, more intelligent and has seen more of the world and should know a little better is just as bad.
The book is a sad reminder that yet again, it's really hard for a woman to have it all - a good job, a good man and children. You can only get a couple of those at most but not all three!
Anyway, it's a good book and very readable!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very Good
Excellent service, very polite and friendly with care to help me.
Looking forward to getting stuck into the book today.
Looking forward to getting stuck into the book today.
Published 2 months ago by AnnaBanana
Please put Ms Susann on Kindle!!!
I purchased Valley of the Dolls as one of those "cult classics" that you must read. Now I know where Jackie Collins got it from! Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jez
One of my favourites
I didn't want this book to end. I can't believe it was written so long and still its so current. All the characters have something that makes you want to learn more about them, I... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Runlikemad
Valley of the Dolls
I really enjoyed Valley of the Dolls. Yes, it was a little dated but it really evoked the period. I thought it would be real chick lit but it was so much better. Read more
Published 9 months ago by SaraLovely
what a great read.
i saw the film valley of the dolls years ago.and i loved it so much.
and the other night it was showing on the tv.but i missed the episodes. Read more
and the other night it was showing on the tv.but i missed the episodes. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Astrid M. Thomas
Intriguing read, great edition
'Valley of the Dolls' follows the exploits of three women over a span of twenty years, beginning with the modestly beautiful Anne Welles in 1945, a likeable heroine whose eagerness... Read more
Published 11 months ago by jemapelle
Fantastic book!
Synopsis from the back cover
Dolls - red or black, capsules or tablets, washed down with vidka or swallowed straight. Read more
Dolls - red or black, capsules or tablets, washed down with vidka or swallowed straight. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Lainy
Disturbing in its way.
This book has been described as a prototype of the blockbuster novels that were made popular by the likes of Jackie Collins. Read more
Published 12 months ago by M. Rodgers
Stands the test of time
I've had this on my reading list for many years and finally got around to it on holiday. I was vaguely aware of the subject matter, and knew it wasn't 'chick lit' of the modern... Read more
Published 21 months ago by lyssa
Cult Classic
Cult classic, the words printed on the front cover, do not lie. This book is totally awesome, and I have advised all my friends to read it. Read more
Published 22 months ago by chatty
Listmania!
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