Review: Valley of the Dolls: 50th Anniversary Edition by Jacqueline Susann

Title: Valley of the Dolls: 50th Anniversary Edition
Author: Jacqueline Susann
Publisher: Tiger LLC
Publication Date: June 21st 2016 (first published 1966)
Edition: Kindle (454 pages)
Genres:

• Fiction
• Classics
• Contemporary
• Romance
• Women's Fiction

Valley of the Dolls: 50th Anniversary Edition by Jacqueline Susann

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Twenty-year-old Anne Wells came to New York in order to escape a life she did not want. World War II had just ended, and she craved the opportunity to experience a little excitement before getting married and settling down. She went to work for a theatrical agent and was caught up in the show business life of stardom and fame and the trappings of that life--drugs, alcohol, sex...

This book could have been written in today's culture. In 1966, it was viewed as ahead of its time--one of those books that you read at night under the covers because of its "out there" content.

There is nothing quite like it in my reading experience. My mom read it, immediately, upon publication. And when it was made into a movie, she and her friends couldn't wait to see it. Naturally, that aroused my curiosity. I watched the movie with her, years later, several times, when it was shown on late night TV. And I was hooked. I first read the book while in high school, and have reread it often since. The characters are old friends--compelling, believable, interesting and flawed.