VALLEY OF THE DOLLS

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by Jacqueline Susann (1966)

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Three young women strive to establish careers for themselves within the highly competitive American entertainment industry. Anne, Neely, and Jennifer, like all young people fresh out of home, each hope to ‘make it.’ But as the demands of ‘making it’ weigh down upon each of them in different ways, comfort comes to each of them in the same pharmaceutical bottle. Little red dolls that help you sleep. Little green dolls that perk you up and suppress appetite. And then more little red dolls to counteract the little green dolls. Anne, who views long and deep sleep as a private escape from disappointment and betrayal, keeps it together for everyone’s sake. Neely, always demanding more, and battling pills and booze addiction, crashes out when she isn’t crashing into someone else. Jennifer, facing the expected loss of one of her best pair, finds another use for the little red dolls. A modern evolutionary tale that occurs between the years 1945 and 1965. Fiction. 417 pages.

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DETAILS:

Title: Valley of the dolls

Year: 1966

Author: Jacqueline Susann

Pages: 417

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Book review by Keith Salter