The Love Machine (novel)
Grove Reissue
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| Author | Jacqueline Susann |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
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Publication date
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May 1969 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 512 pp (First edition, cloth) |
| ISBN | (First edition, cloth) |
| Preceded by | Valley of the Dolls |
| Followed by | Once Is Not Enough |
The Love Machine is the second novel by Jacqueline Susann, the follow-up to her enormously successful Valley of the Dolls (1966). Published by Simon & Schuster in 1969, the book was a New York Times #1 best seller.
The Love Machine tells the story of ruthless, haunted Robin Stone and his life and career in the cut-throat world of 1960s network television. Handsome but promiscuous, the latter earning his nickname the Love Machine after he describes television with the same sobriquet, Robin is loved beyond all reason by three women: Amanda, the beautiful but doomed fashion model; Maggie, the beautiful but headstrong fellow journalist; and Judith, the beautiful but aging wife of fourth-network founder Gregory Austin.
As Robin rises and falls (both in and out of his bedroom), many people cross his path. They include Christie Lane, the vulgar but vulnerable comic who becomes an unlikely TV star; Ethel Evans, the homely but athletic "celebrity fucker" who lusts for Robin but can't have him; Danton Miller, the dapper but desperate network executive who fears Robin; Austin, powerful and daring but vulnerable in his own way; Sergio, the loving but pragmatic companion to Robin's mother, the beautiful but ailing Kitty; Lisa, Robin's suspicious sister; Ike Ryan, a producer who befriends but is befuddled by Robin; Dip Nelson, an actor-turned-producer whose loyalty to Robin is sorely tested; Cliff, a network lawyer who mistrusts Robin; and various prostitutes, fading actors, psychotherapists, and the like.
The title of the book refers not just to the character of Robin Stone, but to the television set itself. As Susann herself explained, "The title has a dual meaning... the man is like a machine and so is the television box, a machine selling the love of the actors and love of the sponsors.”
Robin Stone is said to be based on James Aubrey, one-time president of the CBS television network. Aubrey, known as the "smiling cobra," apparently heard "what Susann was up to" and told her to "make me mean, a real son of a bitch."
Of Susann's novels, The Love Machine is the only one which has at its center a male character. It was, Susann stated, an "attempt to get inside of men's ids." It's also the only Susann novel with an ostensibly happy ending.
Susann dedicted the book to her friend Carol Bjorkman, a columnist for Women's Wear Daily, who died of leukemia in 1967.
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