Valley of the Dolls

Valley of the Dolls

First Hardcover Edition
Author	Jacqueline Susann
Country	United States
Language	English
Published	1966 (Bernard Geis Associates)
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	442 pp (hardcover edition)
ISBN
Preceded by	Every Night, Josephine!
Followed by	The Love Machine

Valley of the Dolls is the first novel by American writer Jacqueline Susann. Published in 1966, the book was the biggest selling novel of its year. To date, it has sold more than 31 million copies, making it one of the best-selling works in publishing history.

The novel tells the story of three young women who become fast friends in the turbulent post-war worlds of Broadway and Hollywood: Anne Welles, the reserved New England beauty who sees New York as the romantic city of her dreams; Neely O'Hara, the ebullient vaudevillian with a talent she doesn't fully understand; and Jennifer North, the sweet-natured showgirl who wants only to be loved. As life becomes difficult, each woman grows increasingly dependent on "dolls," the amphetamines and barbiturates which, for a time, seem to help.

Crossing their paths are such people as Helen Lawson, the brilliant but ruthless Broadway legend; Lyon Burke, the magnetic but self-centered theatrical attorney; Tony Polar, the child-like but sexually aggressive pop singer; Kevin Gillmore, the powerful but lovesick cosmetics tycoon; and Ted Casablaca, the potent but opportunistic fashion designer.

Over the course of twenty eventful years (1945-1965), each of the women strives to ascend the Mount Everest of her dreams, only to find herself back in the valley of the dolls.

Susann had apparently been thinking about the novel for some time. Some years earlier, she had begun a show business novel, Underneath the Pancake, with her friend, actress Beatrice Cole (c. 1910-1999). Later, she considered writing a novel about drug usage in show business to be called The Pink Dolls.

Valley of the Dolls is widely considered to be a roman a clef, with its characters based on such famous figures as Judy Garland, Carole Landis, Dean Martin, and Ethel Merman. In 1973, after publication of her third novel, Susann said, "They can keep calling it that [roman a clef]. It'll only make my books sell, I don't care." Susann insisted that she began each book with a theme: "Then I start asking, what kind of a personality? And because I have a good ear, I unconsciously pick up certain people."

Susann dedicated the book to her poodle, Josephine, and to her husband, Irving Mansfield.

The book was published by Bernard Geis Associates on February 10, 1966, and "took off like a Cape Canaveral space shot."