Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

Valley of the Dolls is a novel by American writer Jacqueline Susann, published in 1966. The "dolls" within the title is a slang term for downers,barbiturates used as sleep aids.

Valley of the Dolls was an instant success when it was first published. Since then it has sold more than 30 million copies. As the first roman à clef by a female author to achieve this level of sales in America, it led the way for other authors such as Jackie Collins to depict the private lives of the real-life rich and famous under a veneer of fiction.

Sex and drugs and shlock and more--Jacqueline Susanns addictively entertaining trash classic about three showbiz girls clawing their way to the top and hitting bottom in New York City has it all. Though its inspired by Susanns experience as a mid-century Broadway starlet who came heartbreakingly close to making it, but did not, and despite its reputation as THE roman á clef of the go-go 1960s, the novel turned out to be weirdly predictive of 1990s post-punk, post-feminist, post riot grrrl culture. Jackie Susann may not be a writer for the ages, but--alas!--shes still a writer for our times.

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