What do you think?
Rate this book
Lovely Me: The Life of Jacqueline Susann
Barbara Seaman's pioneering biography of the author of Valley of the Dolls, The Love Machine, and other mega-sellers examines the life of a woman who exhibited amazing strength in every aspect of her life-from getting her writing published and promoted to fighting her ultimate adversary, breast cancer.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
4 people are currently reading
227 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Seaman
20 books9 followersOne of the most tireless health advocates, Barbara Seaman (1935-2008) was co-founder of the National Women's Health Network, and a pioneer in a new style of health reporting that focused on patient rights. Her groundbreaking investigative book, The Doctors' Case Against the Pill (1969), prompted Senate hearings in 1970 that led to a warning label on oral contraceptives and the drastic lowering of estrogen doses due to dangerous health effects. Well received by a mass audience, Seaman was a columnist and contributing editor at Bride's Magazine, Ladies' Home Journal, Family Circle, and Ms. Magazine. She also contributed to the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsday, and others.
Books
* The Doctor's Case Against the Pill (1969)
* Free and Female (1972)
* Women and the Crisis in Sex Hormones (1977)(with Gideon Seaman, M.D.)
* Lovely Me: The Life of Jacqueline Susann (1987)
* The Greatest Experiment ever Performed on Women: Exploding the Estrogen Myth (2003)
* For Women Only: Your Guide to Health Empowerment with Gary Null (2000).
Contributor to many books, including:
* Career and Motherhood (1979)
* Rooms with No View (1974)
* Women and Men (1975)
* Seizing our Bodies (1978)
Contributor to several plays and documentaries, including:
* I am a Woman (1972)
* Taking Our Bodies Back (1974)
* The American Experience Presents the Pill (2003)
Books
* The Doctor's Case Against the Pill (1969)
* Free and Female (1972)
* Women and the Crisis in Sex Hormones (1977)(with Gideon Seaman, M.D.)
* Lovely Me: The Life of Jacqueline Susann (1987)
* The Greatest Experiment ever Performed on Women: Exploding the Estrogen Myth (2003)
* For Women Only: Your Guide to Health Empowerment with Gary Null (2000).
Contributor to many books, including:
* Career and Motherhood (1979)
* Rooms with No View (1974)
* Women and Men (1975)
* Seizing our Bodies (1978)
Contributor to several plays and documentaries, including:
* I am a Woman (1972)
* Taking Our Bodies Back (1974)
* The American Experience Presents the Pill (2003)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
June 27, 2008
This was not a proper biography; it was a collection of information and anecdotes about Jacqueline Susann, fabulous authoress of the literary classic Valley of the Dolls.
I read 352 pages (or about 77%) of this book, then tossed it on my bedroom floor amidst the piles of discarded shoes, dried-up mascara tubes, and empty prescription pill bottles and sort of forgot about it. I think she's on her way back to the library, though I might still cave and read all the way through to her untimely death. But in a way I have to figure, why bother? This book was already tragic enough.
Tragic how, you ask?
Tragic, I explain, in that Barbara Seaman managed to write a wearyingly competent, passable book about the life of a desperate, needy, success-hungry woman who was in love with her philandering portrait-painter father, who slept compulsively with every Jewish comedian she could find, who had a severely autistic son at a time when autism was blamed on poor mothering and then packed him off to an out-of-state institution while lying about his condition to virtually everyone she knew; a woman of high tacky glamor and passion and addictions, who would bring her pet poodle along into her gynecologist's examination room and did things like get drunk and make out with Ethel Merman on a sofa at a crowded party; a woman who used her pink typewriter to bang out and then promote the hell out of a rank, pulpy heap of garbage that was (according to this book) crushed and compacted and vivisected into one of the hugest selling novels of all time.
This book contained a few incomparable moments, such as the following, about Judy Garland's behavior on the set of Valley of the Dolls:
The comeback, however, was not to be. True to form, Judy arrived late, muffed scenes, held up production for days while she sulked in her trailer. (Jackie picked up a pill she found in Judy's closet, tasted it, and noted it was Demerol.) The part went to Susan Hayward, with Patty Duke playing Neely
O'Hara and the beautiful Sharon Tate as Jennifer" (p. 343).
That's great stuff there! THAT is what we are looking for (aren't we??) when we pick up a promisingly hefty biography of Jacqueline Susan.
Unfortunately, most of what we get tends to be more like this gem about Susann's husband Irving:
He had produced Polly Bergen’s NBC show for a few months in early 1958, an experience she would recall fondly. “I don’t remember him doing a bad job and I don’t remember him doing a good job. I remember him as a nice man.” By late 1959, he was producing Dick Clark's The World of Talent in New York and Take a Good Look starring Ernie Kovacs, Edie Adams, and Cesar Romero in L.A. (243).
Wha-? Yeah, most of this book is just like that. Flat, boring recollections of people and events that often weren't interesting at all to begin with -- or, far worse, things that were doubtless luridly fascinating, but sound like a real pedestrian snooze the way Seaman describes them. This book took a figure whom I initially found enthralling as hell and convinced me that she was actually a very boring person, which is, IMHO, precisely the opposite of what a biography is supposed to do. If you learn while researching someone's life that she is way more boring than she seems, you have an ethical responsibility to shelve that book and find yourself a new subject, unless, of course, you possess such sparkling prose style that you are sure to bring the dead back to life in an attitude far more exhilarating than they ever were seen in their heyday on earth....
To be fair, I read this on the heels of The Power Broker, an admittedly tough biographical act to follow. Still, I firmly believe that Jacqueline Susann's life could have been related in a dynamic and intriguing way, and for me this was mostly just a litany of stale minutiae and fifty-year-old small-time show biz gossip, which made up a horrifically uninspiring portrait of a shallow, dumb, obnoxious lady who just really wanted to be famous and loved, and not in a particularly compelling way or for interesting reasons.
So yeah, I know Caro's busy with LBJ and is unlikely to have time for a new JS effort, but I think maybe someone else should try. Okay, honestly this book wasn't terrible, but I truly didn't feel it was all that Jacqueline Susann deserves. Jackie shone through the bland recitation of facts here because she was such an insane character; her personality came across in spite of the writing, not because of it. Maybe I'm spoiled by the more recent, pomoier biographies that take things apart way more to tinker with; this might have been part of what was missing here. This book was written in 1987, and it seemed like a sort of tepid, milquetoasty mix between sensational showbiz tabloid and limp "herstory" attempt. So yeah, for the new JS (how much do I love her initials?!) I think the author needs to be in the picture more, and must do far more active and aggressive thinking about what it is that Jacqueline Susann meant and still means today. As it is, Valley of the Dolls contains, in my opinion, a much more bold and illuminating feminist analysis than Lovely Me, which is.... well, not a little sad.
I'm personally convinced that Jacqueline Susann matters, but this book made her seem fairly irrelevant. Still, there was some interesting stuff in here, and the part on her childhood and adolescence was pretty decent. But I just never did get a sense of that immense and brain-pounding cocktail of fascination, obsession, adoration, and horror I've come to expect from all good biographers.
Two stars!
I read 352 pages (or about 77%) of this book, then tossed it on my bedroom floor amidst the piles of discarded shoes, dried-up mascara tubes, and empty prescription pill bottles and sort of forgot about it. I think she's on her way back to the library, though I might still cave and read all the way through to her untimely death. But in a way I have to figure, why bother? This book was already tragic enough.
Tragic how, you ask?
Tragic, I explain, in that Barbara Seaman managed to write a wearyingly competent, passable book about the life of a desperate, needy, success-hungry woman who was in love with her philandering portrait-painter father, who slept compulsively with every Jewish comedian she could find, who had a severely autistic son at a time when autism was blamed on poor mothering and then packed him off to an out-of-state institution while lying about his condition to virtually everyone she knew; a woman of high tacky glamor and passion and addictions, who would bring her pet poodle along into her gynecologist's examination room and did things like get drunk and make out with Ethel Merman on a sofa at a crowded party; a woman who used her pink typewriter to bang out and then promote the hell out of a rank, pulpy heap of garbage that was (according to this book) crushed and compacted and vivisected into one of the hugest selling novels of all time.
This book contained a few incomparable moments, such as the following, about Judy Garland's behavior on the set of Valley of the Dolls:
The comeback, however, was not to be. True to form, Judy arrived late, muffed scenes, held up production for days while she sulked in her trailer. (Jackie picked up a pill she found in Judy's closet, tasted it, and noted it was Demerol.) The part went to Susan Hayward, with Patty Duke playing Neely
O'Hara and the beautiful Sharon Tate as Jennifer" (p. 343).
That's great stuff there! THAT is what we are looking for (aren't we??) when we pick up a promisingly hefty biography of Jacqueline Susan.
Unfortunately, most of what we get tends to be more like this gem about Susann's husband Irving:
He had produced Polly Bergen’s NBC show for a few months in early 1958, an experience she would recall fondly. “I don’t remember him doing a bad job and I don’t remember him doing a good job. I remember him as a nice man.” By late 1959, he was producing Dick Clark's The World of Talent in New York and Take a Good Look starring Ernie Kovacs, Edie Adams, and Cesar Romero in L.A. (243).
Wha-? Yeah, most of this book is just like that. Flat, boring recollections of people and events that often weren't interesting at all to begin with -- or, far worse, things that were doubtless luridly fascinating, but sound like a real pedestrian snooze the way Seaman describes them. This book took a figure whom I initially found enthralling as hell and convinced me that she was actually a very boring person, which is, IMHO, precisely the opposite of what a biography is supposed to do. If you learn while researching someone's life that she is way more boring than she seems, you have an ethical responsibility to shelve that book and find yourself a new subject, unless, of course, you possess such sparkling prose style that you are sure to bring the dead back to life in an attitude far more exhilarating than they ever were seen in their heyday on earth....
To be fair, I read this on the heels of The Power Broker, an admittedly tough biographical act to follow. Still, I firmly believe that Jacqueline Susann's life could have been related in a dynamic and intriguing way, and for me this was mostly just a litany of stale minutiae and fifty-year-old small-time show biz gossip, which made up a horrifically uninspiring portrait of a shallow, dumb, obnoxious lady who just really wanted to be famous and loved, and not in a particularly compelling way or for interesting reasons.
So yeah, I know Caro's busy with LBJ and is unlikely to have time for a new JS effort, but I think maybe someone else should try. Okay, honestly this book wasn't terrible, but I truly didn't feel it was all that Jacqueline Susann deserves. Jackie shone through the bland recitation of facts here because she was such an insane character; her personality came across in spite of the writing, not because of it. Maybe I'm spoiled by the more recent, pomoier biographies that take things apart way more to tinker with; this might have been part of what was missing here. This book was written in 1987, and it seemed like a sort of tepid, milquetoasty mix between sensational showbiz tabloid and limp "herstory" attempt. So yeah, for the new JS (how much do I love her initials?!) I think the author needs to be in the picture more, and must do far more active and aggressive thinking about what it is that Jacqueline Susann meant and still means today. As it is, Valley of the Dolls contains, in my opinion, a much more bold and illuminating feminist analysis than Lovely Me, which is.... well, not a little sad.
I'm personally convinced that Jacqueline Susann matters, but this book made her seem fairly irrelevant. Still, there was some interesting stuff in here, and the part on her childhood and adolescence was pretty decent. But I just never did get a sense of that immense and brain-pounding cocktail of fascination, obsession, adoration, and horror I've come to expect from all good biographers.
Two stars!
September 9, 2025
When I start skimming a book it means it has lost its grip on me. An endless parade of names and Jackie in the swirl of it all, and in the end I’m not sure if this account of her life really scratched the surface. However, the author’s efforts earned the three stars.
April 9, 2018
By the end of the 1980s I, like many of you, just couldn’t get enough of trashy books. Novels like...
http://sleaze-factor.blogspot.ca/2018...
http://sleaze-factor.blogspot.ca/2018...
December 11, 2007
If you care about the fact that Jacqueline Susann and Ethel Merman had a torrid affair, then this book is for you.
June 2, 2016
This biography of the Valley of the Dolls author is way better than you'd think, and just as gossipy and page-turning as one of Susann's books.
I won't spoil all of the old Hollywood details, if you're into those names that no one remembers anymore, like I am, there are some fun surprises, and I didn't know most of them (her affairs with men and women, her friendships). I really came to admire Jacqueline Susann's drive; it's probably not a surprise that she and my idol Joan Crawford didn't get along, because their furious desire to succeed in life was too similar. Jacqueline Susann was an over-the-hill theater and television actress, suffering a first bout of the cancer that would kill her a decade later, when she sat down at the typewriter and wrote Every Night, Josephine! (about her beloved pet poodle) (and yes, I own a copy). When VotD became a smash, it was due in no small part to Susann's relentless cycle of interviews and touring, and memorizing names and personal details about EVERY bookseller she met. She would go into bookstores and rearrange the displays to put her book on top, and on top it was, at one time the biggest selling novel of all time (and still in the top, with over 30 million sold).
Even if you're not a big fan of her work, this book has plenty to entertain.
I won't spoil all of the old Hollywood details, if you're into those names that no one remembers anymore, like I am, there are some fun surprises, and I didn't know most of them (her affairs with men and women, her friendships). I really came to admire Jacqueline Susann's drive; it's probably not a surprise that she and my idol Joan Crawford didn't get along, because their furious desire to succeed in life was too similar. Jacqueline Susann was an over-the-hill theater and television actress, suffering a first bout of the cancer that would kill her a decade later, when she sat down at the typewriter and wrote Every Night, Josephine! (about her beloved pet poodle) (and yes, I own a copy). When VotD became a smash, it was due in no small part to Susann's relentless cycle of interviews and touring, and memorizing names and personal details about EVERY bookseller she met. She would go into bookstores and rearrange the displays to put her book on top, and on top it was, at one time the biggest selling novel of all time (and still in the top, with over 30 million sold).
Even if you're not a big fan of her work, this book has plenty to entertain.
December 26, 2010
How I Came To Read This Book: My mom got it from somewhere...a few years ago I had to read 'Valley of the Dolls' for class and I loved it. My mom also read it, and when I saw she had this bio, the two of us decided to read it.
The Plot: This is an unauthorized biography of Jacqueline Susann, author of one of the best-selling novels of all time, "Valley of the Dolls". At the age of 18, back in the 1940s, Jackie ventured to New York City to aim for fame and stardom on the stage. After decades of slugging it out with bit parts, endorsement gigs, and short-lived brushes with stardom, Jackie was diagnosed with breast cancer. After undergoing surgery, Jackie let go of her dream of being a famous actress and wrote 'Valley', with the aim of becoming a famous writer instead. Receiving her wish, Jackie spent the final decade of her life (before cancer caught up with her again) writing novels, fighting with critics, and basking in the recognition she'd always wanted. This book is a semi-gossipy insider's look at her life from childhood through to her final days, touching on her extramarital affairs, her autistic son she locked away, and her incredible drive to 'climb Mt. Everest'.
The Good & The Bad: In summation, this book could have been better written. Jackie Susann was pretty interesting, but not 460 pages interesting. I felt like way too much of the book was veiled in half-truths, fixations on little details, and littered with speculation - such is the way when the author's primary source, Jackie's husband, shut down some of her major lines of communication with those closest to Jackie.
That being said, I'm glad I read this book. First of all, it gave me great context for 'Valley of the Dolls', one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read. I never realized how autobiographical it was for Jackie (and the circles she ran in), nor did I have a full grasp of her role in pop culture until I read this book. I described it as the book equivalent of watching a behind-the-scenes documentary on a DVD.
It was also interesting just learning about Jackie as a person - how determined she was, how business-savvy she was, and how she changed the publishing industry with her publicity tactics. I was impressed by this woman's drive, even if the world didn't take her particularly seriously.
The Bottom Line: interesting insight, not so interesting book.
Anything Memorable?: I thought it was really interesting that Jackie wanted to name her (non-existent) daughter Gillian, hence the 'Gillian Girl' cosmetics deal for Anne. Interesting because my sister's name is Gillian also!
50-Book Challenge?: Book #56 in 2010
The Plot: This is an unauthorized biography of Jacqueline Susann, author of one of the best-selling novels of all time, "Valley of the Dolls". At the age of 18, back in the 1940s, Jackie ventured to New York City to aim for fame and stardom on the stage. After decades of slugging it out with bit parts, endorsement gigs, and short-lived brushes with stardom, Jackie was diagnosed with breast cancer. After undergoing surgery, Jackie let go of her dream of being a famous actress and wrote 'Valley', with the aim of becoming a famous writer instead. Receiving her wish, Jackie spent the final decade of her life (before cancer caught up with her again) writing novels, fighting with critics, and basking in the recognition she'd always wanted. This book is a semi-gossipy insider's look at her life from childhood through to her final days, touching on her extramarital affairs, her autistic son she locked away, and her incredible drive to 'climb Mt. Everest'.
The Good & The Bad: In summation, this book could have been better written. Jackie Susann was pretty interesting, but not 460 pages interesting. I felt like way too much of the book was veiled in half-truths, fixations on little details, and littered with speculation - such is the way when the author's primary source, Jackie's husband, shut down some of her major lines of communication with those closest to Jackie.
That being said, I'm glad I read this book. First of all, it gave me great context for 'Valley of the Dolls', one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read. I never realized how autobiographical it was for Jackie (and the circles she ran in), nor did I have a full grasp of her role in pop culture until I read this book. I described it as the book equivalent of watching a behind-the-scenes documentary on a DVD.
It was also interesting just learning about Jackie as a person - how determined she was, how business-savvy she was, and how she changed the publishing industry with her publicity tactics. I was impressed by this woman's drive, even if the world didn't take her particularly seriously.
The Bottom Line: interesting insight, not so interesting book.
Anything Memorable?: I thought it was really interesting that Jackie wanted to name her (non-existent) daughter Gillian, hence the 'Gillian Girl' cosmetics deal for Anne. Interesting because my sister's name is Gillian also!
50-Book Challenge?: Book #56 in 2010
April 29, 2018
While her life was cut short, in years that she was alive, Jacqueline Susann, loved it to the fullest and on her terms. she was a feminist before it was the thing to do. She gave so much so litature and will be remembered as one of the top writers of all time.
January 15, 2008
skim through the boring childhood stuff until you get to the juicy bits...
August 11, 2016
Not necessarily a thorough biography. Got the impression the author sanitized parts of Jackie's life out of deference to her family.
Read
May 24, 2024This is the only biography of Jackie Susann, and it's historically significant in that it was partially responsible for the renewed interest in her in the 80s and 90s. But the visceral disdain Seaman has for her subject made this a challenging read. Even the very last sentence goes out of its way to discredit Susann's art. Unfortunately, this is a common problem in the ~biography of a woman artist~ genre that so much of my work depends on. Probably didn't help that I read this at the same time as Gerald Clarke's criminally bad Judy bio.
February 28, 2021
Amazing reading .. a personal look into the life and work of this amazing writer who changed the pusblishing business and Marketing ...Valley of the Dolls is one of the best-selling books in publishing history.
August 9, 2019
Read this sometime ago...
December 27, 2012
Barbara Seaman does a good job of relating the full and fantastic life of Jacqueline Susann. Susann had unusual ambition, drive and commitment to success. Her energy and zest for life, up until her death from cancer are extraordinary. What impressed me is that Susanne succeeded while carrying a tremendous load. I was not aware of the saga of Jacqueline Susann until I read this book.
Susann did not have the wind at her back. I was struck by how many troubles she faced that were made more difficult because they were taboo in her time. She had autistic child, a mastectomy and, prior to the mastectomy, and active bisexual life. While each of these still bears a stigma but, in Susann's day, any one could ruin the public relations needed for her success. For Susann, the times and her career demanded she keep many secrets.
One problem for Susann that Seamen does not discuss is the role sexism undoubtedly played in her career. Audiences loved her plays and the (male) critics hated them. How much of the critic's spin was due to the higher standards for women? The reviews had an effect. One play, which was on the verge of profitability, was shut down despite a full house each night. As for the novels, it was Gloria Steinem and Nora Ephron who, while noting they were not "literature", championed their value to the skepticism of their male colleagues. These are just two examples which I believe defined the sexism that she had to overcome.
Susann seems to be unaffected by the huge social/political issues of the times. The civil rights battle and the Vietnam War are hardly mentioned, and the JFK assassination isn't.
This is a fast read, The photos add to it. I recommend it for those interested in Susann and her achievements.
Susann did not have the wind at her back. I was struck by how many troubles she faced that were made more difficult because they were taboo in her time. She had autistic child, a mastectomy and, prior to the mastectomy, and active bisexual life. While each of these still bears a stigma but, in Susann's day, any one could ruin the public relations needed for her success. For Susann, the times and her career demanded she keep many secrets.
One problem for Susann that Seamen does not discuss is the role sexism undoubtedly played in her career. Audiences loved her plays and the (male) critics hated them. How much of the critic's spin was due to the higher standards for women? The reviews had an effect. One play, which was on the verge of profitability, was shut down despite a full house each night. As for the novels, it was Gloria Steinem and Nora Ephron who, while noting they were not "literature", championed their value to the skepticism of their male colleagues. These are just two examples which I believe defined the sexism that she had to overcome.
Susann seems to be unaffected by the huge social/political issues of the times. The civil rights battle and the Vietnam War are hardly mentioned, and the JFK assassination isn't.
This is a fast read, The photos add to it. I recommend it for those interested in Susann and her achievements.
March 17, 2012
There's so much to like about LOVELY ME. VALLEY OF THE DOLLS is a fascinating, strange, incredibly entertaining novel, and I've always wondered about its author. Jacqueline Susann seems to have embodied the sixties--just as she predicted, according to Barbara Seaman. Seaman never met her subject, but the Susann she portrays seems very plausible: Brilliant at self-promotion, self-aware, madly driven, and, in the end, a very empathetic person. It was fun to read about her feuds with Truman Capote and various critics, as well as her friendship with women like Doris Day. Seaman is also quite realistic about Susann's capabilities as a writer--she gave the audience what it wanted, and she refused to stay down when her career dragged. I found the earliest parts of Susann's reported life a tad dull in the reading; it all felt very inferred and over-dramatized. But it picked up about a third of the way through and I'm glad I hung with it. Kudos, though, go to Seaman for her intensive interviews and research. The book has an overall feel of authenticity to it.
As a writer, I found Susann's drive to promote her work inspirational. It made me want to take off for New York, dump my husband for a kick-ass male publicist, and start taking mind-altering drugs to keep me going! I'm kidding, of course. Her ambition was truly remarkable, and her life and work show that consistent, hard work, and a positive attitude pay off in the long run.
As a writer, I found Susann's drive to promote her work inspirational. It made me want to take off for New York, dump my husband for a kick-ass male publicist, and start taking mind-altering drugs to keep me going! I'm kidding, of course. Her ambition was truly remarkable, and her life and work show that consistent, hard work, and a positive attitude pay off in the long run.
September 23, 2007
i took this out of the library because it was recommended by an author in venus zine, and i like a lot of biographies, and i love valley of the dolls. the cover says "her novels shocked the world. if the world only knew..." basically, if the world only knew how shocking jacqueline susann's own life was. she had affairs, she popped pills, etc. this was entertaining to me because i like reading about writers and it was cool to see how much of her own experiences went into her books. also, she had one of those personalities where you might either love her or hate her, or maybe both. she wanted to be famous, and she made it happen. i don't think you can do that without being obnoxious at least part of the time. but you have to have some charm, too.
August 22, 2010
I LOVE this biography on Jackie! Very well done. I just wish it was more in-depth and told much more about her younger days and especially her various romances. Though public in her "image" as a writer/cultural icon and in her book tours, Jackie was still a remarkably private woman. She has long been my favorite writer and my favorite woman, for her intelligence, wit, trendsetting style, talent and raw strength. She was truly a cultural visionary, and definitely one of the strongest women the world has ever known. This biography gives a look into those qualities and lets Jackie's readers learn more about her. Recommend for Jacqueline Susann fans and for those who like biographies.
January 14, 2012
This is the story of Jacqueline Susan, author of Valley of the Dolls, Forever Josephine etc. From Childhood through her death we see the good, the bad and the ugly. She lived her life on her terms and took what she wanted and left no prisoners. Some vilified her for that, but I think she was a strong determined persona and had she been a man, she would have been applauded. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and wondering what outlandish thing she is going to do next.
May 3, 2013
I enjoyed this biography so much. Reading about her pursuits in the theatre, the life she and Irving had for themselves in New York, her ambition and method of writing, very intriguing and interesting. She obviously wanted to be loved by many, she was desperate for it. It's a sad story, especially the circumstances of her son, Guy, and her death. I hope she did find what she was looking for at the end.
June 3, 2008
A fascinating woman...a genius for publicity, an autistic child who got put away (heartbreaking), and of course all those pills...you can't help admiring her, she was really ahead of her time in terms of becoming a brandname and self-promotion. Of course there was talent there too. It's been awhile since I've read it, I'd like to post more about it...
July 3, 2009
This extraordinary biography of the always compelling Jackie Susann was written by my wonderful friend, Barbara Seaman, who passed away too young last year. It is a very through, readable biography of Jackie that brings to life the glamorous 1940s through the changes in the 1970s and beyond, and is a must read for those who are interested in learning about Jackie, her world or publishing.
November 30, 2007
Jacqueline Susann was someone you either love or hate; there doesn't seem to be any middle ground. I admit that her novels are guilty pleasures for me, and I was interested in reading about her life. She parlayed minimal writing talent and marketing skill into a career that is still remembered.
February 25, 2008
This book was written in an easy-reading style that shows obvious affection for its subject. Jacqueline Susann made herself a remarkable life, and the story of it balances the fine line between being encouraging without heavy-handed warm-and-fuzzy treacle.
March 17, 2016
I read a lot of great reviews of this book, how it really captured the essense of Jaqueline Susann, how it had the same sort of "scandalous" feel as her novels, but I found it a somewhat dry read. I am keeping this book only because it is a copy signed by the author.
July 18, 2007
Sometimes I get so bored I'll read anything.
September 23, 2007
a very, very good biography. jackie is fabulous, but would you expect anything else from ms. susann?? hell no!
August 26, 2011
Enlightening story about the author.
May 28, 2012
Interesting, tho sad life.
Read
November 28, 2016Zero stars. I regret the time I spent reading this book.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews