Jacqueline Susann accurately be described as a highly effective sedative, a living doll." Despite the poor reviews, the book was a commercial juggernaut. On May 8, 1966, in its ninth week on the list, the book reached #1 on the "New York Times" Best Seller List, where it remained for 28 consecutive weeks. With a total of 65 weeks on the list, the book became the best selling novel of 1966. By the time of Susann's death in 1974, it had entered the "Guinness Book of World Records" as the best selling novel in publishing history, with more than 17 million copies
Jacqueline Susann loathed the film version of "Valley", believed this adaptation was even worse. Susann's third novel, "Once Is Not Enough", was published by Morrow on March 20, 1973. "Once" is the story of January Wayne, daughter of a famous film and stage producer, who is hospitalized in Switzerland for three years. When she returns home to New York City, she finds that the world is far different from the one she had left. January contends with the social upheavals of the late 1960s and early 1970s in a graphic, driving story. Susann was candid about the theme of the book, stating