Jacqueline Susann hated the film; after its November premiere aboard the passenger liner, "Princess Italia", she confronted the film's director, Mark Robson, and stated, "This picture is a piece of shit." In 2001, author Rae Lawrence published a continuation of "Valley of the Dolls", titled "Jacqueline Susann's Shadow of the Dolls" (Crown), which was reputedly based on notes left by Susann for an intended sequel. In its review, "Publishers Weekly" stated, "This tedious, tame sequel is aptly titled, as it languishes deep in the shadow of the original... Susann's original still packs a wallop; the sequel is a pulled punch." Susann's second
Jacqueline Susann After suffering from a persistent cough, Susann, who was concerned about her upcoming book tour in support of "Once Is Not Enough", checked into Doctors Hospital on January 11, 1973. Test results showed a nodular lesion in her right lung; she was transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital for a bronchoscopy and biopsy. On January 18, she received a diagnosis of lung cancer, and immediately began cobalt treatments and daily chemotherapy injections. According to Irving Mansfield, there was some disagreement between doctors as to whether this was a metastatic breast cancer or an original lung cancer; accurate evaluation would determine the