Valley of the Dolls Valley of the Dolls 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, a reserved New England beauty who sees New York as the romantic city of her dreams; Neely O'Hara, an ebullient vaudevillian with a talent she doesn't
Jacqueline Susann out. Let's just say that now we're not speaking louder." Referring to Philip Roth and his best-selling novel "Portnoy's Complaint", notorious for its graphic descriptions of masturbation, she said to Johnny Carson, "Philip Roth is a good writer, but I wouldn't want to shake hands with him." Not everyone, of course was a fan. Gore Vidal said, "She doesn't write, she types." In July 1969, Truman Capote appeared on "The Tonight Show" and announced that Susann looked "like a truck driver in drag." On Susann's next visit to the show, Johnny Carson, gave her a chance to respond to Capote