Once Is Not Enough offered a multiple-choice "audience participation" review, in which the reader was given four choices (ludicrous, bad, terrible, horrendous) by which to evaluate the movie. Despite the reviews, the film was a commercial success, earning $15.7 million at the box office (equivalent to $65.2 million in 2017). Brenda Vaccaro, as Linda Riggs, received an Oscar nomination for her performance. Once Is Not Enough Once Is Not Enough is the third novel by Jacqueline Susann, following her huge best sellers "Valley of the Dolls" (1966) and "The Love Machine" (1969). With "Once Is Not Enough," Susann became the first writer in publishing
Jacqueline Susann seller list, and was the third highest-selling novel of its year. Reviews were not favorable; one reviewer in the "New York Times" compared the book to "popcorn... a kernel of an idea... exploded into bite-sized nothingness," while "Time" magazine complained that the book "lacks Valley's primitive vigor. Film rights were sold to Columbia Pictures for a then-record $1.5 million. Directed by Jack Haley, Jr., the film adaptation was released in 1971, starring Dyan Cannon, Robert Ryan, and John Phillip Law. Despite the fact that Irving Mansfield was executive producer, the movie was a critical and commercial flop. Susann, who had