Jacqueline Susann of her own books. "Valley of the Dolls" spans twenty years (1945–1965) in the lives of three young women: Anne Welles, the New England beauty who liberates herself from her staid small town by coming to New York, where she falls in love with the dashing Lyon Burke; Neely O'Hara, an ebullient vaudevillian who becomes a Hollywood star and self-destructs; and Jennifer North, a showgirl with little talent but a gorgeous face and figure, who becomes a friend to both. All three women fall prey to the "dolls," amphetamines and barbiturates, a euphemism which Susann coined. The book was published
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