Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
BOOK CLUB BEAT
with Sherry Hemingway
Club reads, and experiences their book selections
PAGE TURNERS BOOK CLUB of Morgan Hill( l to r) is Elaine Ditmore, Suzi Hathaway, Jennifer Tate, Barb Drew, Wanda Marshall, Cricket Rubino and Jan Hagemann. Not in photo: Sandy de la Cuesta.
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few times each year, the innovative and energetic Page Turners Book Club of Morgan Hill pursue their goal of trying to DO things related to the book beyond reading-sipping-discussing.
In 2002,“ our first book was Sea Biscuit and we went to Bay Meadows Race Track for our meeting,” said member Jan Hagemann.
Since then, memorable settings simulating the book’ s theme have included:
Catfish and Mandela, about a young Vietnamese boy raised in San Jose, who takes his bike to Vietnam to ride all over the country learning about his family.“ We rode bikes from Morgan Hill to Coyote Creek Golf Club and had Asian chicken salads for lunch.”
Unbroken, the story of a US pilot held in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.“ We toured an old fighter plane at the San Martin Airport then had dinner in a“ POW camp” we created in Cricket Rubino’ s back yard, and had MRE’ s for appetizers.”( Note:“ The Meal, Ready-to-Eat” – commonly known as an MRE – is a selfcontained, individual field ration used by the U. S. military in combat or field conditions without food facilities.)
Orphan Train, a book based upon the historical practice, for 75 years in the U. S., of shipping orphaned children out West to find adoptive families.“ We went to Felton and took a train trip through the Santa Cruz Mountains.”
In July, the club invited gmh TODAY to join them in reading Jacqueline Susann’ s Valley of the Dolls and then gather Hollywood-style around the pool to nibble such 50s fare as onion dip and Bugles. In the middle of the table, a jar of red-hot candies – looking remarkably like the“ dolls” of the book’ s title.
Susann’ s book was chosen for their annual“ vintage” selection.
THE BOOK
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
THE RATING: Yes, no, well maybe …
“ They’ re reading what …????
The question posed was why a serious book club would choose to read Jacqueline Susann’ s Valley of the Dolls, considered the topselling fiction book of all time, but also called an“ entertaining trash classic.”
Page Turners chose the book as their annual vintage selection to revisit the almost 50-year-old novel with today’ s eyes. As a look backwards, the book delivers punch and surprises.
Susann’ s book was a titillating and scandalous must-read when it was released in 1966. It has aged into pretty tame fare when compared to today’ s Fifty Shades of Grey and similar genre.
What may pique the interest of today’ s audience is its prescient view of drugs in America and the ways in which society has and has not changed with regard to women.
Valley of the Dolls tracks the lives of three beautiful and talented women, starting together as roommates, and their successful
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 gmhtoday. com