Customer Reviews

The Love Machine (Jacqueline Susann)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Those of you who loved VALLEY OF THE DOLLS will not be disappointed by Susann's follow-up novel. THE LOVE MACHINE is the story of Robin Stone, a network television executive who is as sexy, cold, and violent as the electronic medium he manipulates. Readers who hoped for a replay of VALLEY'S sheer enjoyability will be somewhat dismayed by this novel. No other Susann book even comes close for characters who are - to be blunt - utterly despicable. Robin Stone is without any redeeming features whatsoever, and the three women in his life may be described as follows: a vapid, masochistic and bubbleheaded model (Amanda), a selfish, arrogant, and corrupt tv-reporter-turned superstar-actress (Maggie), and a vain, obsessive, neurotic, and useless socialite (Judith). Despite (or perhaps because of)the flaws of the characters, the LOVE MACHINE is compelling reading - aren't the bad guys usually more interesting than the good guys! I could not put this book down. Although Sus! ann's characters are utterly hedonistic pleasure-seekers, her writing style maintains a subtle distance from them, resulting a peculiar type of reader identification - we enjoy her characters even as we condemn them. Susann may be the most perfectly American novelist of the late 20th century, and her books will doubtless one day be seen as the literary classics they are. I can't say that I enjoyed this book, but nevertheless, I couldn't stop reading it.

Thanks to Grove-Atlantic Press, the novels of Jacqueline Susann are reappearing in print 15 years after the mass market Bantam editions went out of print. VALLEY OF THE DOLLS is still, after 30 years, the all-time bestselling novel of all time.Those expecting a weak sophmore effort in LOVE MACHINE will be glad to hear that her second novel is actually the best-written of all her novels. This insiders view of the television industry (and specifically the rise of womanizing heel, TV anchorman Robin Stone) is a riveting, compelling and compulsively-readable tale that benefits from Susann's real-life background as a TV spokesmodel and actress who was married to a TV producer.If you thought the showbiz folk in VALLEY were ruthless, wait until you get swallowed up by the cast of characters in LOVE MACHINE. There's also much more plot in LOVE than in VALLEY. This is no romance novel, Jacqueline Susann wrote anti-romance novels. She liked to show readers the exciting and torrid lives of the rich and famous and always made readers feel they were better off living in the midwest than starring in a Broadway show or hosting a network news show. The reissued VALLEY had a quaint feeling of once being a very blunt and racy novel that had mellowed over the years (probably due to it being the blueprint for countless bestsellers over the next three decades). But, THE LOVE MACHINE still packs a powerful punch. This is Jackie Susann at her most assured, writing the kind of story that is hard to resist and shouldn't be resisted.

There are two major things that distinguish "The Love Machine" from Jacqueline Susann's other novels: the main character is a man, and the book has a happy ending (at least in my opinion).

This book is a very entertaining read. The story centers around Robin Stone, a smart and sexy television executive who's climbing the corporate ladder and breaking the hearts of many women along the way. Although it seems at times that Robin has no conscience because of the way he treats women, he really isn't a malicious character and doesn't intend to harm to anyone. Regardless of the fact that he always makes it clear that he's not interested in a long-term relationship, women still tend to fall for him, and they fall very hard. The book is divided into three main sections devoted to the women who are affected by Robin the most: Amanda, a beautiful and emotional model; Maggie, a brilliant journalist; and Judith, a middle-aged socialite.

Robin is a very interesting character. He's so charismatic that he even manages to charm the reader, and you'll be rooting for him in spite of all his indiscretions. There is also a deeply buried secret in Robin's past that makes him become vulnerable in very unexpected circumstances, and the mystery surrounding him will keep the reader guessing until the very end. I also enjoyed how Robin interacted differently with all the various women in his life. The last section in the book devoted to Judith was a little slow, but that could be because I was expecting a last-minute dramatic turn of events like I've seen in Susann's other novels, and this book was a little different.

If you enjoyed Jacqueline Susann's other novels, you really need to read "The Love Machine." My only disappointment is that this was the last book of Susann's I had left to read...I wish she had written many more!

After reading "Valley of the Dolls", I started "Love" expecting more of the same, but I have to say I was surprised at how much more wretched the characters had become in Susann's second book. I absolutely could not put this books down, but after finishing it, I realized I hadn't really enjoyed it as much as it pulled me in. I did love how she attaches you to one character, making you start to be comfortable with them and care about their situation, then later switches to an opposing lead, practically highlighting all of the embarrassing flaws of the first. The main problems I had with "Love" were unresolved holes in the plot, not exactly huge holes, but a character would let out some ground-breaking secret, and then there was no explanation of their coping, just that it was fixed. Also, every once in a while there would just be pages upon pages of straight tv business talk. A little dry for me. I wanted more meat. Still a good read, though, but I don't know if I'd read it again.

I first read Jacqueline Susann's novels back in the 70's, and I am glad they are re-released today. Susann's women are beautiful, tragic, shallow, greedy, talented, lucky in career, unlucky in love, vapid, immoral, weak, and as a result often unlikable. So why can't you put the book down? Because Susann brings this world right into your lap, and you follow along the paths of these women and their successes or failures. You wind out hoping with them or against them. The men are either horrible, egotistical brutes or wimpy, whiney nobodies.

Our leading man, Robin, is a cold blooded woman hater in the guise of a lover-boy. He methodically goes through women like kleenex. And our first leading lady, Amanda, is pathetic. She is a top model, beautiful and rich, and yet whines and simpers over Robin. She is obsessed with him and does everything she can to please him.

Maggie is a dark haired beauty, who marries for status and money to a man she finds out is abusive, but still doesn't leave the marriage. Instead, she has a one night stand with Robin, gets pregnant, and then leaves her marriage after her husband beats her to where she looses the baby. She also becomes obsessed with Robin and when meeting him again, even though he doesn't even remember her, she leaps back into his bed and thinks that he is going to be with her forever. Think again.

Judith is perhaps the most pathetic of all. She's fifty-ish, still beautiful, married to one of the most powerful men in Television Networking, and yet with everything she has she still feels that she is a poor little girl that deserves more. She also falls for Robin, and uses her power in the industry to try and manipulate him to her side. Not to mention getting a face lift to attract Robin while her husband recuperates from a heart attack.

The revelation about Robin's past would be tragic in any other scenario, but with Robin being such a miserable example of a man you just couldn't care less.

So why read this book? Just to enjoy yourself. Susann's trashy, campy novel develops full characters (even if they are unlikable) and sucks you into the fast pace and glamour of showbiz. Ethel, a side-line character, keeps the pace moving too with her own sexual entry into the glamour world, winding out as MRS SOMEBODY eventually. Dan, once at the top and barely more likeable than Robin, is interesting to follow through his own career ups and downs. Read it and enjoy!

I became totally engrossed with this book. I liked it better than valley of the dolls. I would recommend it.

Robin Stone's story reveals more than a torrid sex life. He is an entrepreneur climbing to the top of the tv business, but it is the way women can't get him out of their hearts and heads, what makes him become the difficult, hedonistic, almost untouchable guy, who even turns into a lovable character for the reader.

Jacqueline Susann could get into the thoughts of women and men, and this book has a lot of it.

I couldn't put it down! I'll follow with Valley of the Dolls!

I think this book is just as good if not better than VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. Though I am only 3/4 way through the book, I have to admire the writer's ability to tell the stories from so many differernt perspectives of all those characters. She illustrated each individual with vivid images and offer insights that makes you connect with them regardless if you approve of their actions or not. It reads like a movie and I can't put it down. A great quick summer read.

Robin Stone has become one of my favorite anti-heroes! In this gem Jacqueline Susann novel, we are introduced to the life of a TV mogul's rise to fame. The characters that surround him are equally fabulous. Susann introduces the reader into the world of the rich and the lonely with a bang! She has influenced the work of lots of authors -- Candace Bushnell comes to mind -- but her work remains untouchable. I recommend this great novel!

This was one of the best books I have ever read. I literally couldn't put it down, even for sleep. My husband had to almost tear the book out of my hands before I could bring myself to put it down. I found Robin Stone very sympathetic as he had trouble with relationships until he confronted his past, and the fact it was ok to have a normal relationship, and even that he could *need* a woman. Until then, he was just running away with himself and he was using the network and his lecture ciruit to drown himself and avoid the fact that his relationships with women were not normal. It took me to emotional extremes and the pacing was fantastic. I usually don't find books that exciting to get all emotional over, but this was one of them. I am looking forward to reading her other books as well. Thank you