Customer Reviews

Lovely Me: The Life of Jacqueline Susann

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Jacqueline Suzanne invented the way that books are publicized today and for that alone, this book is worth the read. But there's much, much more. She was on the scene when television invented itself, and therein lies another fascinating tale. And along the way, she invented herself. Jackie hobnobbed with and had affairs with the rich and famous and <<Lovely Me>> leaves no stone unturned in this realm. Seaman's list of acknowledgements is a veritable who's who in popular culture, including many well-known feminists, as well as such luminaries as Isaac Asimov, Rex Reed, Barbara Walters and John Lennon. Famous names keep popping up all over the place, reminding us that we are reading a biography and not a fantastical romance. In the end, Jackie wrote about what she knew--the sex, the booze and pills, and clawing for fame, security, and recognition. Perhaps Jackie herself, summed it up best: "Yea, I think I'll be remembered...I think I'll be remembered as the voice of the 1960s...Andy Warhol, the Beatles, and me..."

Jackie Susann changed the face of women's literature. There were others ahead of her, Margaret Mitchell, Taylor Caldwell, Mary McCarthy and Grace Metalious all come to mind. Yet it was Susann who took the s-e-x out of the implied and on to the explicit, redefining the path of fiction forever.

The authors of too many biographies, in their quest for thoroughness and scholarship, take lively subjects and make them dull. Seaman has avoided that trap here, instead writing a biography that reads much like a novel itself.

Seaman portrays Susann as she was, uneducated, possessing no special talent, cursed by misfortunes, of which she had more than her share. Susann failed as an actress, she failed as a talk show host. Yet Susann also was driven and undeterred in her determination to find success, and find success she did. In the process, she not only re-defined the way in which contemporary fiction was written--she also re-designed the way in which books themselves were marketed. And Seaman has provided all of the details in LOVELY ME. To Seaman's credit, this biography never loses its pace; she keeps the story interesting right to its inevitable end.

Knowing the right people, being seen in the right places, was the essence of Susann's determination, and Jackie saw to these with great precision. Eventually, the fictionalized version of her life would become the basis of her bestsellers.

Therefore, in the process of telling Susann's life story, Seaman also offers a snapshot of life in New York City from the 1930's to the 1970's. The result is a history of a fascinating woman at a fascinating time. LOVELY ME is a lovely read.

Barbara Seaman's impressive biography of Jacqueline Susann, "Lovely Me", is, without a doubt, the BEST biography of a celebrity ever written! This book surpasses anything that Lovely Ms. Susann could ever have written by several thousand miles. After reading this amazing tome, I felt a deep respect for the creator of the "pot-boiler", and I admire her spunk and spirit, in the face of great adversity. If you are searching for a book that tells it ALL, from drug binges, extramarital affairs (both lesbian and heterosexual), rivalries, and hatred, and the indistinguishable love between Jackie and her husband, Irving Mansfield, then please, please, please, pick up this book. It just might be the best thing you'll read all year...

God, I love this book. Not necessarily being a fan of Susann's (I've never read her novels), I found Seaman's biography to be a beautifully written, impeccably researched psychological study. The book feels like two books: first, we get the psycho-drama that was Susann's life, which is rendered with an extremely perceptive soap operatic flair; next, we get deep, deep dish on the ups and downs of the publishing world, particularly Susann's singleminded approach to selling her books...and herself. You'll be fascinated by Susann and repulsed by her. This is the *best* biography I've ever read.

Ms. Seaman has produced a work of exceptional depth and quality, truly bringing the essence of Miss Susann to life, and making her compulsion for fame and regognition understandable. What struck me most was the tenacity with which Miss Susann clung to her dream of glory, only to have it so cruelly taken from her at such a young age--almost like a character in one of her classic novels. If the life of a working artist and the world of celebrity interests you, this is a book you will quite enjoy.

LOVELY ME takes honors for being the most lurid bio I've ever read. It was great!

I recommend reading this book before you pick up VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, because once you read VOTD, you'll know from exactly which well Jackie drew these experiences. Just as VOTD was a roman a clef for life as Jackie knew it, LM is the real-life retelling of VOTD.

I admire Jackie Susann. Not only was she a Philadelphian and a writer, like me, but she had such tenacity. Even when cancer, a failed career, a mentally-ill son, and a dim future stared her in the face, she plodded on and closed her ears to the naysayers. She never once took her eyes off her dream of being a published author and bolstering VOTD to being the best-selling novel in history. We can all learn something from her.

WOW! LOVELY ME is the terrific biography of an absolutely amazing woman who was HELL-BENT on fame since childhood - a very inspiring woman who didn't even BEGIN writing until her cancer diagnosis! She gives determination a new name. Jacqueline Susann was also a woman who LIVED Valley of the Dolls --- she schmoozed and worked for the marginal actress stardom she achieved on stage and in early Television with pals/lovers(?) like Carole Landis...the book also has a lot of GREAT celebrity tales. Jacqueline Susann was a woman whose fridge was stocked with only olives, gin, and pills! She was a woman who loved bedding elderly Jewish comics, and a woman who (along with her devoted husband Irving) was an ABSOLUTE GENIUS at SELF-PROMOTION!!! She was a woman who even stalked Ethel Merman (!!) etc. This extremely well written biography is brilliant, crazy, and engrossing --- and the perfect coming together of writer and subject. Reading it you are VERY aware of where JS's got the inspiration for her novels.

Barbara wrote a great book and she is one writer that really makes you understand Jackie and her motivations. And you really understand why and how Jackie became a great success. It wasn't so much the writing, even though Jackie was a brilliant writer. She didn't bog the reader down in endless useless descriptions. BORING. She wrote a book that made you continue to read. Her novels flowed. Her characters were interesting and dramatic. She is the only writer that mostly wrote from emotion. You know exactly what her characters are feeling and thinking. That is good writing. It was like she made you feel what the characters were feeling. I wish I would find books like that again. But I've come to the conclusion that Jackie will never be duplicated. Granted, I could be wrong. There might be some young gun-slinger out there that has studied her work and life and totally understands her, and that can duplicate her amazing success. But the only person in the world that resembled her energy and emotions was her father. And he passed away in 1957. Thank you Barbara Seaman for an in-depth book on the life of a very highly gifted woman.

Jackie Susann was an American original whose spirit, in all it's outrageousness and zest, is captured in Barbara Seaman's wonderfully written timeless book. This entertaining book is a must for anyone interested in publishing or pop culture.

Here's the book that reveals all about the queen of the published melodramas, Jacqueline Susann. One thing's for sure, her real-life tale is as bumpy as anything she's ever written: jealousy, revenge, sexual deviation, incurable diseases... Author Barbara Seaman doesn't miss a beat in bringing you the story of a lady whose marginal frame of mind automatically made her an activist in human rights. Told with real pizzazz, LOVELY ME meticulously brings you back to a time when evolution was everywhere, even in so-called fluffy novels like the ones of Jacqueline Susann. Her personal struggles behind all of her fiction glamour definitely make for a compelling read.-----Martin Boucher