Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records Braille and Talking Books Division
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WELCOME TO BOOK TALK

This location presents Arizona Braille and Talking Book Readers
with book summaries and reviews suggested by our readers, staff, and volunteers.
Also provided will be recent library news.

(Writer’s note: Can you name the world’s best selling English fictional novel?  The book that has sold more than 30,000,000 copies world wide and according to The Top 10 of Everything 2002 ranks as the tenth best selling book of all times behind The Holy Bible, Quotations from Chairman Mao, Noah Webster’s The American Spelling Book, Guinness Book of World Records, World Almanac, The McGuffey Readers, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, A Message to Garcia, and In His Steps, What Would Jesus Do? No, it’s not Gone With The Wind, Left Behind, nor The Da Vinci Code.  Have you guessed it yet? Here’s your big hint - it’s about love, drugs, Broadway and Hollywood movie stars and was first published in March of 1966. The answer is Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann.

So off your writer went on an adventure to see what could possibly fascinate so many readers. At first, I thought the world’s English readers were just suffering from soap box addiction, thinking Jacqueline Susann was merely producing fiction that read like the famous T.V. soaps such as Desperate Housewives and As The World Turns. However, I came to believe that there was more to this best seller than what first meets the eye. Then again, maybe I just became addicted!!

Book Review:

VALLEY OF THE DOLLS
RC 50906
By Jacqueline Susann
442 pages on four cassettes
Narrated by Kimberly Schraf
(This novel does contain some sexually explicit descriptions.)

FROM THE BOOK JACKET

First published in March, 1966 – the book that made publishing history  and made Jacqueline Susann the best-known, best-loved novelist ever to capture  the imagination and satisfy the hunger for great storytelling of countless millions of readers.

Here is the totally candid story of the dazzling glitter and the gutter realities of show business as it was never told before, or since.  Here is the searing saga of how women make it to the top in a world dominated by men and the price they pay for their success – a story with even more meaning for women today than when it first enthralled a vast public.  Here are the three heroines who achieved immortality on these pages – the icily flawless yet sensually vulnerable Anne Welles, desperately in love with Mr. Wrong; the beautiful sex-goddess Jennifer North, whose fabulous body became her ultimate betrayal, and the magnificently talented, emotionally tormented singer-actress Neely O’Hara, whose career was a roller-coaster ride to heaven and hell. Here is your chance to enter Valley of the Dolls – an experience of ecstasy and agony, drama and degradation, gripping enthrallment and final, shattering revelation that has haunted the memories of a world of readers and that you will never forget.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“Jacqueline Susann was fresh from her own career in show business when she sat down to write Valley of the Dolls.  After the publication of this giant best-seller, she never returned to the theater that was her first love- but instead went on to become American fiction’s greatest superstar with novels that have taken a permanent place in the American imagination.  The last chapter of her extraordinary career was a superbly courageous secret struggle which began in 1962 against the cancer which ultimately claimed her life.  In private life she was the wife of television and motion picture producer Irving Mansfield for almost 30 years.  She died on September 21st, 1974, at the age of fifty-three.”                        (The above taken from the Book Jacket)

ABOUT THE NARRATOR

Can you guess what the author and narrator of Valley of the Dolls have in common?  If you answered both had careers as professionals on stage, you would be right!  Kimberly Schraf not only has 17 years as a stage performer but has also narrated talking books for over 15 years.  In fact, she won the Alexander Scourby Award for fiction in 2002 for her narration of Bee Season by Myla Goldberg (RC 50897 on three cassettes – a best-selling modern novel about a family that encounters psychological disaster after their daughter wins a spelling bee.  This book has also been made into a major movie).

Besides narrating such books as Savage Beauty, A Map of the World, Little Altars Everywhere, Fierce Pajamas, and The Best American Short Stories – which Kimberly notes were her favorites and are all available at The Arizona State Braille and Talking Book Library – she has performed on dozens of Washington, D.C. and Baltimore stages, as well as the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.

Kimberly Schraf was born and raised in Pittsburgh and attended St. John’s College in Annapolis.  Here, she studied classical literature and even translated Ancient Greek.  She currently lives in Washington D.C. and when not narrating, teaches at an alternative high school and also instructs adults in theater acting at The Theatre Lab.

READER CRITIQUE

Normally this reader likes fiction that entertains and educates, the kind of fictional novel that is well edited, has a fast pace plot, and provides interesting facts about a particular field – like psychology, sociology, history, religion, cinema,  or even politics.  Valley of the Dolls falls into the above criteria and even offers something more! 

While providing an excellent story line with both a moving plot and excellent editing, the reader learns about how difficult life is in the acting industry.  Having lived the life she talks about, no one could be a better source than Jacqueline Susann.  Because of her intimate knowledge of both Broadway and Hollywood, she writes from the heart.  In my opinion, this is precisely why Valley of the Dolls remains the world’s best selling fictional novel.  The something more that it provides is a feeling that all the author writes about she has personally experienced. 

For those who would say that Valley of the Dolls has no literary merit, I would argue that the mark of great fiction is the author’s ability to make the reader live the tale.  Personally, I was amazed how addicted I became to this novel.   I was not just reading, I was experiencing life through the eyes of the author.   Her writing techniques and excellent story telling power literally moved characters from the book into the reader’s life.  This indeed was the ‘something more’ that has made Valley of the Dolls the leading fictional best seller of all times!!

NARRATOR CRITIQUE

Kimberly Schraf’s 17 years on the professional stage combines with Jacqueline Susann’s  Broadway and Hollywood  background to give the listener a live performance not soon forgotten.  Schraf’s remarkable ability to project the personalities of the characters through her voice is simply phenomenal.  From the English accent of very proper and elegant Lyon Burke to the foster kid neighborhood twang of Neely O’Hara, Kimberly Schraf creates characters through her voice and vocal performance.  Not too many narrators can do this and the ones that can are outdistanced by Schraf’s ability to match her voice with the character’s development.  For example, Neely O’Hara is given a kind of demure voice as she starts out on her acting career.  However, once she becomes famous – turning into a self-assured egotistical monster – Schraf creates a voice that matches the change in her personality.  In short, Schraf and Susann paint pictures of characters (both with the pen and human voice) that are so vivid you’ll remember them for a lifetime!!

Library News

It seems everything is valley from Valley of the Dolls to Hotel Valley Ho, where the Arizona State Braille and Talking Book Library held their 26th annual volunteer recognition and luncheon.  Over one hundred and seventy participants gathered on Saturday March 4th in Scottsdale, Arizona to honor all of those who so willingly work for free – just for you!! In fact the hours our volunteers donate equals twelve additional staff members.  Without their efforts staff would be hard pressed to provide you with quality service or maybe even to keep our doors open!!

Our featured speaker was Arizona State Braille and Talking Book reader Gail Iron Wilt.  Having had our service for years and also using talking books and Braille materials for her career as a rehabilitation counselor, Gail was just the right person to explain to volunteers how much their efforts are appreciated.  Director of the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records GladysAnn Wells was also in attendance to personally thank our volunteers!

Besides a very dedicated volunteer force, we would be lost without our staff.  The passing on of beloved readers’ advisor Jim M. Lovell in July and the retirement of Linda Eckhardt, technical services librarian, and past readers’ advisor, created a real challenge. 

How could we possible replace such key staff members?

Library Director Linda Montgomery and Deputy Director Sandra Everett were quick to rise to the task and we now have two new very qualified team players.  Kim Bell (readers’ advisement librarian for readers M-R) joined our staff on October 3rd.  However, she donated her time as a volunteer narrator and monitor at the Arizona State Braille and Talking Book Library recording studio for years before coming on staff.  She is a graduate of The University of Arizona’s School of Information Resources and Library Science and worked with Mesa Public Library before joining our team.

Our Director and Deputy Director must have believed that one Wilbur (name of the mascot for The University of Arizona) was not enough.  You guessed it, their selection for our Technical Services Librarian was another graduate from The University of Arizona’s School of Information Resources and Library Science.  Ron Bryant not only has a graduate degree in library science but one in management as well. From 1989 until 1994 he was a supervising librarian at the Hayden Library at Arizona State University and came to us from The Naval Historical Center Library in Washington, D.C., where he directed the “Ships History” section.  He is currently serving in the Naval Reserves as well as working for us full time.

Based on the above, our readers can look forward to a great 2006.  With a volunteer and staff roster loaded with talent, our team promises to be a winner!!  Move over Arizona Diamondbacks, The Arizona State Braille and Talking Book Library has players surpassed by none!!!

(Comments and questions regarding “BookTalk” should be
directed to Reader Advisement Librarian Henry Hayden at hhayden@lib.az.us)

 

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Updated:  10/6/2006

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