gmhTODAY 04 gmhToday Sep Oct 2015 | Page 72

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