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Content snapshot
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Violence
Barely any
No graphic violence; some deaths from addiction and illness
Language
A lot
Strong adult language throughout
Sexual Content
Very heavy
Extremely explicit sexual content; the entertainment industry's transactional sexuality is depicted frankly throughout
Substance Use
Very heavy
Heavy prescription drug use (sleeping pills, amphetamines) is central to all three storylines; addiction is the novel's subject
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The psychological destruction of three women by an industry that uses and discards them; deeply melancholic despite its entertaining surface
What this book is about
Anne Welles, Neely O'Hara, and Jennifer North are three women trying to make it in New York's entertainment industry. The 'dolls' are pills: uppers, downers, the chemical assistance the industry provides to manage the impossible demands it makes. Susann's 1966 novel was the bestselling novel of its decade—a frank, knowing, and ultimately tragic portrait of what the entertainment industry does to women, told without sentimentality and with enormous appetite.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Extremely explicit sexual content
Heavy drug addiction throughout all storylines
A portrait of the entertainment industry's exploitation of women
Reader Verification
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