I just re-read this after a period of many years, and it's a much better book than the engrossing Valley of the Dolls. It's a beautifully structured character study, written in a way where the reader really gets into the head of the numerous characters. The illness of one major character is introduced so subtly you don't realize it's the beginning of the end. Another main character is initially seen as haughty and dignified, later revealed to be unsure of herself and pathetic. Everything all comes together, helped by strongly drawn supporting characters. And the epilogue is nothing short of magnificent. One character hasn't changed at all, another has gotten what he wanted, another is happy, and the ending in general was a happy one, in contrast to the other best-known books by this author (as mentioned, I enjoyed "Valley of the Dolls," but personally, I felt once was enough to read "Once is Not Enough"). I only spotted two flaws (not bad in a book of about 400 pages): 1) the too-sophisticated vocabulary of a very young child (how many 3-year-olds can say they live in "Providence, Rhode Island"?), and 2) the disappearance of one character I got to know pretty well and would have liked to have seen mentioned in the epilogue (I guess he went back to Greenwich).In my opinion, this is the book that is Jacqueline Susann's masterpiece.