Ok, so a friend of mine at work lent this book to me because she has a friend who actually changed her name to January because of Jacqueline Susann's heroine, January Wayne, who is found in this horribly trashy and scandalous book. Did I like the book? Yes. Did I love the book? No. Did I get anything fascinating or enlightening out of the book? No. This book, to put it simply, entertained me. I'm actually glad that my friend loaned it to me, because I don't think I would have ever had the inclination to read it otherwise. The book, despite its almost 500 pages, took me about a week to read, and without having a plot to absolutely glue my eyes to the book, my working full time, and having somewhat of a life, I can say that a week for me to finish a 500 page book is actually the speed of light.The book centers on January Wayne, a beautiful but lost and somewhat vacuous socialite, and her middle-aged, washed-up, ex-producer father, with whom she is in love. I say that she is in love, not because the book is filled top to bottom with Electra infused sexual fantasies, but because she cannot possibly conceive that she could love anyone more than she loves her father. At times, she sees him as a sexy and attractive male, rather than her sperm donor, but it isn't, in my opinion, a sexually charged incestual love. January spends three years in a rehabilitation center in Switzerland after a motorcycle accident leaves her incredibly disabled, and she finds herself completely disconnected from the outside world, returning to find that her father, after losing all his fame and money when "his luck ran out," has married an incredibly wealthy woman to give both of them some financial security. The book from here on out follows January in her quest to please her father, finding love along the way with a man who is the perfect paternal replacement, and discovering the free-love, drug addled, and star-struck New York from the sixties and seventies. She falls in love, she wins, she loses, she finds a job, she comes into money, and even finds herself addicted to speed, in the form of vitamin shots. Every character in Once Is Not Enough is very shallow, except for the mysterious and beautiful Karla, an ex ballerina and actress who seems to bewitch absolutely everyone into falling in love with her (this was a little hard to believe, as I feel there can only be so much perfection that a person can realistically have). Karla does have some depth to her character, as is shown when Susann divulges information about Karla's past during the war. Even January, so naive, becomes a caricature of the innocent girl turned bad. It's like Sandy from Grease, though on a much harder-core scale. There were times that were real, and I could even find myself getting slightly emotional when Tom Colt leaves her right after her father's death. I believe that that is the most real passage in the whole book. Their relationship doesn't reflect on reality, but their breakup does. Maybe that says something in and of itself.It is a novel which requires basically no intelligent thinking or higher brain power, and does it's job quite well, which is to entertain. Those who are looking for a purely entertainment value read, will certainly like this book, though if you are used to reading Fitzgerald, Orwell, Hemingway, or Salinger, you might want to skip this book. I love a good literary read, but hey, I can get just as wrapped up in Flowers in the Attic too. I think that above all, Once Is Not Enough is a novel about love. Love is fleeting, love changes, love fades. I think the only constant love in this whole book is Mike Wayne's love for January. Even January chooses Tom Colt over her father, but everything Mike does is for his daughter. She is, and always was the one and only person he ever loved in his life. Maybe, that's a lesson to be learned in Once Is Not Enough. The only love that is 100% assured is a parent's love for their child.
Like The Valley of the Dolls, this is trashy, fun, a product of its time, and really better written than it needs to be in spots. January is the daughter of Mike Wayne, a handsome, powerful, rich movie producer who puts her in an expensive boarding school after her mother's death. She lives for her weekend visits with him in NYC and develops the electra complex of all electra complexes. After graduation she goes with him to Italy, but ends up getting in an accident that disables her for three years as she relearns to walk in an exclusive hospital in Switzerland. When she returns to the states, Mike's lucky movie streak has ended and he has married a rich woman that he doesn't love so that January can have a secure future. As for January, she is a beautiful naive young woman thrown into the free love drug culture of the early 1970s without a safety net. This is a Jacqueline Susann novel, so there is a lot of thinking about sex, talking about sex, and sex. There are also a lot of drugs: sleeping pills, speed ("vitamin shots"), Jack Daniels, acid, pot, and more. Plus a huge subplot involving the tragic WWII experiences of a beautiful, aging Garbo-like Polish actress named Karla! This isn't something that everyone needs to read, but if you want a light and trashy time machine back to 1973, this is your book.
What do You think about Once Is Not Enough (1997)?
I thought I would never read another Jacqueline Susann novel after I finished the last one, but a couple of months later, and here I am. This is my third Susann novel and definitely my favorite thus far. Once is Not Enough goes a little off the deep end with January's Elektra complex, but it is entertaining and a page turner. There are many hysterical moments, such as when January's friend Lydia explains that she thinks semen makes a fantastic face mask. This book is what I would categorize as "extreme trash:" it is filled with drugs, sex, orgies, money, and shame. I was a little disappointed by the ending, but I had a good time reading this and flew through it.
—Danna
Yeah, but it should have been....Despite its incredibly brilliant title, this book was no Valley of the Dolls. Actually, that's incorrect, it was Valley of the Dolls, and that book only needed to be written once. Or at least, reading that book once was enough for me.Oh, maybe I just wasn't in the mood this time, I don't know.... It wasn't bad or anything -- I mean, obviously it was bad, but you get what I'm saying. I just wasn't gripped, and if you can't get into this on a flight to Las Vegas, then when, I ask, WHEN can you?!Still, in the weeks since leaving it in the casino hotel room under a pile of blood-stained Kleenex and empty scotch bottles, I have caught myself wondering what happened to the characters, so I guess I wasn't totally unaffected. I might read this someday, if I'm stuck in an LA rehab or something. Maybe it just wasn't the right time....
—Jessica
A great vacation book, Suzanne is Total Trash but nonetheless a good writer who knows how to hook her audience. January lost her mother to suicide as a young girl and finds herself in love with her father growing up. Once graduating from high school she accompanies the filmmaker to Europe, where both their lives will change forever. Upon her return to the States, January finally begins to think for herself, rejecting the wealth her new stepmother is anxious to provide. January learns many lessons throughout her journey to independence, and encounters many soap opera-like tragedies as well.
—Venessa
