If there were ever a time to roll out a new Hollywood book about an old Hollywood time, that time is now. Caught hard and rigid by the vise grip of current events, this showbiz cautionary tale is relayed tacitly — and tactfully — by Rebello in this plucky new look at the Hollywood “Dream Machine” post-#MeToo and in the wake of our increasingly woke nation.

In his book, Rebello chronicles how Susann’s salacious bestseller went from page to screen. If that sounds like a dull procedural, think again. Rebello delivers a surfeit of detail — some chapters are so top-heavy with names and facts one fears they may topple over like one of the stupendous hairpieces featured in the film. Though the book is gossipy, it is full of surprises and even suspense — revealing how cutthroat and puerile Hollywood can be.

Screenwriter Rebello (Bad Movies We Love) plunges into all aspects of a famously guilty pleasure in this exuberant examination of Jacqueline Susann’s racy tale of sex, drugs, and Hollywood. ... Anyone seeking nonfiction escapism will be well served by Rebello’s loving dissection of a camp classic’s print and screen incarnations.

A Hollywood screenwriter’s ultimate in-depth guidebook to an enduring book and female-driven film sensation. Rebello delivers a meticulously detailed paean to both incarnations of Valley of the Dolls, which, despite scathing reviews, were runaway commercial successes.