Robert Susann (1887–1957), and to her husband. Reception The book, published by William Morrow on March 20, 1973, met with largely negative reviews, as was typical for a Susann novel. A writer for The New York Times complained that the book had "nearly 500 steadily monotonous pages," populated by "a cast of obscure, unpleasant, implausible, stupid or sly characters [who] lurk in the mind for weeks only because one wants to meet and kick them." However, two of the book industry's most respected trade magazines--LIBRARY JOURNAL and PUBLISHERS WEEKLY--gave the book positive reviews. LIBRARY JOURNAL said, "Spectacularly successful. There are plane crashes, drug orgies, motorcycle accidents, mass rapes, attempted abortions, suicide, evil doctors and assorted other activities; and I couldn't put the damned thing down." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY said, "Our girl has done it again. There is no place for this sensational novel to go but straight up the best seller list." Which it did. Sales were enormous: the book spent 36 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller List, with eight of those weeks at #1. It became the second highest-selling novel of 1973, behind only Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. Film adaptation In 1975, Paramount Pictures released a film adaptation, Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough, directed by Guy Green and written by Julius J. Epstein (Casablanca). Starring Kirk Douglas as Mike Wayne, Alexis Smith (in her first film since 1959) as Deirdre Milford Granger, Melina Mercouri as Karla, and Deborah Raffin as January, the film was produced by Howard W. Koch and executive-produced by Susann's husband, Irving Mansfield. The musical score was composed by Henry Mancini. The film received negative reviews; Vincent Canby, in The New York Times, offered a multiple-choice "audience participation" review, in which the reader was given four choices (ludicrous, bad, terrible, horrendous) by which to evaluate the movie. Despite the reviews, the film was a commercial success, earning $15.7 million at the box office. Brenda Vaccaro, as Linda Riggs, received an Oscar nomination for her performance. Vaccaro won the Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her role in the film. References 1973 American novels American novels adapted into films Novels by Jacqueline Susann Novels set in New York City William Morrow and Company books