''The World Is Full of Married Men'' is the debut novel of British author Jackie Collins, first published in 1968 by W. H. Allen & Co.

Plot summary

Set in London in the

swinging sixties The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mus ...

, middle-aged advertising executive David Cooper cheats on his wife Linda. When he meets the young and beautiful Claudia Parker, David wants to marry her. However, Claudia has different ideas; she wants to be a model, an actress, and a star. When Linda finds out about the affair she ends the marriage and files for divorce. At first protesting, David finally relents and moves into an apartment with Claudia. After six months however, the pair are sick of each other and now that the divorce is finalized, Linda has started seeing

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

Jay Grossman. Realizing his mistake in letting Linda go, David fails to win her back and falls into an alcoholic stupor that renders him virtually impotent and only able to perform with his mousy spinster secretary, Miss Fields, who ultimately falls pregnant with his child.

Reaction

Without a

literary agent A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwrit ...

but with the strong support and encouragement of her husband, Collins sent off the manuscript to a publisher. By this time, Jacqueline Susann's similarly themed novel ''

Valley of the Dolls Valley of the Dolls may refer to: * ''Valley of the Dolls'' (novel), a 1966 novel by Jacqueline Susann ** ''Valley of the Dolls'' (film), a 1967 film adapted from the novel *** " (Theme from) Valley of the Dolls", the title song from the film, pe ...

'' (1966) had already become a huge bestseller and a hit film, and Collins' novel was accepted. Within a week of its publication, ''The World Is Full of Married Men'' made the best-seller list. The book was banned in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, but the scandal bolstered sales in the United Kingdom and the US. Collins' publishers at the time, W. H. Allen & Co., told her that unless she took the "four-letter words" out, the book would be banned in Australia. Collins proceeded in taking the four-letter words out and it was still banned in Australia. In reaction, Collins quipped, "What's the matter? Don't you have married men there?" Romantic novelist Barbara Cartland called the book "nasty, filthy and disgusting", and charged Collins with "creating every pervert in Britain". When Collins sent a signed copy of the book to her father, Joe Collins, he stopped reading it after the first few pages. "Jackie's racy style was altogether too much for me", he later said and for the rest of his life he was never to read more than just a few pages of his daughter's racy pot-boilers. "I am not a prude", he said. "I'm thick skinned and broad-minded and hard to shock (but it is) distasteful for a father to read his daughter's descriptions of sex."

Film adaptation

A film version of the novel was made in 1979, eleven years after the novel's publication. With a screenplay written by Collins herself, and co-produced by her husband

Oscar Lerman Oscar S. Lerman (September 7, 1919 – March 2, 1992) was an American nightclub impresario, theatre and film producer, and the second husband of British novelist Jackie Collins, from 1965 until his death in 1992, whom he persuaded to write. In ...

, the film was made to capitalize on the success of '' The Stud'' and '' The Bitch'', two of Collins' other novels made into films in 1978 and 1979. The film version was set in the late 1970s (as opposed to the novel's 1960s setting) and featured American stars Anthony Franciosa and Carroll Baker as David and Linda Cooper, and included Gareth Hunt, Anthony Steel, Paul Nicholas, Georgina Hale, John Nolan, Jean Gilpin, Alison Elliott, and Stephanie Marrian, the Sun Newspaper's first page 3 girl in supporting roles. Newcomer Sherri Lee Cronn was cast (as Claudia Parker) in her first and only role. Due to its setting, the film made much use of disco music and even featured an appearance by famed dance troupe Hot Gossip. The Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler had a UK Top 40 hit with the title track to the film, and also appeared in the film, performing the song during the opening credits. The song was also recorded by the American singer

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

the same year. The film version grossed $977,326 in the US."Would You Believe an Industry Could Die?" Sunday Times ondon, England15 June 1980: 63. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:World Is Full of Married Men, The 1968 British novels Adultery in novels British novels adapted into films Novels by Jackie Collins Novels set in London Censored books 1968 debut novels W. H. Allen & Co. books