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Goodbye, Janette
With her keen instincts and rich sensuality Tanya Pojarska survived the fires of World War II and gained control of a vast fortune. Her two daughters inherited her beauty, her passion--and a legacy of pain and ambition. From a childhood of stark sexual terror, Janette rose to wealth and fame as a high-fashion goddess--while her half-sister Lauren plunged into a dazzling scene of international decadence that almost destroyed her.
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First published January 1, 1981
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About the author
Harold Robbins
315 books436 followersBorn as Harold Rubin in New York City, he later claimed to be a Jewish orphan who had been raised in a Catholic boys home. In reality he was the son of well-educated Russian and Polish immigrants. He was reared by his pharmacist father and stepmother in Brooklyn.
His first book, Never Love a Stranger (1948), caused controversy with its graphic sexuality. Publisher Pat Knopf reportedly bought Never Love a Stranger because "it was the first time he had ever read a book where on one page you'd have tears and on the next page you'd have a hard-on".
His 1952 novel, A Stone for Danny Fisher, was adapted into a 1958 motion picture King Creole, which starred Elvis Presley.
He would become arguably the world's bestselling author, publishing over 20 books which were translated into 32 languages and sold over 750 million copies. Among his best-known books is The Carpetbaggers, loosely based on the life of Howard Hughes, taking the reader from New York to California, from the prosperity of the aeronautical industry to the glamour of Hollywood.
His first book, Never Love a Stranger (1948), caused controversy with its graphic sexuality. Publisher Pat Knopf reportedly bought Never Love a Stranger because "it was the first time he had ever read a book where on one page you'd have tears and on the next page you'd have a hard-on".
His 1952 novel, A Stone for Danny Fisher, was adapted into a 1958 motion picture King Creole, which starred Elvis Presley.
He would become arguably the world's bestselling author, publishing over 20 books which were translated into 32 languages and sold over 750 million copies. Among his best-known books is The Carpetbaggers, loosely based on the life of Howard Hughes, taking the reader from New York to California, from the prosperity of the aeronautical industry to the glamour of Hollywood.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
April 30, 2015
I don't even know what to say. This was...an experience.
Being a huge Fawlty Towers fangirl, I've always wanted to try a book by Harold Robbins. Basil's disparaging comments were more than enough to arouse my curiosity re: this prolific author of glittery, trashy schlock. And boy howdy, Janette is terrible. If this wasn't by an established author (BWAHAHA! :D) it would never have been endorsed by a respectable publisher. Supposing Robbins had used a pseudo -- Dick B. Hugest, perhaps? -- this POS would've been passed down to some raunchy fly-by-night press like "Softcover Library" & discreetly purchased by skeezy-looking gents in trench coats & mufflers.
...But no. Because dear ol' Harold was shameless enough to claim this manuscript as his own, it somehow slipped past the editors at Simon & Schuster, thereby infesting Waldenbooks & airport bookstalls everywhere. Verily, in the words of Family Guy: Goodbye, Janette happened. And we let it happen. :P
Supposedly this book has a plot about fashion houses, multi-billion-dollar corporations, & Nazi profiteering. But honestly, who cares? Not the characters -- they're too busy screwing and/or slicing each other with razors. From top to bottom, these are a pack of unlikable asshats whose collective brains wouldn't fill a teacup. For my part, the only personages who inspired a glimmer of interest were Tanya, the matriarch of the family, & Harvey, the stoned surfer who did nothing but smoke weed & sunbathe. Everyone else was dancing a conga line of disposable, interchangable idiocy & sexual liaisons.
Content warnings: incest, BDSM, soaked panties, giant dongs, crass and/or un-PC language, nipples, oral sex, PHALLUSES, drugs, more oral sex, anal sex, gay sex, lesbian sex, threesomes, pedobear, EVUL pedobear, vengeful Greek tycoons, an assortment of bodily fluids, soul-shattering orgasms, & plastic surgery.
I can't even. Basil was right. Harold Robbins, you suck. :D
Being a huge Fawlty Towers fangirl, I've always wanted to try a book by Harold Robbins. Basil's disparaging comments were more than enough to arouse my curiosity re: this prolific author of glittery, trashy schlock. And boy howdy, Janette is terrible. If this wasn't by an established author (BWAHAHA! :D) it would never have been endorsed by a respectable publisher. Supposing Robbins had used a pseudo -- Dick B. Hugest, perhaps? -- this POS would've been passed down to some raunchy fly-by-night press like "Softcover Library" & discreetly purchased by skeezy-looking gents in trench coats & mufflers.
...But no. Because dear ol' Harold was shameless enough to claim this manuscript as his own, it somehow slipped past the editors at Simon & Schuster, thereby infesting Waldenbooks & airport bookstalls everywhere. Verily, in the words of Family Guy: Goodbye, Janette happened. And we let it happen. :P
Supposedly this book has a plot about fashion houses, multi-billion-dollar corporations, & Nazi profiteering. But honestly, who cares? Not the characters -- they're too busy screwing and/or slicing each other with razors. From top to bottom, these are a pack of unlikable asshats whose collective brains wouldn't fill a teacup. For my part, the only personages who inspired a glimmer of interest were Tanya, the matriarch of the family, & Harvey, the stoned surfer who did nothing but smoke weed & sunbathe. Everyone else was dancing a conga line of disposable, interchangable idiocy & sexual liaisons.
Content warnings: incest, BDSM, soaked panties, giant dongs, crass and/or un-PC language, nipples, oral sex, PHALLUSES, drugs, more oral sex, anal sex, gay sex, lesbian sex, threesomes, pedobear, EVUL pedobear, vengeful Greek tycoons, an assortment of bodily fluids, soul-shattering orgasms, & plastic surgery.
I can't even. Basil was right. Harold Robbins, you suck. :D
July 11, 2015
A lot of people have reviewed this book over the years and the consensus seems to be split between a well written novel with plenty of erotica and a trashy porn story masquerading as a novel.Harold Robbins in my opinion has provided us with an excellent piece of writing in this novel.To look at Goodbye Janette solely as a good yarn or a smut fest is doing both the writer and the reader a grave injustice.
There is in my opinion an element of this book that goes far beyond wealth and sex.Harold Robbins has built a magnificent story line spanning continents and years, He has built strong characters that are believable, he has taken us inside the minds of these characters to the extremely complicated world of the human psychic.
This is a glimpse beyond the fine clothes and opulent life styles of the rich and powerful.Yes there are scenes of a graphic sexual nature but surely this is an everyday occurrence in life. Robbins is asking the reader to look beyond what is glaringly obvious to a world that exists for rich and poor alike. A world where power over others is bye and large gained by domination.
Goodbye Janette is not only a great read but a reminder to us all that not everything that glitters is gold. It is also a valuable lesson that those at the top are not always the best role models.
There is in my opinion an element of this book that goes far beyond wealth and sex.Harold Robbins has built a magnificent story line spanning continents and years, He has built strong characters that are believable, he has taken us inside the minds of these characters to the extremely complicated world of the human psychic.
This is a glimpse beyond the fine clothes and opulent life styles of the rich and powerful.Yes there are scenes of a graphic sexual nature but surely this is an everyday occurrence in life. Robbins is asking the reader to look beyond what is glaringly obvious to a world that exists for rich and poor alike. A world where power over others is bye and large gained by domination.
Goodbye Janette is not only a great read but a reminder to us all that not everything that glitters is gold. It is also a valuable lesson that those at the top are not always the best role models.
May 22, 2020
Robbins touches a new low with this one.It is beyond disgusting in terms of violent and disturbing sexuality.
There is nothing whatsoever to redeem this mess.Unfortunately it is for books like this that Robbins is now remembered,instead of his early books in which he excelled as a storyteller.
There is nothing whatsoever to redeem this mess.Unfortunately it is for books like this that Robbins is now remembered,instead of his early books in which he excelled as a storyteller.
February 2, 2013
The sex scenes were very disturbing and violent, and have probably scarred me for life! Keep this book away from the reach of nosy teenagers! :)
November 19, 2009
Harold Robbins writes the best dirty romance books ever!
February 4, 2017
I wish I could say that Harold Robbins had a glorious career. But the truth of the matter is...
http://sleaze-factor.blogspot.ca/2017...
http://sleaze-factor.blogspot.ca/2017...
April 18, 2017
As opposed to my previous date with Mr. Robbins with Dreams Die First, this book at least had a more coherent plot. Starts out with some WAY over the top scenes that still baffled me (this was Harold Robbins's last NY Times Bestseller--how? don't ask {this kind of stuff would likely get published on a whim today, but wouldn't be able to harness a spot on ANY bestseller list}. After a promising 60 pages or so, the novel then just fizzles out completely...boardroom meeting BS and business talk BS offer up a great deal of padding in between a few glimmering moments of what the beginning promised (not enough to save it). Sorry, Mr. Robbins, but you and I need a break.
March 17, 2024
I loved this book over the years I have reread this book one of his best
November 22, 2009
This book was one of his best. It took the reader into the soul of dysfunction, and the results. He is an author that loves power!
August 18, 2013
exciting novel, catches the attention. It sheds light on sexual abuse and how Tanya and her daughters have the same character traits but with a slight variation.
August 29, 2015
A mixed cart.
Early in this book I thought it was a 5 star read. I left 1 star.
Let me explain. I great this book when it was for sale on Amazon at $.99 in great excitement to get the work of an author I knew to have been major selling author on his day. I have several paperbacks by Harold Robbins sitting in my bookshelves and it never read. This special deal was a perfect opportunity for me to discover my first ever read of Harold Robbins, to discover what made him so successful.
I did discover why: Yes, he has great, easy read, commercial writing style. He uses a high degree of shock value in words and subject matter, and at first this alone is enough to make the story compelling reading. The early plot is good. Gradually, I became aware of the depraved aspects of writing. I realized that what I was reading could be conceived as a textbook for paedophile in how to groom and underage child for future violent sexual abuse. Let me just say that while such books, which are today sold as dub-con for dubious content erotica and fairly legal erotica comment which covers the underage content, I legal to read and write, and are hot sellers today as they obviously were in Harold Robbin’s hey-day, the subject matter, when written for entertainment value, is in my opinion, unethical—to put it mildly. I closed the book partway through. I will dispose of my paperbacks, by the same author, unread. And my decision is one star. May paedophiles, and authurs who’s writing might encourage violent paedophilia, rot….
Early in this book I thought it was a 5 star read. I left 1 star.
Let me explain. I great this book when it was for sale on Amazon at $.99 in great excitement to get the work of an author I knew to have been major selling author on his day. I have several paperbacks by Harold Robbins sitting in my bookshelves and it never read. This special deal was a perfect opportunity for me to discover my first ever read of Harold Robbins, to discover what made him so successful.
I did discover why: Yes, he has great, easy read, commercial writing style. He uses a high degree of shock value in words and subject matter, and at first this alone is enough to make the story compelling reading. The early plot is good. Gradually, I became aware of the depraved aspects of writing. I realized that what I was reading could be conceived as a textbook for paedophile in how to groom and underage child for future violent sexual abuse. Let me just say that while such books, which are today sold as dub-con for dubious content erotica and fairly legal erotica comment which covers the underage content, I legal to read and write, and are hot sellers today as they obviously were in Harold Robbin’s hey-day, the subject matter, when written for entertainment value, is in my opinion, unethical—to put it mildly. I closed the book partway through. I will dispose of my paperbacks, by the same author, unread. And my decision is one star. May paedophiles, and authurs who’s writing might encourage violent paedophilia, rot….
October 1, 2014
Holy merde! Eurotrash shenanigans abound in this saga of the rich and witless. It's a 2.5 star read from the king of commercial fiction back in the day. That is, 2.5 stars for what it is, not as compared to anything by Flaubert or Dostoevsky. No one in the book has the depth of a Ritz cracker, but you don't turn to Harold Robbins for enlightenment on the human condition. You turn to him when you're looking for a dirty read with a glossy cover. I'd heard this is one of the trashier novels in the Robbins oeuvre and I suppose it may be. It also feels as though it were a first draft written for the money, with obligatory dirty parts thrown in. That said, some of the dirty parts were kind of hot in a kinky way.
April 21, 2010
On the cover it says, “More Daring, More Shocking, More Deeply Erotic Than Anything Ever Written!” I was intrigued. What was shocking in 1981? Would it be like Anais Nin… shocking for the time, but not so much now?
No. This shit shocked me. The story didn’t really progress further than sex scene after violent sex scene until midway through the book. Then it became about the greed and hedonism of the very rich. Which, frankly, has been told before. Plenty of times.
It worked though. The shock was there. Even for me, twenty-six years later. I wouldn’t have said that I was easily surprised by any sort of sex, but you know, rape by a step father in which the young girl suddenly starts screaming, “I’m your whore Papa! Slap my face!”… A turn I certainly wasn’t expecting.
The story was unimpressive, but it still worked and did exactly what it said it was going to do. A book with honor, you've got to appreciate that.
No. This shit shocked me. The story didn’t really progress further than sex scene after violent sex scene until midway through the book. Then it became about the greed and hedonism of the very rich. Which, frankly, has been told before. Plenty of times.
It worked though. The shock was there. Even for me, twenty-six years later. I wouldn’t have said that I was easily surprised by any sort of sex, but you know, rape by a step father in which the young girl suddenly starts screaming, “I’m your whore Papa! Slap my face!”… A turn I certainly wasn’t expecting.
The story was unimpressive, but it still worked and did exactly what it said it was going to do. A book with honor, you've got to appreciate that.
July 5, 2012
This was actually the first book by Harold Robbins I ever read - and now I have all his books in Danish. Truly an amazing author, and the graphic nature truly explains just how lust-centered some people can be when it comes to sex... :-)
September 22, 2007
My favorite cheesy 80's excess story! Harrold Robbins at his naughtiest best!
March 2, 2010
Some says it's brutal, but I like it...
January 25, 2012
Hot, steamy, adult sexy
July 17, 2019
My first book ever.
No wonder.
I'm reading it again 30 years later and I still remember the phrase "without pain there is no pleasure"
No wonder.
I'm reading it again 30 years later and I still remember the phrase "without pain there is no pleasure"
January 19, 2018
Oh sweet, sweet smut. I didn't realize how much I needed you in my life until I read this book. Harold Robbins was a fearless author. He didn't shy away from such things as Nazi gang rape, flagellation, golden showers, racism, all the sexualities, child molestation, sadomasochism, recreational drug use, recreational abortion, and what what in the butt. Did I miss anything? I probably did. True, the story does lose a bit of steam as Janette begins building her fashion empire. But at least every once in awhile the characters would snort some cocaine and cry 'Mother!' as they beat each other into a sexual frenzy.
January 11, 2021
Re-read. Still 5 stars.
For what it is, it's one of the best.
My 5 star rating is not because I think it's an important literary work - you don't read Robbins expecting Proust - my rating is for it's being an overwrought, oversexed, over the top potboiler from a certain era. And for what is is. It's one of the best.
For what it is, it's one of the best.
My 5 star rating is not because I think it's an important literary work - you don't read Robbins expecting Proust - my rating is for it's being an overwrought, oversexed, over the top potboiler from a certain era. And for what is is. It's one of the best.
November 18, 2007
These Harold Robbins books belonged to my mother, she was a fan, but only let me read a few because of the sexual content. I LOVED them, I wish she still had them. I can't even remember exact titles anymore.
February 20, 2014
This is a reread for me. I started it as a Valentines Day read. I've always loved Harold Robbins and read all his all stuff in my early twenties. I just had trouble getting into it this time around. I blame the Internet nothing shocks me any more or maybe it's that I'm ten years older now.
October 5, 2012
Hot & sexy.. but not the best!!
July 24, 2021
I read this when I was 12 and was grossed out then and now.
February 14, 2017
Este es un libro que me dejó mi pareja con la frase: "Es uno de los libros malos que me gustan".
Sí, no se puede decir que "Adiós, Janette" sea muy bueno. Hombre, tampoco es que que sea malo de llorar, al menos me ha entretenido. Según me han contado, Harold Robbins emplea una fórmula muy parecida para todos sus libros: señor que acumula en sus manos mucho poder y dinero de una gran corporación, cosa que le proporciona gran atractivo con las mujeres (vamos, que folla mucho).
En este, supongo que por el propio agotamiento de la fórmula, Robbins intenta incidir más en el lado femenino (con Janette, su madre y su hermana de "protagonistas" de la novela) y en las partes escabrosas (sexo, drogas, perversiones sexuales, ¡lesbianismo e interracialidad!). El negocio, en este caso, es el emporio de la moda.
El problema es que, por mucho que intente hablar de las perversiones de Janette, no termina de hablar de los PROBLEMAS de Janette o de su ansia de poder, y cuando hay un conflicto terminas viéndolo a través de uno de los personajes masculinos. Lauren es maja porque no está chiflada como el resto y solo quiere ir a la playa a hacer surf, pero no terminas de creerte que tenga una salud mental de hierro después de pasar por una fase en la que necesita cinco rayas y ocho metanfetaminas al día.
Los cabos de la trama se atan al final un poco guarramente y el esperado enfrentamiento entre hermanas no se produce porque siempre hay algún señor por el medio cuyos problemas son más importantes. Del tratamiento de la sexualidad o de temas raciales, ni hablemos, porque el libro excede lo políticamente correcto y entra en el terreno de la pura comedia. Solo es necesario mencionar que a Lauren, el personaje sensato, no le gustan las lesbianas ni los negros, eso son perversiones de Janette y sus amigos.
Para la playa o para pasar el rato sin pensar mucho.
Sí, no se puede decir que "Adiós, Janette" sea muy bueno. Hombre, tampoco es que que sea malo de llorar, al menos me ha entretenido. Según me han contado, Harold Robbins emplea una fórmula muy parecida para todos sus libros: señor que acumula en sus manos mucho poder y dinero de una gran corporación, cosa que le proporciona gran atractivo con las mujeres (vamos, que folla mucho).
En este, supongo que por el propio agotamiento de la fórmula, Robbins intenta incidir más en el lado femenino (con Janette, su madre y su hermana de "protagonistas" de la novela) y en las partes escabrosas (sexo, drogas, perversiones sexuales, ¡lesbianismo e interracialidad!). El negocio, en este caso, es el emporio de la moda.
El problema es que, por mucho que intente hablar de las perversiones de Janette, no termina de hablar de los PROBLEMAS de Janette o de su ansia de poder, y cuando hay un conflicto terminas viéndolo a través de uno de los personajes masculinos. Lauren es maja porque no está chiflada como el resto y solo quiere ir a la playa a hacer surf, pero no terminas de creerte que tenga una salud mental de hierro después de pasar por una fase en la que necesita cinco rayas y ocho metanfetaminas al día.
Los cabos de la trama se atan al final un poco guarramente y el esperado enfrentamiento entre hermanas no se produce porque siempre hay algún señor por el medio cuyos problemas son más importantes. Del tratamiento de la sexualidad o de temas raciales, ni hablemos, porque el libro excede lo políticamente correcto y entra en el terreno de la pura comedia. Solo es necesario mencionar que a Lauren, el personaje sensato, no le gustan las lesbianas ni los negros, eso son perversiones de Janette y sus amigos.
Para la playa o para pasar el rato sin pensar mucho.
October 13, 2021
You can always count on Harold Robbins to write trashy softcore porn wrapped around a miniscule plot. Sometimes the plot has more to it, but in this book, it was non-existent. It was something-something-Nazi gold and possibly about the fashion industry, who knows. Whatever plot there was, it sped along at breakneck speed and was heavily interspersed with really graphic sex and bondage scenes. And okay, I don't mind smut because if it has a point in the plot, that's fine. But the smutty scenes were just...boring. Ooh, he spanked her and she came. He whipped out his big cock (Robbins has an obsession with the word "phallus" in a few of the scenes...just call it a big dick or a massive cock and get it over with, Harry) and his juices spurted all over her. He grabbed her by the crotch and found her panties were wet. It was like reading the same thing, over and over again.
And the characters...yeah...they were really one-dimensional (not that I expected much character development in a Robbins novel) and they were just as boring as the sex scenes. Again, Robbins sped through them so each of the female leads had like a handful of chapters to wrap her storyline up in and that was it. With the exception of the German officer and maybe Schwebel, the rest of the men were assholes and idiots.
So, rushed characters, rushed plots, boring sex scenes...not one of his best novels. If any of his stuff can be considered good, that is.
And the characters...yeah...they were really one-dimensional (not that I expected much character development in a Robbins novel) and they were just as boring as the sex scenes. Again, Robbins sped through them so each of the female leads had like a handful of chapters to wrap her storyline up in and that was it. With the exception of the German officer and maybe Schwebel, the rest of the men were assholes and idiots.
So, rushed characters, rushed plots, boring sex scenes...not one of his best novels. If any of his stuff can be considered good, that is.
September 25, 2017
Sebbene le prime pagine qui promettano un buon melodramma diventa presto incoerente.
Le prime cento pagine contraddistinguono l'eroina Tanya - una contessa polacca che sopravvive alla seconda guerra mondiale (con la bambina Janette) come amante del generale tedesco; alla fine della guerra, tuttavia, il generale deve fuggire e Tanya deve contrarre un matrimonio di convenienza (per lei), finanziario (per lui) con Maurice, un bisessuale, mostruosamente sadico con cui condivide il controllo di varie imprese. Quando Maurice violenta Janette che ormai ha diciassette anni, Tanya cerca di ucciderlo rimanendo lei stessa uccisa. Da qui in poi il libro diventa proprio brutto, narrando la vita delle figlie di Tanya, Janette e Lauren, sesso droga e ancora sesso.
Le prime cento pagine contraddistinguono l'eroina Tanya - una contessa polacca che sopravvive alla seconda guerra mondiale (con la bambina Janette) come amante del generale tedesco; alla fine della guerra, tuttavia, il generale deve fuggire e Tanya deve contrarre un matrimonio di convenienza (per lei), finanziario (per lui) con Maurice, un bisessuale, mostruosamente sadico con cui condivide il controllo di varie imprese. Quando Maurice violenta Janette che ormai ha diciassette anni, Tanya cerca di ucciderlo rimanendo lei stessa uccisa. Da qui in poi il libro diventa proprio brutto, narrando la vita delle figlie di Tanya, Janette e Lauren, sesso droga e ancora sesso.
April 12, 2018
Trash...I had not read anything by Harold Robins or Sidney Sheldon in years. Recently I read a Sheldon and this one by Robbins. They were both terrible. I don't get what their appeal could have been.
Goodbye Janette might be the early 90s "50 Shades". Parts of it are improbably pornographic, yet Robbins was a mainstream author. The thing I found the most absurd was the premise that Janette was rendered helpless with lust at the sight of another character's enormous erect penis. Only a male author could come up with that scene.
I won't be bothering with any more Sheldon and Robbins novels.
Goodbye Janette might be the early 90s "50 Shades". Parts of it are improbably pornographic, yet Robbins was a mainstream author. The thing I found the most absurd was the premise that Janette was rendered helpless with lust at the sight of another character's enormous erect penis. Only a male author could come up with that scene.
I won't be bothering with any more Sheldon and Robbins novels.
March 4, 2019
I bought this book in a very random manner while traveling. I just read the synopsis and it somehow caught my interest. The book is an erotica with a story of money, blood, passion and sex. I began reading it recently and the plot seemed to create intrigue initially but I lost interest in the later half. The story was dragging and there were some things related to business which were concentrated in a few pages of the book which didn't seem so relevant. Overall, it's okayish but I would not preferrably recommend it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews