The Secret Life Of Marilyn Monroe (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
I have never been a big fan of Marilyn Monroe, I think I only saw one of her movies from start to finish and bits and pieces of others when they are on TCM. However I do enjoy reading biographies, and I have read a couple of others written about Marilyn, so I thought it would be good to see another writer's take on her life. Right away I was skeptical, whenever the book shouts to you that this is brand new never released information before, really after all this time? But anyway I pressed on. I had read biographies by this author before and found them to enjoyable reads. Despite my relatively little knowledge of Marilyn Monroe, I didn't find anything in this book to be that new or that shocking. But like everything else there were good things and bad. The good: very readable and engaging, it certainly told a lot more about Marilyn's childhood and how it might've shaped her future than any other book I had read. The bad: despite promises there was nothing much new in this book, most I already knew about. I didn't like that he wanted to portray Marilyn as a mental case who should've been locked up. Then there was the lack of notes at the end of the book, the list of sources and frankly the people quoted in the book. I have read biographies that I would consider to be almost on the gossipy trashy side and they had no notes at the end either and that raises red flags for me. And the people he did quote always seemed to be some distant person, a friend of Marilyn's doctor's daughter. You have to take the good with the bad I guess and since Marilyn is such a popular figure I am sure someone will enjoy reading about this new take on her short and tragic life. I enjoyed this book (but beware there are some typos and some repeated phrasing that can be a little annoying). I have friends that have almost worshiped Marylin Monroe, but I was never that way. I however found this book at a bookstore and decided I wanted to know more about this famous beauty. She is fascinating, I learned so much about her life; the ups and the many downs. I am glad that I read this book and might read more about Marylin Monroe in the future. If you want to get started on your understanding of her life, I would start with this book because it is so simply written and explains her life with good sources along the way. Definitely an eye-opening experience.
What do You think about The Secret Life Of Marilyn Monroe (2009)?
It was worth reading just to get to the end of MM 's life.... Fascinating last few years!!
—Alcatrazzie
what a fun book to read. Gives lots of details about the Marilyn nobody really knows.
—MetsTM7
a good book, very interesting but very long.
—Kjay
