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Marilyn Monroe

Name: Marilyn Monroe
Author: Barbara Leaming
ISBN: 9780609805534

by Barbara Leaming

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Overview

Barbara Leaming's Marilyn Monroe is a complex, sympathetic portrait that will forever change the way we view the most enduring icon of America sexuality. To those who think they have heard all there is to hear about Marilyn Monroe, think again. Leaming's book tells a brand-new tale of sexual, psychological, and political intrigue of the highest order. Told for the first time in all its complexity, this is a compelling portrait of a woman at the center of a drama with immensely high stakes, a drama in which the other players are some of the most fascinating characters from the worlds of movies, theater, and politics. It is a book that shines a bright light on one of the most tumultuous, frightening, and exciting periods in American culture.

Basing her research on new interviews and on thousands of primary documents—including revealing letters by Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan, John Huston, Laurence Olivier, Tennessee Williams, Darryl Zanuck, Marilyn's psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Greenson, and many others—Leaming has reconstructed the tangle of betrayal in Marilyn's life. For the first time, a master storyteller has put together all of the pieces and told Marilyn's story with the intensity and drama it so richly deserves.

At the heart of this book is a sexual triangle and a riveting story that has never been told before. You will come away filled with new respect for Marilyn's incredible courage, dignity, and loyalty, and an overwhelming sense of tragedy after witnessing Marilyn, powerless to overcome her demons, move inexorably to her own final, terrible betrayal of herself.
Marilyn Monroe is a book that will make you think—and will break your heart.

Synopsis

Discover the private Marilyn Monroe, revealed through dozens of untapped sources -- including diaries, letters, exclusive interviews with the men in her life, and even the intimate revelations of her psychiatrist. Barbara Leaming, bestselling author of Katherine Hepburn, paints a complex, sympathetic portrait that will change everthing you've ever thought about our most enduring icon of American sexuality.

The New York Times Book Review - Molly Haskell

The chief virtue of this retelling . . .is that the author restores Marilyn's humanity, gives flesh and blood, intelligence and iniative, to the archetypal dumb blonde. . . .a gripping and corrective book.

About the Author, Barbara Leaming

Barbara Leaming is the author of the New York Times best-seller Katharine Hepburn, as well as the much-acclaimed Orson Welles. She was for many years professor of theater and film at Hunter College. Her articles have appeared in Vanity Fair and The New York Times Magazine. She lives in Connecticut.

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Editorials

From Barnes & Noble

Our fascination with Marilyn Monroe does not fade. Dozens, if not hundreds, of books have been written about the iconic, enigmatic beauty, and yet few of those volumes could be aptly described as serious biographies. Bestselling biographer Barbara Leaming (Katharine Hepburn) relies on new interviews and thousands of documents -- including letters by Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan, John Huston, Laurence Olivier, Tennessee Williams, Anna Freud, and many others -- to weave the various threads of Monroe's troubled life into a portrait of clarity and insight. It's the perfect gift for any Monroe fan or anyone interested in this period of American popular culture.

BookList

Is there anything left to be said about the sex icon of the 1950s? Leaming, author of the much-read Katharine Hepburn, has lots to say, and she's worth listeining to. This is no sleaze job by any means; hers is a respectable, respectful look at the much-misunderstood Marilyn Monroe. MM emerges as a smart perfectionist riddled with self-doubt and self-destructive tendencies; she became the most famous movie star of her day because that was what she wanted for herself, and her drive made it happen. "Marilyn wanted to be a movie star so very badly because it was the only way she knew to escape a chaotic, nightmarish existence that constantly threatened to draw her back in." The story of Monroe's life reads tragically from day one-from page one here. It was a life that despite the bright light of fame shining on it for many years could only be described as one long downward spiral. Monroe had barely gathered herself into a functioning entity before she began falling apart. We come away from Leaming's detailed explicit, sympathetic picture with more understanding of Monroe's demons and more comprehension of her talents. And the book ends on a positive note. "On her own," Leaming concluded, "against almost impossible personal and professional odds, she had created something brilliant and magical."

Place this in the hands of not only those readers who are nuts over Hollywood but also those who simply enjoy well-done biographies.

Jeff Brown

[A] sympathetic, gracefully written study of an American legend. . .
—People Magazine

Michiko Kakutani

...[U]neven....[it has] a novelistic narrative, animated by dramatic set pieces and vivid cameo portraits....highly readable... [but] it frequently sidesteps the standards of serious biographical research.....
—New York Times

Molly Haskell

Publishers Weekly

Thirty-six years after Marilyn Monroe's death (at the age of 36), Leaming, prolific celebrity biographer, picks through the bones and neuroses of the ultimate Hollywood icon. More than 200 books have been written on the subject; only a few biographies (namely, Donald Spoto's revisionist Marilyn Monroe: The Biography) have managed to humanize the fragile actress, who has long since been subsumed by her own mystique. Leaming's relentlessly morose and stand-offish portrait, by contrast, places Monroe on a downward spiral from birth. Beginning in 1951, the book backtracks briefly, skimming over her childhood, early marriage, status on the party-girl circuit and early screen debut. Relying on letters, memos, other biographies and a paper trail from Twentieth Century-Fox, Leaming relays the precise dates when Monroe signed contracts, called in sick, filmed for half a day, etc. It's an approach that does little to explain Monroe's dynamc screen presence, her warmth and charm. The absence of new interviews here is most noticeable in passages detailing Monroe's marriages to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller. Both husbands remain enigmas on the page. However, secondary characters (such as Lee and Paula Strasberg and longtime agent Charles Feldman) are often vividly etched. If Monroe enjoyed any good friendships or happy experiences making films, they're not presented here. Leaming's real contribution is the coverage of the HUAC blacklisting trials and its effects on the men in Monroe's life. As interesting as these details may be, however, they overwhelm the book and, even worse, shove Marilyn from the spotlight. 32 pages of photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)

Library Journal

The author of a number of big biographies of big stars, e.g., Katharine Hepburn, Leaming digs into the scandals surrounding Monroe's life and death.

Library Journal

The author of a number of big biographies of big stars, e.g., Katharine Hepburn, Leaming digs into the scandals surrounding Monroe's life and death.

Jeff Brown

[A] sympathetic, gracefully written study of an American legend. . . -- People Magazine

Molly Haskell

The chief virtue of this retelling . . .is that the author restores Marilyn's humanity, gives flesh and blood, intelligence and iniative, to the archetypal dumb blonde. . . .[a] gripping and corrective book. -- The New York Times Book Review

Kirkus Reviews

A dramatic, psychologically astute biography of the troubled sex symbol and star of such classics as 'Some Like It Hot,' 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,' and 'The Seven Year Itch.' Leaming's research is extensive and innovatively interpreted in this unusual biography, but she is bent on telling Marilyn's story in a set, idiosyncratic way. This is both the great strength and weakness of her book. As a single, authoritative account, it cannot stand: Leaming omits too many telling details. Marilyn's childhood, for example, is hurried through in a handful of pages. But as a portrait of the star's conflicted, complicated nature and of those around her, this account is first-rate. Marilyn first landed in Hollywood as a "party girl," a wanna-be starlet, who traded sex for possible career advancement. She had some small successes, until she cleverly promoted herself into a breakthrough role. Fame then came almost instantaneously. But Marilyn was increasingly unable to handle its demands. Making movies came to terrify her, and drugs, alcohol, and on-set acting coaches could do little to assuage her fears. The caddish, self-serving behavior of many of those around her did little to help. And her suicide at 36 is all too understandable here. Beyond her acute insights into Marilyn's psyche, Leaming offers extensive acid-tipped portraits of those around her. Drama coach Lee Strasberg uses Marilyn to build up his prestige, regardless of the effects on her career or well-being. And second husband playwright Arthur Miller is a weak, self-justifying, egocentric who badly fails Marilyn. It's indicative of the eccentricity and ingenuity of this account that Miller's friendship/rivalry with the directorElia Kazan (another lover of Marilyn) occupies a central narrative position. Odd, but with a touch of genius.