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Title: Marilyn Monroe by BARBARA LEAMING ISBN: 0-609-80553-3 Publisher: Three Rivers Press Pub. Date: 29 February, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.16 (25 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: The life of Marilyn Monroe
Comment: I thoroughly enjoyed Barbara Leaming's Marilyn Monroe. It was very well researched and thoughtfully written. I found it to be refreshingly objective. Marilyn Monroe has been an inspiration to so many millions of people, that all too often the "biographies" written about her are saturated with personal emotions or agendas. I was extremely impressed with Leaming's dedication to writing a book about Marilyn Monroe that is as free from personal prejudices as exists. It is also interesting to read a woman's perspective of Marilyn Monroe's behavior as a vast majority of Monroe biographers are male. The only reason I did not rate this as a 5 star book was I found certain passages to be so well researched and detailed that it slowed my reading. Finally I am pleased with the manner in which Leaming addressed Marilyn Monroe's death. Suicide? Murder? Conspiracy? Federal Coverup? The fact is that there will always be different theories about Marilyn Monroe's death, and the passage of time will only exaggerate this. But Leaming's forthright statment and dedication of only 3 pages of text to the matter, was a poignant statement that Marilyn Monroe's beauty and contribution to history was in the way she lived her life. This was Leaming's understated way of ensuring her work was devoted to the life of an extraordinary woman, not the death of one.
Rating: 5
Summary: No one respected Marilyn,
Comment: least of all Marilyn! Here was a sad and tragic woman who just wanted to be loved, but even when she was loved, she was unable to believe it or accept it. This book is so sad and heartbreaking. It left me wanting to comfort the little girl inside Marilyn Monroe. She longed for respect, but also did not believe she deserved it. Marilyn should have had therapy when she was a young girl. By the time she was in therapy, it was too little, to late.
This book is fascinating. I loved that Barbara Leaming gave us a lot of details, because it helped me to really get a feeling for Marilyn and her life. I also enjoyed reading about other people such as Arthur Miller, Joe DiMaggio, Elia Kazan and Lee & Paula Strasberg. (To name just a few!)This book gives you a very clear picture of Hollywood and all of its selfish, greedy and self-oriented people.
This book makes me feel that Marilyn did not get a fair shake in this world. It is also apparent, though that Marilyn made some big mistakes that hurt her badly. She was a lost girl and she needed help and guidance that she never really got. Most of the people she received 'help' from had their own agendas and so their 'help' focused more on them than it did Marilyn. There was a huge part of Marilyn that never grew up. She was fragile and was unable to stand the harshness of this world, and so, she self-destructed.
Excellent book - sad book - intriguing book - absolutely worth reading!
Rating: 4
Summary: I wish I hadn't listened...
Comment: This book definitely changed the way that I perceive Marilyn Monroe. My past exposure to her has just been in a few of her better-known films, such as _Gentlemen Prefer Blondes_ and _Some Like It Hot_. If you believe Marilyn was a smart, witty, loveable, strong role model type of woman that she portrays in these films, don't listen to the tapes. After listening, I have come to the conclusion that Marilyn is a drug addicted, self centered, psychotic, emotionally disturbed woman, whose only life skill seemed to be hiding her true self while in front of a camera.
What did I learn about Marilyn? She was chronically late for work, regularly too intoxicated to work, and frequently refused to work, even when conditions met her already signed contract.
Barbara Leaming presents Marilyn as a woman who is constantly the victim of circumstances around her. Marilyn's troubles are attributed to a bad childhood, or the pressures of a jealous husband. The stress of having to look good all the time is the cause of her going on a tremendous eating binge. The misery from all of her abandonment is what causes her to do drugs, and to strike out at the most important people in her life. A director's misinterpreted word of encouragement forces her to stay out of work for the week. Her mother's disapproval is why she must wear a dress that leaves her nipples exposed to a political dinner. All the while she agonizes over why the men at the studio don't take her seriously.
The tapes themselves were produced well, easy to listen to; the speaker had a pleasant tone throughout. The only drawback here was - with the story expanded over 12 tapes, I was certainly ready for it to be done, long before it was done.
If you do listen to the book on tape version, keep listening after the end of the story. There is a pretty decent excerpt from another book on tape about Judge Judy.
As much as I have to say that I hate the way this biography changed my view of Marilyn, I have to give it a good rating. Over all, 4 stars. That's 5 for the story being so strong as to change my opinion this thoroughly, but minus one for the constant victim theme, that I can't believe honestly reflects reality.
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Title: The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe by Donald H. Wolfe, D. W. Wolfe ISBN: 0688162886 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: October, 1998 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Marilyn Monroe: The Biography by Donald Spoto ISBN: 0815411839 Publisher: Cooper Square Press Pub. Date: September, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Marilyn Encyclopedia by Adam Victor ISBN: 0879517182 Publisher: Overlook Press Pub. Date: October, 1999 List Price(USD): $55.00 |
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Title: Legend: The Life and Death of Marilyn Monroe by Fred Lawrence Guiles ISBN: 0812885252 Publisher: Scarborough House Pub. Date: January, 1992 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: My Story by Marilyn Monroe, Ben Hecht, Andrea Dworkin ISBN: 0815411022 Publisher: Cooper Square Press Pub. Date: October, 2000 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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