The National Book Award finalist and national bestseller exploring the life and legend of Marilyn Monroe\nNow a Netflix Film starring Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale and Julianne Nicholson\nIn one of her most ambitious works, Joyce Carol Oates boldly reimagines the inner, poetic, and spiritual life of Norma Jeane Baker—the child, the woman, the fated celebrity, and idolized blonde the world came to know as Marilyn Monroe. In a voice startlingly intimate and rich, Norma Jeane tells her own story of an emblematic American artist—intensely conflicted and driven—who had lost her way. A powerful portrait of Hollywood’s myth and an extraordinary woman’s heartbreaking reality, Blonde is a sweeping epic that pays tribute to the elusive magic and devastation behind the creation of the great 20th-century American star.

'Genius' The New York Times In 1973, Norman Mailer published Marilyn, his celebrated in-depth account of the life of Marilyn Monroe, as a glossy, fully illustrated coffee-table tome. His work was immediately acclaimed - and an enduring bestseller, rumoured to have sold more copies than any of his other works except The Naked and the Dead. Yet, until now, it has never been made available in paperback edition. This is one of America's greatest writers taking on the legend of one of Hollywood's greatest stars.

Marilyn Monroe remains the most provocative female legend of the twentieth century. What you may have known about her before was only the tip of the iceberg. For twenty years, the men and women who knew Marilyn best saw what they knew suppressed because certain important people were still living, and the tenor of the times prohibited frankness. Instead, rumors ballooned.\nThis book finally sets the record straight.\nFred Guiles―whom Norman Mailer acknowledges as the chief source of fact about Marilyn―has written the life behind the legend. He reveals what really happened in the careening career of the pretty waif named Norma Jean Mortensen, who married the boy next door, became a model, an actress, movie star, married an incompatible legend named Joe DiMaggio, sought to improve the mind that came with her near-perfect body, married playwright Arthur Miller, lent herself to the Svengalilike ministrations of Paula and Lee Strasberg, became the mistress of John and then Robert Kennedy when they ran the country, kept camera crews and studios waiting―but not death, which took her under the most unusual circumstances by the age of thirty-six. A legend, by definition, is unaltered by fact, but the enthralled reader will find the revelations in this book no deterrent to the love of Marilyn Monroe by understanding at last what happened to the Queen of Need.\nAmong the people interviewed for this book are Arthur Miller; James E. Dougherty, her first husband; Frank Taylor, the producer of The Misfits; Lee Strasberg; Otto Preminger; Billy Wilder; Joshua Logan and John Huston.

Spoto's biography of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe makes use of over 150 interviews and more than 35,000 pages of previously sealed files, including Monroe's diaries, letters, and other personal and revealing documents. The book reveals new details of every aspect of her life, from her guarded childhood, and her relationships with men and marriages, to her mysterious death. Spoto comments on previous books about Marilyn, and puts to rest questions regarding Monroe's connection with the Kennedys.

Marilyn Monroe is our supreme icon of glamour, vulnerability, personal magnetism, and the American dream, and her legend continues to grow four decades after her death. MM—Personal is a new look behind the veil of that legend, reproducing the most fascinating relics from her private archive—once thought to have been lost, and never before revealed to the public—to clarify, qualify, or reverse many common conceptions about the “blond bombshell.” Selected from more than 10,000 largely unseen and heretofore unpublished items from Marilyn’s own file cabinets, these documents, snapshots, letters, memorabilia, and ephemera are joined by the first account of Monroe’s life since Gloria Steinem’s Marilyn to be written by a feminist historian, revealing shades of her genius that have never before been fully understood. Praise for MM - Personal:"MM-Personal offers a fascinating glimpse into an impossibly famous celebrity going about the business of living." --Wall Street Journal "MM-Personal is filled with wonderful photographs . . . most accessible." -Larry McMurtry for the New York Review of Books "The book, a luscious glossy thing, is studded with photos, many of them Monroe's personal items-including artwork she purchased just before her death. . . . the overall vibe of the book is wrenching, because it clarifies Monroe's humanity, her working life, her normal day-to-day existence." - Liz Smith"With each turn of the page comes a new surprise. You don't have to be an MM fanatic to get lost in this book." -Leonard Maltin

From New York Times bestselling author J. Randy Taraborrelli comes the definitive biography of the most enduring icon in popular American culture. When Marilyn Monroe became famous in the 1950s, the world was told that her mother was either dead or simply not a part of her life. However, that was not true. In fact, her mentally ill mother was very much present in Marilyn's world and the complex family dynamic that unfolded behind the scenes is a story that has never before been told...until now. In this groundbreaking book, Taraborrelli draws complex and sympathetic portraits of the women so influential in the actress' life, including her mother, her foster mother, and her legal guardian. He also reveals, for the first time, the shocking scope of Marilyn's own mental illness, the identity of Marilyn's father and the half-brother she never knew, and new information about her relationship with the Kennedy's-Bobby, Jack, and Pat Kennedy Lawford. Explosive, revelatory, and surprisingly moving, this is the final word on the life of one of the most fascinating and elusive icons of the 20th Century.

Fragments is an event―an unforgettable book that will redefine one of the greatest icons of the twentieth century and that, nearly fifty years after her death, will definitively reveal Marilyn Monroe's humanity.\nMarilyn's image is so universal that we can't help but believe we know all there is to know of her. Every word and gesture made headlines and garnered controversy. Her serious gifts as an actor were sometimes eclipsed by her notoriety―and by the way the camera fell helplessly in love with her.\nBeyond the headlines―and the too-familiar stories of heartbreak and desolation―was a woman far more curious, searching, witty, and hopeful than the one the world got to know. Now, for the first time, readers can meet the private Marilyn and understand her in a way we never have before. Fragments is an unprecedented collection of written artifacts―notes to herself, letters, even poems―in Marilyn's own handwriting, never before published, along with rarely seen intimate photos.\nJotted in notebooks, typed on paper, or written on hotel letterhead, these texts reveal a woman who loved deeply and strove to perfect her craft. They show a Marilyn Monroe unsparing in her analysis of her own life, but also playful, funny, and impossibly charming. The easy grace and deceptive lightness that made her performances indelible emerge on the page, as does the simmering tragedy that made her last appearances so affecting.

At your fingertips is the most lavish and comprehensivecollection of Marilyn Monroe photographs ever assembled—more than half of whichhave never been published before. Norma Jeane Baker’stransformation into one of the most emulated and iconic Hollywood stars is anepic American story—one that careens from a troubled childhood into the brightnational spotlight before descending into an irrevocable depression. In thisstunning, one-of-a-kind volume, David Wills offers a captivating photographicjourney through Monroe’s meteoric rise and tragic downfall. Featuring thehighest-quality images of Marilyn available anywhere in the world, from candids to film stills to modeling headshots, the images inMarilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis will reawaken casual fans and collectorsalike to Marilyn Monroe at her living best.

About the Author\\nCharles Casillo is the author of Marilyn Monroe, The Marilyn Diaries, The Fame Game, Boys, Lost & Found, and Outlaw: The Lives and Careers of John Rechy. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and many others. His movies include "Let Me Die Quietly" and "Fetish."\\nBased on new interviews and research, this ground-breaking biography by Charles Casillo explores the secret selves behind Marilyn Monroe’s public facades.\\nMarilyn Monroe. Her beauty still captivates. Her love life still fascinates. Her story still dominates popular culture. Now, drawing on years of research and dozens of new interviews, this biography cuts through decades of lies and secrets and introduces you to the Marilyn Monroe you always wanted to know: a living, breathing, complex woman, bewitching and maddening, brilliant yet flawed.\\nCharles Casillo studies Monroe’s life through the context of her times―in the days before feminism, and before there was adequate treatment for bipolar disorder, which Marilyn struggled with. Starting with her abusive childhood, this biography exposes how―in spite of her fractured psyche―Marilyn’s extreme ambition inspired her to transform each celebrated love affair and each tragedy into another step in her journey toward immortality. Casillo fully explores the last two years of her life, including her involvement with both John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert, and the mystery of her last day.\\nJust a few of Casillo's revelations:\n*Despite reports of their bitter rivalry, Elizabeth Taylor secretly reached out and tried to help Marilyn during one of her darkest moments.\\n*The existence of Marilyn’s seminude love scene with Clark Gable―long thought to be lost.\\n*A few nights before she died, Marilyn encountered Warren Beatty at a party and disclosed some of the reasons for her final despair.\\n*A meticulously detailed account of the events of her last day, revealing how a series of miscommunications and misjudgments contributed to her death.

Based on new interviews and research, this ground-breaking biography explores the secret selves behind Marilyn Monroe’s public facades. \nMarilyn Monroe. Her beauty still captivates. Her love life still fascinates. Her story still dominates popular culture. Now, drawing on years of research and dozens of new interviews, this biography cuts through decades of lies and secrets and introduces you to the Marilyn Monroe you always wanted to know: a living, breathing, complex woman, bewitching and maddening, brilliant yet flawed.\n Charles Casillo studies Monroe’s life through the context of her times―in the days before feminism. Before there was adequate treatment for Marilyn’s struggle with bipolar disorder. Starting with her abusive childhood, this biography exposes how―in spite of her fractured psyche―Marilyn’s extreme ambition inspired her to transform each celebrated love affair and each tragedy into another step in her journey towards immortality. Casillo fully explores the last two years of her life, including her involvement with both John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert, and the mystery of her last day. Just a few of Casillo's revelations: *Despite reports of their bitter rivalry, Elizabeth Taylor secretly reached out and tried to help Marilyn during one of her darkest moments. \n *The existence of Marilyn’s semi-nude love scene with Clark Gable―long thought to be lost.\n*A few nights before she died, Marilyn encountered Warren Beatty at a party and disclosed some of the reasons for her final despair.\n *A meticulously detailed account of the events of her last day, revealing how a series of miscommunications and misjudgments contributed to her death.

Barbara Leaming's Marilyn Monroe is a complex, sympathetic portrait that will totally change the way we view the most enduring icon of American 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 world's 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 tangles 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 of betrayal 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.