Customer Reviews

Marilyn Monroe: Unseen Archives

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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I am a huge MM fan and collector of her books. I have a good number of books on her. But when I'm interested in seeing pictures of Marilyn, out of all my books, I reach for this one. I just really like it. Huge, clear pictures. Lots unseen. And I think the essence is it covers all of Marilyn; her happy, sad, thoughtful, e.t.c. To me it also has the quickest and simple, yet totally well-rounded biography (the book is simply Marilyn's life in Clayton's words, with tons of pics). The bio is not complicated, but thoroughly tells of Marilyn's thoughts and actions and the thoughts and actions of those who interacted with her. If you get this book you won't regret it.

Starting out 2011 and looking through my "read" list to see which books I missed reviewing last year I was surprised to find out that this one missed any comments from me. Marilyn Monroe: Unseen Archives was one of my top three favourite books in 2010 so I am here to rectify it's neglect immediately!

This is a book I settled on after deciding I needed to read more biographies of famous "culturally significant" people. I didn't know anything about Marilyn Monroe (hadn't even seen any of her movies) and wanted to see what it was about her that so captivated people when she was alive. I wasn't sure what books were out there but when I picked this one up I knew it would be perfect. Not knowing anything about her, I knew I would be missing out big time if I didn't read a biography with photos included.

Marie Clayton has done a stunning job with her biography. Each chapter starts out with a summary of a period in Marilyn's life. She explains what was going on in her personal life (family, relationships, and career) and then dives into more specifics with the photo captions. And what photos! Marilyn certainly knew how to strike a pose and the photographers certainly knew how to take advantage of her charisma. I was captivated by her immediately just with the opening couple of pages. Then reading the captions and getting to know the context behind these photos certainly kept me captivated.

But even though I credit much of my love for this book in the photography chosen here, what really makes this book shine is the love for Marilyn that comes through so brightly in Clayton's words. She gives a wonderful portrayal of a person's life. Marilyn was not just a star but also a real life human that deserved the world's love. Not just because of that stardom but because of that humanity. From what I have read, Ms. Monroe had a really tough life and I really appreciated the beauty of what Clayton has done for Marilyn here.

In conclusion: stunning photography, fascinating life, beautiful woman, thoughtful biographer. I would not read another biography any other way!

Defintely worth buying! And yes, there are many photos in this book that have not previously been published; although all of them are in black and white, this does nothing to diminish the radiance and loveliness of Marilyn. This is a great book for Marilyn fans, with many photos you will recognise as previously unseen from many of her appearances. With sympathetic and expanatory text by Clayton, who appears to have done her research, this book is definitely worth keeping.

These photos document the important events in her life: her early years, her movies, her marriages to baseball star Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller, her battles with the studio and her decline in health. They not only include movie stills and portraits, but also many other less well known pictures taken during her career.