Customer Reviews

Marilyn Monroe

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

It's so tragic to see Monroe fall into the self-destructive behavior she does at the end of her life. She looks like a zombie in the last pictures, completely devoid of the joy, drive, and energy that made her so beautiful before barbituates and alcohol destroyed it all. I had to keep reminding myself that there was nothing I could do to help her. The way Arthur Miller completely ignored her descent is appalling. Monroe's marriage to Joe was not good by any means but at least DiMaggio didn't play a fiddle as Rome burned like Miller seems to have done. Miller acts selfishly and cowardly. The way everybody used her (especially Natasha, the Strasbergs, and Miller) to advance their own careers is shocking. Lee Strasberg seems to think it was his God-given right to mercilessly blackmail money from Monroe's production company. This is a sad tale indeed.

Oh yeah and the book. I agree with the reviewer who said that Leaming doesn't sufficiently cover her marriage to DiMaggio. She doesn't. One other criticism: Leaming could have cut out some of the Freudian interpretations of Monroe's youth. It got a bit much in the first half of the book. But overall, this bio is well put together and very coherent. It's just so doggone sad.

Don't buy this biography of Marilyn Monroe if you are at all curious about her thoughts and feelings, details of her personal life, or her mysterious death. However, if you want to read hundreds of pages all about Marilyn's battles with 20th Century Fox studios, her dissolved partnership with Milton Greene, and how she spent her money, then this is the book for you. Leaming's primary source was Marilyn's extensive file at Fox, which leads to an extremely disappointing and impersonal look at a dynamic icon. I recommend _Legend_ by Fred Lawrence Guiles instead, though non-conspiracy fans tend to prefer the Donald Spoto biography. Either is preferable to this one.

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!

Marilyn Monroe had a life made to be written about. From birth to death she was abused, taken advantage of, and underestimated, yet her will and determination brought her to the top of Hollywood glitter and gloss. Unfortunately, this book does a very bad job of showing that. Leaming concentrate so much on showing how almost everyone in Monroe's life misunderstood or underestimated that she turns Monroe into a brainless idiot. Monroe is again and again portrayed as a confused, insecure girl who just needs someone to think for her and tell her what to do.
While the book is historically accurate, a strong picture of Monroe is not given. In order to survive all that Monroe went through to get to the top, a girl had to be strong-willed, intelligent, and devious. Yet again and again Leaming emphasises the weak points of Monroe's character and life, glossing over moments when Monroe's strength and determination and intelligence win her victories of her own.
I suggest renting this book from your local library first, along with other Monroe biographies, then decided if it is worth spending the money on. Personally, I don't think it is.

The picture on the cover is one of my favorite of Marilyn Monroe. Too bad the content of the book is so mediocre. The book offers no new revelations on the extraordinary life of Marilyn Monroe and I wondered why the author bothered to write it. The best that can be said of this book is that it lacks the sleezy sensationalism of some Monroe biographies.If you know nothing about Marilyn Monroe, this might be an O.K. book. However, "Legend" by Frank Guiles remains THE definative Monroe biography. Better luck next time.

I'm so conflicted about this book. On one hand, I must say that Barbara Leaming is an excellent writer. She is thoughtful and intelligent, and is able to construct narrative in a way that draws me in and keeps me reading. She uses primary sources for her research whenever possible, rather than just reprinting what other biographers have written, and she works hard at getting her facts (at least the facts as she sees them) straight.

However, I purchased this book because I wanted to read about Marilyn Monroe. What I ended up with was a lengthy treatise on the professional and personal life of Arthur Miller, with Marilyn mentioned as she relates to him (and just enough scattered anecdotes to remind us that this is supposed to be her biography). I'm not discounting Miller's importance in Marilyn's life. Nevertheless, I do not agree that he was the only important figure upon whom she relied; that is clearly the angle that Leaming has chosen to explore in this well-written but frustrating book.

Had I wanted to read long passages about Miller's difficulties in getting productions staged, or regarding his strained relationship with Elia Kazan, I'm sure I could have found biographies that would have given me this information. What I did find interesting was how savvy Marilyn could be in working the press in order to support him during his HUAC troubles. I was also impressed with how she worked with Joe DiMaggio, Milton Greene and Feldman in order to get herself a lucrative contract. These sorts of anecdotes (i.e. information about Marilyn) are what provided the most interesting text.

Leaming makes no bones about what she believes happened at the end of Marilyn's life, and presents this information as fact, with no other possibilities presented. Jack and Bobby Kennedy are virtually ignored regarding their importance in the last years of Marilyn's life, and the evidence that she was due to return to Twentieth Century Fox to complete Something's Got to Give, though mentioned, is likewise given short shrift. Leaming gives the impression that, because Arthur Miller does not figure into this part of Marilyn's story, she has no interest in exploring it.

I have several other biographies by Barbara Leaming in my library, and I intend to give them a try. I will be on my guard however. I was disappointed to find that the story I wanted to read - the biography of Marilyn Monroe - was, largely, not to be found in these pages.

Neither sensational, nor scandalous, nor trashy, Leaming's extremely well-documented tome concentrates on Marilyn Monroe's struggles with her studio, 20th Century Fox, and her relationship with the various men and women in her professional life (agents, producers, directors, partners, etc.) and in her personal life (boyfriends, husbands, ex-husbands, mentors, psychiatrists, acting teachers, etc.) Monroe wanted to be in charge of her own career, but was perceived by many (notably Daryl Zanuck)to be talentless and empty-headed. She was anything but talentless and empty-headed, but it was an uphill battle trying to convince those in the positions of helping or hindering her career. Her growing paranoia (there was mental illness in her family and Leaming says she feared she was next in line)and her increasing performance anxieties finally did her in, and she was fired by the studio. Her reputation as someone who was difficult to work with and undependable made producers leery of hiring her. Growing ever more dependent on her acting teachers (the Strasbergs) and her psychiatrists (Marianne Kris and Ralph Greenson) and drinking and doping to excess most probably led to her suicide. She'd attempted to kill herself several times before. Her relationship with her husbands Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller is explored in a fascinating new way. All you ever thought you knew -- from the tabloids and the gossip columns -- may have just skimmed the surface of the complex reality. A must-read for anyone interested in the Marilyn Monroe phenomenon, the big Hollywood studios, and the movie biz in general. Leaming's research and documentation are truly impressive.Essential for any library/personal movie collection.

Hmmmmm....I found it hard to believe that there could possibly be anything new to say or a new take on Marilyn Monroe. However, this book does provide a new angle. I had no idea of the extent/nature of her relationship with Elia Kazan, if this account is to be believed. The book concentrates heavily on the "Arthur Miller" period of her life and the HUAC. I have to say that after reading this, my opinion of Miller is considerably lower than it was, nearing contempt...what a pathetic, weak loser he was. There is not nearly enough on her childhood nor her relationship with DiMaggio. Still, it does manage to paint a very clear picture of her tortured soul and made me weep. Worth reading if you are a diehard Monroe fan. Final word: I find the excruciating detail in some parts (for example: she arrived 20 mintues early for this; arrived at 7:00 for that...) too much picky detail to be believed (who the hell kept these kind of records?) and undermines the credibility of the book to some degree.

Detailed account of marilyn's Life...but a bit dull.
I have the biggest problem with the way the author delt with the explanation of marilyn's death.
Not that it isn't plausible that it was a suicide, i find it curious that the entire medical facts and autopsy finding were totally ignored, as were the strange behavior by the housekeeper and doctors present...and the somewhat staged deathscene.
There are a lot of details missing when it comes to marilyn's last few hour.
But it certainly is better than any of those the "kennedys/mafia killed her" accounts...

i am a huge fan of barbara leaming, she is the one the best writers and she has managaed to humanize marilyn as no one has before, the book was fluid and wasn't over-whelming as most marilyn books are, hurrah! barbara! if there is a chance that you are reading this, i would love if you wrote about dorothy dandridge, i think she'd make a great subject for you!