Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox [Hardcover]

Lois Banner (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 17, 2012 | ISBN-10: 1608195317 | ISBN-13: 978-1608195312 | Edition: 1

Like her art, Marilyn Monroe was rooted in paradox: She was a powerful star and a childlike waif; a joyful, irreverent party girl with a deeply spiritual side; a superb friend and a narcissist; a dumb blonde and an intellectual. No previous biographer has recognized -- much less attempted to analyze -- most of these aspects of her personality. Lois Banner has.

Since Marilyn's death in August of 1962, the appetite for information about her has been insatiable. Biographies of Marilyn abound, and whether these books are sensational or flawed, Marilyn's fans have always come out in bestselling numbers. This time, with Lois Banner's Revelations, the fans won't be disappointed. This is no retread of recycled material. As one of the founders of the field of women's history, Banner will reveal Marilyn Monroe in the way that only a top-notch historian and biographer could.

In researching Revelations, Banner's credentials opened doors. She gained access to Marilyn intimates who hadn't spoken to other biographers, and to private material unseen, ignored, or misinterpreted by her predecessors. With new details about Marilyn's childhood foster homes, her sexual abuse, her multiple marriages, her affairs, and her untimely death at the age of thirty-six, Revelations is, at last, the nuanced biography Marilyn fans have been waiting for.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A dazzling portrait of a fragile but remarkably ambitious and determined personality, as spiritual as she was corporeal, as canny as she was careless."—Carina Chocano, Elle

"Banner…probe[s] Monroe’s fraught relationship to her sexuality with an uncommonly insightful eye. But fans of Hollywood Babylon, take heart: Studious as she is, Banner also rakes the muck like a pedigreed newshound."—Jan Stuart, More

"By dint of exhaustive research and uniquely informed analysis, distinguished and trailblazing feminist historian Banner has written a profoundly redefining bombshell biography of artist and icon Marilyn Monroe. Banner is the first to bring a scholar’s perspective to bear on the influence of postwar misogyny and sexual hypocrisy on Monroe’s life and work as she painstakingly chronicles Monroe’s shunting from one foster home to another, her sexual abuse and subsequent stutter, evangelical upbringing, daring foray into modeling, and epic battle for Hollywood success. Intellectual rigor and insight shape Banner’s coverage of Monroe’s debilitating endometriosis, chronic insomnia, prescription-drug addiction, numerous sexual relationships, reliance on psychoanalysis, and three troubled marriages. Banner breaks new ground with her sensitive disclosure of the star’s toxic fear of the exposure of her sexual attraction to women, an utter disgrace for a reigning sex symbol in a harshly homophobic time. And her revelations about the role of the Kennedys and the FBI in Monroe’s death are appalling. On the upside, Banner celebrates Monroe’s perfectionism, generosity, humanist political views, trickster humor, covert brilliance, daunting "process of self-creation," and immense cultural resonance. A passion for precision and truth fuels Banner’s electrifying portrait of an artist caught in a maze of paradoxes and betrayals. Here is Marilyn as we’ve never seen her before."—Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review)

"This new biography brings the known facts up to date and offers a fresh, modern take on the tragic star’s life and choices…. Surely not the last word, but a complete and honest effort and a good starting place."—Kirkus Reviews

"Banner elegantly and skillfully chronicles Monroe’s short life…. [she] paints a portrait of Monroe as a complicated, many-faceted woman."—Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Lois Banner is a founder of the field of women's history and cofounder of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians, the major academic event in the field. She was the first woman president of the American Studies Association, and in 2006 she won the ASA's Bode-Pearson Prize for Outstanding Contributions to American Studies. She is the author of ten books, including her acclaimed American Beauty and most recently MM -- Personal, which reproduces and discusses items from Marilyn Monroe's personal archive. In addition to her books on Monroe, Banner is a major collector of her artifacts. Banner is a professor of history and gender studies at USC and lives in Southern California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; 1 edition (July 17, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1608195317
• ISBN-13: 978-1608195312
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( M ) > Monroe, Marilyn

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Poor Marilyn... June 1, 2012

By G. Kellner VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I am not a die-hard Marilyn fan. I think I read one other biography of her, a long time ago. I thought this one had a bit of a slow start--a little on the dry side, but it picks up. I didn't share the previous reviewers irritation with the author for tooting her own horn--it was just sort of a blip in an otherwise competent biography. The author tries to examine Marilyn's life from a feminist perspective. It could go either way--Marilyn was either ahead of her time, in that she was an independent, smart, savvy businesswoman who recognized America's need for a post-war sex pot and marketed herself as such, or Marilyn was a victim of misogynistic, manipulative men who used her and discarded her. I prefer to see her as the former. I did learn a lot about her, and I discovered I really liked her. She was a little loopy, but who isn't? As a side note, the Elton John song, "Candle in the Wind" tended to run through my head everytime I picked this up, which was annoying after a while. I especially thought the examination of Marilyn's death was well-balanced, given the controversy surrounding it. All in all, a detailed and well-done portrait.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A feminist historian's perspective June 24, 2012

By a VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Before "Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox," I had never read a biography of Marilyn Monroe, thinking that they might be needlessly lurid or full of conspiracy theories about her untimely death. I was intrigued by this new book by Dr. Lois Banner since it tackled one of the most iconic females of the 20th century from a feminist historian's perspective. Ultimately I moderately enjoyed this book, but I can easily see why others have been largely critical of Dr. Banner's approach. First of all, having never previously read a Monroe biography, this may not have been the best choice for an introduction. Dr. Banner spends a great deal of time debunking or criticizing most the biographies already published, dismissing theories, stories, or witnesses through what she somewhat arrogantly (but most likely accurately) describes as her superior original research. At the book's most annoying moments, the author suddenly switches to first-person right in the middle of a narrative chapter to articulate her own approach to research for this particular area of Marilyn's life, and she might also use the opportunity to share a personal opinion or two or state whether or not she considers an eyewitness account to be credible. Dr. Banner emphasizes that she is one of only two or three biographers to interview certain people whom she considers critical, etcetera, which is all well and good and appreciated. However, I have never read a historical biography in which an author has gone to such great lengths to tout their credentials, research methods, or original sources right in the middle of a chapter. It was a jarring and unwelcome intrusion and a perfect example of why footnotes or endnotes are important.

Apart from the author's style and eagerness to brag about her research, I really cannot fault the narrative itself. It is quite possibly one of the most thorough and well-documented biographies of Marilyn Monroe, though having never read another I am hesitant to state that as a fact. What we have is a very sympathetic, scholarly portrait of a tragic woman ahead of her time in many ways but unable throughout her brief life to get a hold of her inner demons. Dr. Banner greatly emphasizes Marilyn's alleged molestation as a young teenager as the trigger for her later promiscuity and sexuality, and I was actually quite surprised by the amount of graphic detail included in such a scholarly account. All the "lurid detail" I worried about in previous Marilyn biographies was right here, with almost clinical notes on her sexual proclivities and identity as well as a great deal of information about her difficult menstrual cycles, abortions, and assorted medical problems. Nothing I read came across as salacious, however; indeed Dr. Banner crafted a complete person in her Marilyn Monroe who was at once full of life, energy, and enthusiasm and yet always chasing away childhood fears and insecurities that remained with her even during her heady days of stardom. It's also worth noting that a couple dozen pages are devoted to the mysteries and possible cover-up surrounding her 1962 death, and I appreciate the author's straightforward approach to the lingering questions. As one might expect from a feminist historian, the men in Marilyn's life are treated in a critical and analytical fashion. From studio heads and directors to her various lovers and husbands, including the usual suspects -- Sinatra, Brando, the Kennedy brothers -- Marilyn's men largely come across as carefree, disrepectful, and untrustworthy users of women.

In the end, while it took me a long time to make my way through this very detailed, occasionally dry biography, I would still moderately recommend it to both casual and serious fans of Marilyn Monroe. It will surely add to the scholarship on her cultural impact, even though I did not really enjoy the author's persistence in inserting herself and her research methods into the narrative.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Overly Analytical June 7, 2012

By Mr. August VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Lois Banner's voluminous study of Marilyn is quite apparent in this long biography. So much has been written about Marilyn and this exploration is more detailed but I do not believe it holds any new revelations. Instead, Ms. Banner analyzes Marilyn's behavior from various angles; she also analyzed her mother's behavior which, minus so many real facts, is an exploration with contrary information.

Like some other reviewers, I was astonished when the biographer alluded to her own beauty citing similar assets as Marilyn's. She also criticized other Monroe biographers (and there are many) stating that their conclusions are incorrect. What? Since Ms. Banner elevated herself in the beginning of the book, I admit that I read on with bias. Whether she is a scholar, great beauty or published advocate of women, her inflated ego should have been omitted.

Marilyn Monroe was a complex woman with a complicated past. The author moved us back and forth during her youth which left me more confused. I did not have a clearer picture of her childhood. Was her mother, Gladys, really a decent person? Was Grace, the guardian, self-serving? The real story behind the many foster homes was cloudy; Ms. Banner did not make it clearer. Without actual records, she analyzed Gladys, Grace, Marilyn's possible fathers, and foster parents. I felt the author shuttled me around Marilyn's youth and then backtracked to try and bring it together. Marilyn's later life is easier to document with real facts but the analysis continued ad nauseum. 2.5 stars