The Many Lives Of Marilyn Monroe

In The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, cultural critic Sarah Churchwell gives us a biography of the biographies. In incisi... (more)

In The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, cultural critic Sarah Churchwell gives us a biography of the biographies. In incisive and passionate prose, she reviews the unreliable and unverifiable-but highly significant-stories that have framed the greatest Hollywood legend, from the circumstances of her birth to the mystery surrounding her death. Peeling back the fantasies, fallacies, and falsehoods that have colored the portraits of Monroe, Churchwell uncovers the shame, belittlement, and anxiety that we bring to the story of a woman we supposedly adore. In the process, she reveals us to ourselves: our conflicted views on women, our tormented sexual attitudes, our ambivalence about success, our fascination with self-destruction. And she rescues a Marilyn Monroe who is far more complicated and credible than the one we think we know. (less)