But be warned that it’s also a real sober read. At almost 1,000 pages, it’s an epic work that uses the rough storyboards of Monroe’s life to create a richly humanistic and relatable narrative. The book is a fictional exploration of Marilyn Monroe’s life that strips away the veneer of Hollywood moviemaking and leaves the unpolished Norma Jeane searching for security and certainty. “The sole voice of Blonde is Norma Jeane’s,” says Oates of her lauded 2000 novel, Blonde. For those looking to dig deeper, here are the best books that deconstruct, analyze, and even transmogrify the star known as Marilyn Monroe. Kennedy - while others have leaned into the emotional depths of her short, tragic life to sketch a portrait of someone whose fame completely eclipsed their humanity. Some have had set agendas - like biographers claiming she was murdered by the FBI or had an affair with Robert F. The film joins countless other creative efforts to understand and anatomize the movie star born Norma Jeane Mortensen, including biopics, TV series, biographies, photo books, essays, and even plays. Now a new Netflix film, Blonde, adapts the 2000 Joyce Carol Oates novelization of Monroe’s life story to give us an unvarnished depiction of the perils of her celebrity. Andy Warhol’s iconic silkscreens of Monroe perhaps best captured this: visual reminders of her marketable face, femininity, and eternal fame. Even today, she represents a visual shorthand for our idea of the ultimate celebrity.

In life and in death, Marilyn Monroe merchandized sex, sensuality, and stardom.

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