Marilyn Monroe: The Biography

This biography of Marilyn Monroe is truly outstanding. It doesn't just focus on her, but also delves into the lives of those around her, starting from her grandparents, parents, relatives, husbands, boyfriends, friends, foes, associates, and doctors. This comprehensive approach provides a more complete picture of who she was and what she endured.

The author, Mr. Spoto, debunks the myths and falsehoods that have surrounded Marilyn's life and death with real facts and receipts. He humanizes her, revealing her inner self and showing that she was much more than a sex symbol. He doesn't speculate like other authors, but knows what he's talking about, having done extensive research.

The first 200 pages may be a bit slow and detailed, but the pace quickly picks up and becomes more intriguing. The most shocking part is the account of how Marilyn was allegedly killed by her doctor and assistant. Mr. Spoto focuses on the psychiatrist (Greenson) and the housekeeper (Murray), and how they allegedly covered up their crime. He also includes a bonus chapter to debunk the theory that she was killed by Bobby Kennedy.

Overall, this is the best biography ever written on Marilyn Monroe. It portrays her true self, without fabrications or sensationalism. It provides many psychological hypotheses and insights into Hollywood's dysfunctional system. If you want to understand the real woman, not the myth, this is the definitive biography to read.

She told us more than once, ‘Hollywood will never forgive me—not for leaving, not for fighting the system—but for winning, which I'm going to do.’ -Susan Strasberg

"A sex symbol becomes a thing, and I hate to be a thing. You're always running people's unconscious. It's nice to be included in people's fantasies, but you also like to be accepted for your own sake. I don't look on myself as a commodity, but I'm sure a lot of people have, including one corporation in particular which shall be nameless. If I'm sounding 'picked on,' I think I have been." -Marilyn Monroe

"I want to be an artist and an actress with integrity. As I said once before, I don't care about the money. I just want to be wonderful." -Marilyn Monroe

"I always felt that she had become an investment to people like him---an investment not only financially, in caring for her, but even in the fabrication of her illness. It had become a need for him and others that she be considered sick, dependent and needy. There was something sinister about Ralph Greenson. It was well known that he exerted enormous influence over her."

"Susan Strasberg agreed: his [Ralph Greenson] close involvement with Marilyn was an open secret no one really discussed."

"An impressive reminder of the tough, triumphalist Norma Jeane...for once she has a biographer worthy of her." -Julie Burchill

I have never been an overly enthusiastic Monroe fangirl, but I do hold a great deal of admiration for a significant portion of her work. The movie Niagara, from which the cover image is taken, made an extremely memorable impression on me during my childhood. It was the very first film of hers that I had the opportunity to see. Some Like It Hot ranks second among the top three in my all-time favourites list (The Princess Bride forever holds the #1 spot, and The Atonement closes the list at #3). After watching My Week With Marilyn a few months ago, I came to the realisation that, although I know these films inside out, I don't truly know a great deal about the actress herself. Naturally, I turned to Goodreads in search of a good biography to fill the gaps in my knowledge.

Marilyn Monroe was a cultural icon, surrounded by myth and an otherworldly allure. It is not at all surprising that the majority of her biographers succumb to sensationalism, hysteria, and the twisting of facts in favour of strange conspiracy theories. When I decided to find the most reliable account of the late actress's life, Donald Spoto's monumental work crossed my path, with numerous recommendations. Indeed, this is the most unbiased biography of Marilyn's life that I have seen thus far. It does not engage in unnecessary embellishments. Instead, it relies on hard facts and documents from the estate. It never delves into the realm of gossip, which would have immediately put me off from reading it further. No, I finished this 700+ page book in one breathless sitting, and I feel as though I really got to know Norma Jean for who she truly was. I was extremely sad to turn the last page.

This biography details Marilyn's unstable childhood, her complex relationship with her own sexuality, her struggles with the movie studio tycoons, and her three tragic marriages. It also addresses and debunks the persistent Kennedy/Monroe rumours, and presents the most logical sequence of events that led to her untimely death. If you want to read just one book about Marilyn, let it be this one.

Marilyn Monroe: The Biography by Donald Spoto is a 2001 Cooper Square Press publication. (Originally published in 1993)

I have a penchant for reading biographies and memoirs regularly. However, I had not delved into one about Marilyn Monroe before. One significant reason for this was my skepticism regarding the authenticity of the facts. Conspiracy theories can be a profitable business, and when faced with financial desperation, the allure of fabricating misinformation for gain can be overwhelming. The resulting damage, though, is nearly impossible to undo. All the speculations surrounding Marilyn, her purported connections to the Kennedys, the mob, or other such claims, inspired this author to conduct a meticulous investigation and extensive research to pen a book that presents Marilyn's life story as accurately as humanly feasible.

Another factor that led me to choose this book was in anticipation of reading Joyce Carol Oates' "Blonde," which had been on my to-be-read list for a long time.

Once I began reading, and since the book is currently part of the KU program with added audio, I also listened to portions of it. It quickly became evident that the author took his task极其 seriously!!

To say that this biography is comprehensive would be an understatement. The book progresses in a strict chronological order, detailing both Marilyn's personal and professional lives and chronicling all the highs and lows in those aspects of her life. The portrayal of Marilyn is that of a woman dedicated to her craft, far smarter than most people realized, and capable of effortlessly slipping into character and instantly transforming from Norma Jean to 'her' - the iconic image of Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn was also extremely insecure, torn between her longing for true love and children while still trying to balance a successful career in a time when such aspirations were not actively encouraged. She was chronically late for everything - work, doctor's appointments, classes, you name it. This is a trait I don't find particularly appealing in a person. However, it seems she had several hang-ups that compelled her to constantly obsess over her appearance before going anywhere. Her drug addictions, like those of other actresses, were a part of the Hollywood system, where pills were dispensed like candy. Marilyn, for someone of her age, also seemed to have an inordinate number of health problems, on top of everything else.

Just as everything starts to suggest that Marilyn is realizing the need to make some changes - with the pills, with the doctors, with the people in her life, and with the possibility of another shot at love - the unthinkable occurs.

As the book approaches the last night of Marilyn's life, it becomes clear that there was indeed something very, very amiss. It was intense and eerie, but not in the way everyone seems to believe. Yes, there was a cover-up, but not the stuff of wild conspiracy theories involving the mob, the government, the Kennedys, or deliberate suicide. It was a tragic, horrible event, and yes, someone should have been held accountable for what happened to her.

Overall, I believe the author did an excellent job with this biography. The book has a bit of an old-fashioned layout and approach, but that's not a problem if it works. There are countless books written about Marilyn, but if you're seeking one of the most reliable ones that covers her entire life and offers a plausible explanation of what truly happened to her on the night she died, this is the one you should pick up.

4.5

This book truly captivated my interest.

As a die-hard fan of Marilyn, I was astonished by a great deal of the content within it, for I had never heard any of those details before.

The author, Spoto, delved deeply into her life, conducting extensive research to obtain all the facts for himself. His writing style, I discovered, was extremely engaging.

I have perused numerous other books about Marilyn, but this one was undoubtedly the very best I have ever encountered.

I would caution more sensitive readers that there are some references to certain actions she took that are rather disturbing and/or (quite frankly) revolting.

Her life was rife with scandal and drama, and it's all laid out in this book. Therefore, I wouldn't recommend it to very young readers or those who are sensitive to the unvarnished truth that the author presents.

However, if you are a Marilyn enthusiast, I would highly recommend this book. You truly get the sense that you are able to know her as she truly was.

I'm truly torn. This work was, on one hand, VERY good, yet in some sections, the research was questionably done. Spoto goes to great lengths, armed to the teeth, to fact-check his rival Monroe biographers. However, he then makes the mistake of misquoting some of Marilyn's most famous lyrics.

"Speak to me, Harry Winston"? Come on, Donald, with the power of Google at your disposal, you could have done better. "Diamonds" ranked as the 12th best song of the century; the lyrics are not at all obscure. Now, this has left me with trust issues regarding a book that is supposed to be full of obscure "facts."

Just like nearly every other book or documentary about MM, Spoto makes numerous disparaging claims against her without backing them up as thoroughly as he expects from his peers. Nevertheless, he does explain the Kennedy situations and the events surrounding her death in great detail and cites his sources carefully. So, that portion was refreshingly free from sensationalism. Her early years, on the other hand, are rather iffy. Then again, part of this is because Marilyn herself perpetuated so many false stories about herself, often at the studio's behest, of course. After all, the image of an orphan sells best!

Ultimately, all research on Old Hollywood requires a significant amount of reading between the lines from multiple sources. There are more than three sides to every story in Old Hollywood, and unfortunately, everyone who truly knows the truth is now dead.

After reading that numerous Monroe fans believed this to be the best available biography, I made up my mind to give it a look. What compelled me to read this was perhaps nothing more than an interest that had been cultivated based on the fascination I've always held for Marilyn's public image and the sadness that was always so evident to everyone.

This book is indeed well-researched and comprehensive, and I highly appreciate that. Yes, there was a great deal of detail about people other than Marilyn, but to me, it felt both necessary and useful. Not much was left out, even though the author chose to focus more on the second half of her career, and several chapters are dedicated to the days immediately before and after her death. Spoto makes his stance on the Kennedy and mob rumors extremely clear and presents the evidence to back it up - this was particularly interesting and educational for me.

After learning so much about her experiences before and during her stardom, Marilyn Monroe came to represent for me a nearly caricatured symbol of the sexist mindset she was in at that time, which affected her so profoundly that it became an integral part of who she was. Most of the things she did - from sleeping with anyone who asked and had even a minimal role in her life or career, to being taught that her body was her only valuable asset, to actually prostituting herself for food at one point - were a consequence of this. Her apparent innocence in everything only served to highlight the obliviousness of such a situation. To me, the fact that she never had the opportunity to significantly express any form of art made it all seem even more pitiful.

Overall, even though Spoto's writing endeavors to maintain an appropriate distance between the author and the subject of the book, the account never becomes cold, and the most touching aspects of Marilyn's life never lose their poignancy. And despite everything, I found myself rooting for her happiness and becoming increasingly depressed knowing how it would undoubtedly end. Despite everything, she was a truly lovely human being.

I'm not a biography enthusiast; I only read those about people I'm truly interested in. This is a weighty, in-depth account of Marilyn's life, and while it was worthwhile for me, I can understand why some people might find it boring or unnecessarily long. For them, however, I would suggest Wikipedia or Marilyn Monroe fan sites.

Published in 1993, Marilyn Monroe: The Biography by Donald Spoto is widely regarded as one of the finest among the numerous books about the mysterious 20th century actress, model, and sex symbol. Born Norma Jeane Baker in 1926 in Los Angeles, she left a trail of unanswered questions when she died there thirty-six years later.

I've read only two other books about the star as a reference, namely My Story by Marilyn Monroe with contributions from Sidney Skolsky, Ben Hecht, and Milton Greene, and Marilyn Monroe by Barbara Leaming. However, this biography stands out as excellent. I began reading it shortly after her birth date and it took me over a month to complete, just before what would have been the anniversary of her death.

Spoto, who had previously written books on Alfred Hitchcock and later went on to pen biographies of James Dean, Audrey Hepburn, and other icons, utilized 150 interviews and 35,000 pages of formerly sealed files, including diary entries and letters. This enabled him to provide a well-sourced, comprehensive, and accurate account of both Norma Jeane and her world-famous alter ego, Marilyn. I took extensive notes and learned a great deal about the actress's life.

The book concludes with a remarkable epilogue where Spoto debunks each hoax or false story surrounding Monroe's death, identifying who made the claim and how they benefited. I had always believed the official version that Monroe died of an accidental drug overdose during a period of depression. But, based on interviews with LAPD officers, pathologists, and witnesses, Spoto argues that Monroe could not have administered the lethal drug cocktail herself. Instead, it was her psychiatrist Ralph Greenson and housekeeper Eunice Murray, whom Greenson had hired to monitor his own patient, who were responsible in a case of serious medical malpractice.

My favorite paragraph is in the "1953" chapter, which details the production of How To Marry A Millionaire, starring Monroe, Betty Grable, and Lauren Bacall. Despite Marilyn's idiosyncrasies, even Lauren Bacall, who was not known for being tolerant of her fellow actors' tardiness, had to admit that there was "no meanness to her--no bitchery. I liked her. She said that what she really wanted was to be in San Francisco with Joe DiMaggio in some spaghetti joint." Marilyn also won over Betty Grable, who had been passed over for the role of Lorelei Lee. When Grable's daughter was injured while horseback riding, Marilyn called frequently, offering help and comfort. According to Grable, "and she was the only person to call." ("Honey," she said warmly to Marilyn one day during production, "I've had mine--now go get yours.") This paragraph provides a fascinating glimpse into Marilyn's relationships with her co-stars and showcases her kinder side.

This biography was as dry as a bone. However, it was so, so, so good. It was very well researched. The amount of detail that Donald Spoto included was truly amazing. He is a professional in this field.

This is no light read. It's thick, and heavy, and plodding. But if you have a keen interest in learning about Monroe's life in its entirety with no detail left out, then this is the perfect book for you.

You will be able to delve deep into the various aspects of her life, from her early days to her rise to stardom and the challenges she faced along the way.

The author's meticulous research and attention to detail make this biography a valuable resource for anyone who wants to understand the real Marilyn Monroe.

Despite its dryness, it offers a wealth of information that will keep you engaged and informed.

So, if you're ready to embark on a journey through Monroe's life, pick up this book and prepare to be amazed.