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caitey2003's review against another edition
4.0
4.5**
This was so good! By far the best biography I've read this year, probably the best i've read ever - though I haven't read tons.
When I got to the final chapter I was struggling to continue because I knew Marilyn would obviously die and I was hoping she wouldn't, that someone would come rescue her, but alas no one did.
She had such an interesting journey; she came from nothing, never had a home and could never find one. She had a lot of mental health problems, as did her mother and grandmother. The Kennedy affair never really happened, contrary to popular belief, or at least it wasn't as big a deal as people make it out to be. Its very likely she slept with JFK over the weekend once, but they weren't in love, to him it was just a fling - however she became obsessed with him and that was part of the reason for her downfall.
Of course there's other factors though, mental health ran so strongly in her family she was basically doomed from the start!
My biggest complaint about this book is that I never felt like I really got in the skin of Marilyn Monroe; you always feel like an outsider looking in, or like your watching a friend sink further into their own demise. However, if I want to feel like I know Marilyn intimately perhaps I should read her autobiography; this book is quite factual but takes everything with a grain of salt, Taraborrelli always encourages his readers to question statements and sources - which I really liked!
This books also got me thinking a lot about conspiracy theories; before reading this I was familiar with the Marilyn Monroe conspiracy theory that the government killed her, and after reading this I'm quite certain that they didn't. I didn't believe it originally but I know lots of people who do, and this book prompted me to think about how little most conspiracy theorists really look into their theories. I understand that for most of us they're just a bit of fun and make life a little more interesting, but for the people who present thesis as fact really need to do more research (for example, ive heard so many times that Monroe and JFK were in love so they faked their own deaths just to live in peace together - but as I learnt from the book, there was barely even an affair between Kennedy and Monroe). This book has me thinking about how many people will go round preaching their conspiracies but then do the bare minimum research!
I haven't stopped thinking about miss Monroe since I finished this book, and its been awhile since ive put down a book and been as blown away as I am right now! Highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend not just far Monroe fans but for anyone just looking for a good biography.
This was so good! By far the best biography I've read this year, probably the best i've read ever - though I haven't read tons.
When I got to the final chapter I was struggling to continue because I knew Marilyn would obviously die and I was hoping she wouldn't, that someone would come rescue her, but alas no one did.
She had such an interesting journey; she came from nothing, never had a home and could never find one. She had a lot of mental health problems, as did her mother and grandmother. The Kennedy affair never really happened, contrary to popular belief, or at least it wasn't as big a deal as people make it out to be. Its very likely she slept with JFK over the weekend once, but they weren't in love, to him it was just a fling - however she became obsessed with him and that was part of the reason for her downfall.
Of course there's other factors though, mental health ran so strongly in her family she was basically doomed from the start!
My biggest complaint about this book is that I never felt like I really got in the skin of Marilyn Monroe; you always feel like an outsider looking in, or like your watching a friend sink further into their own demise. However, if I want to feel like I know Marilyn intimately perhaps I should read her autobiography; this book is quite factual but takes everything with a grain of salt, Taraborrelli always encourages his readers to question statements and sources - which I really liked!
This books also got me thinking a lot about conspiracy theories; before reading this I was familiar with the Marilyn Monroe conspiracy theory that the government killed her, and after reading this I'm quite certain that they didn't. I didn't believe it originally but I know lots of people who do, and this book prompted me to think about how little most conspiracy theorists really look into their theories. I understand that for most of us they're just a bit of fun and make life a little more interesting, but for the people who present thesis as fact really need to do more research (for example, ive heard so many times that Monroe and JFK were in love so they faked their own deaths just to live in peace together - but as I learnt from the book, there was barely even an affair between Kennedy and Monroe). This book has me thinking about how many people will go round preaching their conspiracies but then do the bare minimum research!
I haven't stopped thinking about miss Monroe since I finished this book, and its been awhile since ive put down a book and been as blown away as I am right now! Highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend not just far Monroe fans but for anyone just looking for a good biography.
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