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A review by mari1532
Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe by Anthony Summers
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
2.0
I first learned about this book from an interview Summers did on the podcast Betwixt the Sheets. I've always had an interest in Monroe as a person and have enjoyed several of her films. So, based on Summer's interview I decided to give this book a listen on Audible.
Overall, it provided a great deal of information about Monroe from her birth to her death. From that perspective, I enjoyed this book. It had many interviews and first-hand sources from Monroe's friends and life, which helped to paint a clear picture of her. However, I did not enjoy Summers' writing. He attempted to have an objective perspective on the facts that he presented, but there were several instances where I felt that his biases showed through and I frankly found them a bit grating.
For example, when Summers discusses Monroe's (possible - the reports on this are conflicting and it is unclear how many there may have been if any) early abortions and her later desire to have children. The tone for how these events were discussed read as very judgmental and Summers continues to say that Monroe's (maybe) early abortions were botched impacting her later abilities to have children. However, there is no evidence presented in the text that any potential abortions that Monroe had were not done properly or resulted in medical complications. Also, Monroe appears to have gotten pregnant later in life without issue but unfortunately did suffer from miscarriages.
Furthermore, Summers introduces secondhand evidence that Joe DiMaggio was physically and emotionally abusive. However, toward the end of the book it did read that Summers was attempting to make DiMaggio the hero of part of the story because he was keeping tabs on Monroe when her mental health was deteriorating and even helped with the funeral. Now, I understand I have my own biases, but the way that it was written made it seem like DiMaggio was continuing abusive behaviour toward Monroe given how much supervising and alleged spying he was attempting to do to "keep Marilyn safe". It is possible that DiMaggio could have been worried about her, but it did feel a bit like the control that he exerted over her during their marriage was continuing after they divorced. However, Summers is directly contrasting DiMaggio with the Kennedy brothers and rather than demonstrating that Monroe did not have very good taste in men seems to be contrasting the two.
This book also really falls apart at the end. I do think that Summers does a good job of discussing the evidence related to Monroe's relationships with the Kennedy Brothers. However, when he provides evidence that suggests that she may have been killed because of this relationship it does feel a little conspiracy theory-esch. Some first-hand accounts lend credibility to the theory that Summers discusses concerning Monroe's death, but he ends by saying the evidence continues to be hidden. Summers' opinions on what that evidence shows however appear pretty clearly in the text.
If you are looking for a biography of Monroe I would read a few different ones before reading this book to allow you to critically analyze the information it discusses.
Overall, it provided a great deal of information about Monroe from her birth to her death. From that perspective, I enjoyed this book. It had many interviews and first-hand sources from Monroe's friends and life, which helped to paint a clear picture of her. However, I did not enjoy Summers' writing. He attempted to have an objective perspective on the facts that he presented, but there were several instances where I felt that his biases showed through and I frankly found them a bit grating.
For example, when Summers discusses Monroe's (possible - the reports on this are conflicting and it is unclear how many there may have been if any) early abortions and her later desire to have children. The tone for how these events were discussed read as very judgmental and Summers continues to say that Monroe's (maybe) early abortions were botched impacting her later abilities to have children. However, there is no evidence presented in the text that any potential abortions that Monroe had were not done properly or resulted in medical complications. Also, Monroe appears to have gotten pregnant later in life without issue but unfortunately did suffer from miscarriages.
Furthermore, Summers introduces secondhand evidence that Joe DiMaggio was physically and emotionally abusive. However, toward the end of the book it did read that Summers was attempting to make DiMaggio the hero of part of the story because he was keeping tabs on Monroe when her mental health was deteriorating and even helped with the funeral. Now, I understand I have my own biases, but the way that it was written made it seem like DiMaggio was continuing abusive behaviour toward Monroe given how much supervising and alleged spying he was attempting to do to "keep Marilyn safe". It is possible that DiMaggio could have been worried about her, but it did feel a bit like the control that he exerted over her during their marriage was continuing after they divorced. However, Summers is directly contrasting DiMaggio with the Kennedy brothers and rather than demonstrating that Monroe did not have very good taste in men seems to be contrasting the two.
This book also really falls apart at the end. I do think that Summers does a good job of discussing the evidence related to Monroe's relationships with the Kennedy Brothers. However, when he provides evidence that suggests that she may have been killed because of this relationship it does feel a little conspiracy theory-esch. Some first-hand accounts lend credibility to the theory that Summers discusses concerning Monroe's death, but he ends by saying the evidence continues to be hidden. Summers' opinions on what that evidence shows however appear pretty clearly in the text.
If you are looking for a biography of Monroe I would read a few different ones before reading this book to allow you to critically analyze the information it discusses.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism
Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Stalking, Abortion, Pregnancy
Minor: War