Blonde: A Novel Paperback – September 15, 2009

Americans have long had a love affair with our original sexy blonde icon, Marilyn Monroe. Even Billie Eilish these days is channeling Marilyn. After her untimely death in 1962, interest in Marilyn's story peaked again in 1974 when her unfinished autobiography, My Story, was published. The book is an easy, straightforward read from beginning to end, and it details her constant battles with the studio bigshots who unsuccessfully kept trying to get her into bed with them. She called them all “wolves.”Joyce Carol Oates writes the fictional biography, Blonde (2000), in which JCO exhaustively researches the person Norma Jean Baker and the icon that was 'Marilyn Monroe,' and then tells her story with great imagination and psychological insight. The underlying question in Blonde, and on all the minds of those of us who are obsessed with 'Marilyn Monroe,' is why do Americans still love this busty, flirty woman with the breathy voice and voluptuous hips? Norma Jean as 'Marilyn' created her own style of stardom, and her movies showcased her casually flaunted sexuality with her seeming inattention to the uproar she created simply by walking onto the movie set. Bus Stop (1956), Some Like It Hot (1958), Let’s Make Love (1960), with Yves Montand, her co-star and apparently at the time her lover, and her last movie The Misfits (1961), filmed while her marriage to Arthur Miller was breaking up, are probably her most famous. She was ambitious and her movie characters prominently displayed that ambition. Michelle Williams was great as Marilyn opposite Kenneth Branaugh in My Week with Marilyn (2011). I'm looking forward to Ana de Armas as Marilyn in the screenplay of JCO's Blonde (not out yet as I write this.) (P.S. It's out now on Netflix, and Ana de Armas is spectacular as Norma Jean's 'Marilyn Monroe').JCO masterfully reveals the innate skill Norma Jean brought to each of "Marilyn Monroe's" movie characters, showing how she inhabited her specific role as an archetypical character, each different, each easily recognizable as a living personality. JCO also reveals the inner character of each of Norma Jean's three husbands, the clueless young buck, the brutal ex-athlete, and the self-conscious intellectual. All eventually mistreated her.Norma Jean's slow descent into grave abuse of prescription drugs (amphetamines, barbiturates, tranquilizers) and alcohol didn't help matters any, as she began to suffer from insomnia, memory loss, lethargy, lack of mental focus. Indeed, the Studio provided easy access to their Dr. FeelGood for prescriptions, which Norma Jean (and other Studio actors) relied upon to manage the stress and anxiety they experienced when filming. Our pop icons of the 1950's paid a heavy price with eventual loss of their health from addiction to pills and alcohol: Elvis, Brando, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, and others in addition to Norma Jean's 'Marilyn Monroe.'In her Author's Note introduction to Blonde written just before 2000, JCO characterizes her monumental work of fiction as 'synecdoche'--the specific for the general--clearly meant among other things to reference the experience Norma Jean had with the Studio system and its horrible sexual exploitation of the young, pretty women who aspired to be in the movies by the men holding absolute power over them. JCO anticipates the MeToo Movement and the Harvey Weinstein revelations by well more than a decade. There are very graphic scenes in the novel of such exploitation (among others, a particular scene with "Mr. Z," and we all know who she is referencing) and the acquiescence of others, including older women, who have positions in the Studio system. They all knew, but no one blew the whistle. At the time, the only way to overcome this institutional exploitation was to become such a popular star in her own right that the Studio had to bend to her will. That, indeed, was what Norma Jean accomplished. She paved the way for generations of talented, beautiful actresses to practice their craft without having to sacrifice themselves to the creepy, pathetic lust of the powerful Studio executives.

I have read most of the MM books and by far the best of them is this whirlwind of fiction as fact (or fact as fiction) and remarkably seductive tale of this tragic heroine. You cannot help but feel absolutely compassion and admiration and sorrow for this force of nature that became a goddess. She has become as important and as relevant as any historical character and has defined what America is actually all about, the grandeur the wonder and the emptiness and the tragedy of fame.

The novel was good for what it was. If you read it with the understanding that this is fictional story loosely based on Marilyn's life, it is very interesting and enjoyable. If you expect an accurate biography of Marilyn, it will be disappointing.The stream-of-consciousness writing takes some getting used to, and there are places where the timeline is incongruent which is jarring, but all in all, it was a very good book.

Received timely and in excellent condition.

I, like so many people, have always been intrigued by Marilyn Monroe. I've read several books about her, but "Blonde" is unlike any of the others I've read. While I'm not sure how much of the story is historically accurate, I was touched by Marilyn/Norma Jeane: Her ability to rise above the sometimes-horrific circumstances in her life, her work ethic, the way so many took advantage of her spirit, talent, beauty and her body - and the way her life began to unravel. She was such a fascinating character. I finished the book a few days ago, and I can't get it out of my mind. My heart breaks for that sweet, tragic woman. The only reason I did not give the book 5 stars is because it is very sad (of course, it is a sad story) but this is an absolutely incredible work by Oates. She somehow captures the enigma of Marilyn Monroe in words the way cameras were able to capture Marilyn.

This book is one of the most ambitious I think I’ve ever read. In it, Joyce Carol Oates seeks to take the idea and biography of Marilyn Monroe and turn it into an epic. It seems like a great idea - the story of the actress spans the middle third of the twentieth century and plays out in Hollywood and New York. Among the themes invoked: gender, femininity, the movies (“the American religion”), power, the Studio system, the male gaze, fatherlessness, love, belonging, self-invention, I could go on. The book does have a monumental arc, it has a monumental length, but that length is not justified but what’s inside. At times there are insights and epiphanies about Monroe’s psychology, her body, and American life that make this book a rewarding experience to read, but it also goes on at length without using that length wisely.This is probably the most sympathetic book written about Monroe (though Gloria Steinem’s is also quite worthwhile), and treats the object like a subject in a way that brings fresh insight to her life and character. I only wish that the tremendous length was made to be worth it by an accompanying epic story or epic emotional journey.

A long but very interesting book about Norma Jean Baker, aka Marilyn Monroe. I must confess that the only idea that I had of her was that she was the classic dumb blonde interested only in being loved and conquered by men. Her life was by no means easy, and I dare to say that her childhood marked her for life. Her mother had a mental condition and she never told Norma who her father was, except that he was a very important man in the world of movies. She was sent to an orphanage when her mother was institutionalized, and from there she had basically to look after herself. She had to struggle a lot but she was also a very complicated woman, marked by her childhood but I am certain that also by her genetic predisposition. She didn't make things easy for herself and made many poor decisions, but I cannot feel but pity for her, as deep down she must have always felt very lonely, only supported by the acceptance of her audience and false fantasies.

Returned because the print was just so small it wouldnt' have been a pleasure to read it

A wonderful book on MM - I've read a few - this is easily the best - a real tour de force - so imaginative - hooks you from the first page - highly recommended..

This is an odd book - successful novels wear their research lightly, in "Blonde" the researched reality-based characters and scenes were the most engaging especially when the narrative covered the production of each of her movies.The problem with the more creative aspects of the book is that this writing is most heavily weighted at the beginning of the book (when less is known of Blonde's life) and once the writing fails to convince you - then the author has lost the reader.It was unsurprising that Andrew Domink's Netflik's version also failed.The book greatly improved after the first 25%, once JCO was on more solid ground, documenting "Blonde's" career but again, each time Oates lapses into more inventive prose, she immediately loses the reader's attention.I feel that there was a good book in there somewhere but it needed a major edit - with at least 50% of the text needing to be excised.

I tried my best to finish this but it is just too painstaking to finish. Clearly focused on Monroe and the troubles Norma Jean went through to become Marilyn, it gets into so much detail and gets a bit gross at times that I could not get to the end. Maybe for others who love these type of long character life stories, but this book wasn't for me!

It was a good read, and I know it’s been held in high critical esteem by many, but I’m still not sure of the ethics of using a real person’s life for novelistic purposes… especially when other real people are brought in purely for dramatic effect. Oates has certainly illuminated her view of Norma Jean’s inner life with panache.