I bought this book because it was a Joyce Carol Oates book. I never really had any desire to read it because Marilyn Monroe is not a subject that really interested me. However, a couple of years back I was unemployed and desperate for something to read so I pulled this book from my shelves.
Oates' mastery at story telling comes through in this book as she tells Monroe's twisted and scary life story. From a psychotic mom to her own psychoses, we get a glimpse of what Monroe's inner torments and devils may have been.
Monroe never seemed to have enough money, she was in abusive relationships and she doubted herself constantly. The amazing thing about the way that Oates writes is that these seemingly mundane details become the horrors of Monroe's life. Horrors worthy of a scary novel that you stay up all night reading because you just can't stop turning the pages.
Normally, I don't review novels that I haven't just read. If the story isn't fresh in my mind, I can't tell some of the details and give a more precise review that I feel I should write. I have broken this rule for this book though, because I recently purchased a copy of the bound manuscript for this book. The manuscript came with an original signed letter from Joyce Carol Oates regarding the book, a letter from Oscar Halpern (her editor at Ecco) and a proof of the dust jacket printed on heavy glossy stock paper.
The interesting thing about the manuscript is that it has all of the margin notations from the editor and Joyce Carol Oates. It is very likely an early attempt at the book. Because all of these items were separate, I sent them to HG Books to have a clamshell case made for all of the items to be kept in. The clamshell is beautiful, and I wanted to show off (yes, I'll admit it!) the manuscript and clamshell here in my blog. I've taken pictures of everything, and the slideshow below should hopefully give you a good idea of what I have.
As for the book itself, read it. It is definitely worth it - even if you aren't a Marilyn Monroe fan!
Rating: 10 / 10
Publisher: Ecco
Edition: Manuscript