Blonde: A Novel [Paperback]

I come to you PURE. A reader of Joyce Carol Oates, but never a reader of any biography pertaining to Marilyn Monroe.

I enjoy reading a book review that gets to the heart of the matter. The heart of Joyce Carol Oate's marvelous novel is Norma Jeane Baker and the wonderful illusion that she created for all to enjoy, Marilyn Monroe. If you're like me and never read a biography on the illustrious Marilyn Monroe, start with this novel. The author does an amazing job of making it appear factual and breathing life into both Norma Jeane and her good friend Marilyn.

JCO starts with a BANG! beginning when Norma Jeane was a little girl in the care of her grandmother, Della. Poor Norma Jeane is whisked away from Della by her mother, Gladys, then her life sort of goes to pieces. Gladys and Norma shared a few good times or at least that's how Norma Jeane tries to keep to the story so that she can survive her life but eventually Norma ends up in the orphanage and then at around age 12 or so, becomes a foster child of a pathetic couple, only then to find herself a child bride and then the novel really takes off! All that I've said is far condensed; JCO does a much better job of filling you in on the details, and there are many!

I was sad, fascinated and impressed by Norma Jeane's talents and I'm not talking about the gifts she was naturally blessed with, though she was quite blessed and certainly used it all to her advantage. What really stood out in the book was that Norma Jeane was intelligent, shrewd, witty, a genius in her own right, yet, she couldn't see it. She knew it lived inside of her but she didn't believe that other people knew it, so tormented was she. Becoming Marilyn Monroe could be such a tough job, a job that Norma wanted to abandon, but it would be hard to fight the force that she, herself had masterminded. Many times, Norma Jeane Baker would lose herself and live Marilyn's life when the film wasn't rolling. She'd self-medicate and drink and pop more pills and do acts that were expected of Marilyn that even Marilyn didn't have to do, but such the poeple pleaser was Marilyn, she'd do the deeds anyway, no matter how self-destructive. My head would spin at times and I felt that I was popping pills, probably JCO's intention. Sometimes, I became Norma's husbands (Bucky, Ex-Athlete and Playwright) and I was exasperated with her self-loathing and neediness, not thinking, but then thinking, hey, this woman has a problem.

Other times, I became her co-stars and wanted to quit the films because I just couldn't take Marilyn or Norma Jeane's self-indulgences, her sickness! Despite it all, I continued to turn those pages. I was committed to Norma's and Marilyn's world, JCO's intention, I'm sure. Then, I thought: Where is JCO's National Book Award for this exceptional piece of work that must have made her half crazy to write. Where was the award? I had to research who won that year, making a promise to read the winner and find out WHY JCO did not get the prize for this novel, that to date, as far as I'm concerned, is her masterpiece.

Thanks to JCO, I've viewed many a Marilyn Monroe movie and I've got a couple of biographies lined up- but I thank her for sharing the secret. When I watch Marilyn Monroe, I smile, knowing that I'm really watching Norma Jeane, the Creator.

› Go to Amazon.com to see the review  5.0 out of 5 stars