"Marilyn Monroe" by Barbara Leaming

Marilyn Monroe is remembered as an icon, but she was also a gifted, determined, and surprisingly shrewd woman, and Barbara Leaming’s biography gives her credit for it.

In this fresh, absorbing portrait, Leaming follows Marilyn from a hopeful young starlet to one of the biggest stars in the world, a woman with charisma, comic talent, and a fierce will to make herself something more. The book is full of psychological insight, and it sets her against the turbulent politics of the era, including her loyal support of Arthur Miller as he faced Washington’s investigators. Her relationships with Miller, the director Elia Kazan, and acting coach Lee Strasberg are drawn with sharp, vivid detail.

The New York Times Book Review praised it for restoring Marilyn’s humanity and showing the intelligence and initiative behind the “dumb blonde” myth. BookPage gave it a starred review, and Kirkus called it a first-rate portrait of the star’s complicated nature.

It’s a thoughtful, readable biography for anyone who wants to look past the legend, and it will leave you admiring the woman as much as the movie star.

This hardcover is in very good condition.