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    The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
    Unavailable
    The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
    Unavailable
    The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
    Audiobook (abridged)8 hours

    The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe

    Written by J. Randy Taraborrelli

    Narrated by Robert Petkoff

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    When Marilyn Monroe became famous in the 1950s, the world was told that her mother, Gladys Baker, was either dead or simply not a part of her life -- depending on the publicity campaign of the moment. However, that was not true. In fact, her mentally ill mother was very much present in Marilyn's world. The complex family dynamic that unfolded behind the scenes as Miss Monroe blazed a path to iconic glory is a story that has never before been told...until now.

    In this groundbreaking book, Taraborrelli draws complex and sympathetic portraits of the powerful women so influential in the actress' life:

    • Her mother, Gladys Baker, who gave up her daughter, Norma Jeane (Marilyn) after having two others kidnapped from her.
    • Her foster mother, Ida Bolender, who raised Norma Jeane for seven years -- a woman whose brash but powerful approach to parenting has been completely misunderstood.
    • The legal guardian, Grace Goddard, who helped create "Marilyn Monroe."
    He also tells for the first time the potent story of Marilyn's closely guarded friendship with Pat Kennedy Lawford, sister of President John Kennedy; he sheds new light on Marilyn's so-called affair with JFK; and he reveals shocking information about Marilyn's relationship with Robert Kennedy.

    An epic journey told by a master storyteller, this is the final word on the life of one of the most fascinating and elusive icons of the 20th Century.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateAug 25, 2009
    ISBN9781600246524
    Unavailable
    The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
    Author

    J. Randy Taraborrelli

    J. Randy Taraborrelli is a highly-acclaimed biographer, whose bestselling titles include Madonna: An Intimate Biography, Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness, Elizabeth, Once Upon a Time: The Story of Princess Grace, Prince Rainier and their Family, Call Her Miss Ross and Sinatra: The Man and the Myth. He is also a CBS-TV news analyst and lives in California.

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    Reviews for The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe

    4/5

    109 ratings13 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Rich biography of the 1950's movie star, which details her mental illness, unstable childhood and troubled relationships with men.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Not much of the book but the whole life of a person I thought was normal, very disappointing to hear the real Marilyn
    • 5/5
      Wow - what a beautiful insight into a lady’s life who I’ve always taken an interest in. This book covered a lot of what isn’t covered in typical research I’ve done. This book is tasteful and insightful. Intriguing and involved read!
    • 5/5
      Wow. Super interesting and adds so much to what we all think we know about M.M the narrator was great with the exception of when he ‘did other voices’ as other commentators have said. His voice for Marilyn was terrible but luckily the story is interesting enough to get past it. Defiantly recommend!!!
    • 5/5
      Taraborrelli is an excellent author who not only has a good writing style but really checks his sources and does good research. Interviews with those who knew and worked with Marilyn are a big part of this book and having this accounts add credence to the book. The book also featured some never before published photographs. Monroe's childhood actually wasn't as bad as portrayed in other books. The foster family who raised her, while strict, loved her and kept in touch with her through the years. She was just so insecure about almost everything which is what caused so many problems - from being late on the set, to not being able to maintain relationships. The author had extensive notes on different sections as Marilyn and the Kennedy's as well as a complete filmography. He also mentioned some other books on Marilyn as other good sources for more information.
    • 5/5
      Great book. Her life was really sad but I feel like I have a better understanding of her life now.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Fascinating story of a troubled woman. Hated the voice they used for her in the audiobook though, sounded like when Michael Jackson is on South Park.

      3 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      What a nice way to get a glimpse into the world of such a wonderful person. Sweet, gentle, kind, yet naive, scared and immature. Her struggles with mental health and the constant search for love. Such a beautiful soul. Such a tortured, used and discarded woman. She truly was a one of a kind lady.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Very well written and kept me interested throughout. Very sad life.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      i love this. Revealing biography with lots of haunting details about Monroe's tortured life.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I've read several books on Marilyn Monroe and often come away feeling like I'm missing a lot. Not in this book. The research here is better done than any other book and the author documents everything instead of relying on gossip or "I know because so and so told so and so who told so and so". If he couldn't document the story he said it was out there but there was no proof. This was especially helpful with the tie-in with the Kennedy family. Some things are true but there is much more that is just guess, gossip or down-right lies. A lot of the lies came from Marilyn but she was a serious drug-addict with both manic-depression and paranoid-schizophrenia (documented if mostly ignored). Marilyn was much like her mother who lived almost all of her adult life in a sanitarium.

      If you would like a chance to cut through a lot of the gossip and misconceptions on Marilyn this is the book for you.

      3 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe by J. Randy Taraborrelli tells Marilyn Monroe’s life story from her difficult childhood to her tragic death. Marilyn was born out of wedlock to Gladys Baker. Both Gladys and her mother were mentally ill and from this book, it sounds like Marilyn was as well.Marilyn was beautiful though, and oozed sex appeal, so she was able to parlay a modeling career into a successful acting career. She turned in some solid performances but was often difficult to work with – coming to work late or not at all.It appears Marilyn made poor choices in her personal life as well. She was addicted to drugs and alcohol and often got involved in unhealthy relationships. Even though she has been revered as a sex symbol and movie star, I found her life to be very sad.Before I listened to the audio version of The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, I really didn’t know that much about Marilyn Monroe, and now I can’t help but wonder what the fascination with her has been all these years. There are several young actresses today who behave much the same way she did and they’re maligned by the press. Having said that, I do have to admit that I enjoyed the time I spent listening to the book.Several facts, like the identity of Marilyn’s father, are revealed for the first time in this book. There is an author interview, that includes never before seen photos, on the last CD, that shows just how well researched this book is. Most of the new information Taraborelli discovered is about Marilyn’s mother.The audio version of The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe is read by Robert Petkoff and he does different voices for different people, including several female voices, which took a little getting used to! Overall, he does a great job, narrating this 7 CD, 8 hour production.

      3 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Revealing biography with lots of haunting details about Monroe's tortured life.

      2 people found this helpful