"Goodbye Norma Jean. Though I never knew you at all" ….. Candle in The Wind, Elton John
Those lyrics by Elton John pretty well summed up my thoughts on Marilyn Monroe, having seen her in only a few films and on posters, I was only really aware of the conspiracies surrounding her mysterious death but had never really given her much thought. That was until Mrs. CFC was rummaging through some old books and came across "The Assassination of Marilyn Monroe" by Donald H. Wolfe, which she suggested I might enjoy. Although not a great reader, I picked it up and over the last fortnight I have become very enlightened to not only the legend which was, and still is, Marilyn Monroe but also to the very strange circumstances which surrounded her death.
The book opens up with the events surrounding her death on Sunday August 5th 1962, where she was found dead in her bedroom, presumed to have committed suicide through an overdose of barbiturates. Over the following chapters Wolfe goes into all the facts surrounding her death, the initial police investigation and the strange occurrences which did not tie in with it being a suicide. These include that her death was not officially reported
to the police until early Sunday morning, although an ambulance and other figures had been at her residence late the previous night, including her doctor and Bobby Kennedy. We also get to read about how the statements which were given during the investigation did not collaborate with the facts and over the years have changed as certain figures attempted to cover up the truth. After several chapters looking at all the aspects surrounding her death, including detailed information on her autopsy and the fact that documents mysteriously went missing, Wolfe attempts to point his finger at a certain conspiracy that he believes to be the truth, and in doing so provides enough evidence to support his beliefs.
After we get the examination of the death scene, Wolfe then goes into telling Marilyn's life story which is highly detailed. He really does not leave any part of her life out and starts right from before she was born when her mother became pregnant out of wedlock, which was frowned upon back in those days. As he tells each section of her life, he enlightens you to the way she felt through each stage, with quotes from interviews with Marilyn and prominent people through out her life. Instead of glossing over her early life before she became a star, we get a detailed account of her growing up where we see her packaged from one home to another after her mother had a mental breakdown, at times staying in an orphanage. Through his writing you can get a real sense of how she felt growing up, never having a real family and suffering from taunts as she was always penniless.
Of course a lot of the book is dedicated to her life when she became an adult and sought fame in front of the lens. As with her early days, Wolfe does not skimp with the detail and on several occasions it feels like we are actually watching her life unfold in front of our eyes, as if we are bystanders on a street corner. Some of her earlier experiences as she tried to get into movies really demonstrate the sort of person Marilyn was and Wolfe does a magnificent job of putting this across in the written prose. At the same time, Wolfe brings in chapters about the crucial people who were prominent in Marilyn's life as well as those who were prominent during the investigations into her death. The most notable of these is the on going relationship between Marilyn and JFK, and in true Wolfe style he dedicates a few chapters to JFK from his days as a child through to becoming a playboy Senator and onto becoming President, thanks to the help of the criminal underground. Wolfe does not just highlight the famous people in her life, and goes into detail on her psychiatrist and doctor who were known to be Marxists in a time when they were being hunted down and also goes into detail about her many marriages as well as her flirtations with the likes of Frank Sinatra, which is very insightful on its own.
For me I not only found the book to be very enlightening but also amazingly easy to read. I say amazingly, because the book is absolutely crammed with information which could have become quite tedious if it wasn't for Wolfe's engaging writing style. The initial chapters' surrounding her death plays out like a piece of crime fiction rather than a true story and really gets you hooked. On top of this the book includes a section of photos of prominent people in her life which really helped to make the people in the book come to life. Plus it also includes copies of official documents, including her autopsy report and a plan of her house so that you can really visualize the events surrounding her death as well as back up the beliefs put across in the book.
Although Wolfe puts across his beliefs in how Marilyn came to die, he never becomes blinkered in his view point and tries to show a balance in discussing all of the possibilities surrounding her untimely death. Personally I loved reading this book, thank you Mrs. CFC, and it has gone a long way to enlightening me about a Hollywood legend who I had never given a huge amount of thought to prior to reading this. Even though the book sparked my interest due to my love of movies, I would say this would be an enjoyable read for anyone who is interested in Marilyn Monroe or the conspiracies surrounding her death.
These American sonspiracies are always fascinating to read - I'm reading about JFK right now, I might move onto this book next.
fabfrog5 25.10.2006 19:32
oh i love marilyn, this is actually the book im nearly through now! im loving all the different theories surrounding that weekend. a great review, i really should finish my copy now! cheers! :) x
Aug 27th, 2006
(Oct 22nd, 2006)
exceptional by (1%):
very helpful by (99%):
