jeffreyreads's review against another edition
5.0
“Women who veer off course are dangerous. They disrupt status quo, rattle power structures to their brittle cores. They might have expected this from Katharine Hepburn, a swaggery baritone rebel who could drink with the boys in her trousers and fedoras. But Marilyn belonged to men—she was their chirpy little bird, cheap and easy as baby powder. What do you do when Miss Cheesecake goes rogue, divorces a natural hero, and defies the most powerful men in Los Angeles? Zanuck and his team were the closest you could come to sultans and kings. By cracking the fortress of Studio Hollywood, Marilyn had struck an early blow at the patriarchy itself.”
“I think I’m a mixture. Of what I don’t know. One thing, I’m continually off balance.”
❤️
“I think I’m a mixture. Of what I don’t know. One thing, I’m continually off balance.”
❤️
ngominh's review against another edition
4.0
Đọc nhân phim Blonde của Marilyn phát sóng. Cuốn này khác với các cuốn memoir là nó chỉ tập trung vào 1 năm được coi là hạnh phúc nhất đời Marilyn, từ đó 1 chân dung rất khác của minh tinh tóc vàng được tái tạo.
Một bài mình viết cho Zing ở link sau: https://zingnews.vn/co-mot-marilyn-monroe-rat-khac-post1365558.html
Một bài mình viết cho Zing ở link sau: https://zingnews.vn/co-mot-marilyn-monroe-rat-khac-post1365558.html
mariahroze's review against another edition
3.0
I love reading biographies, especially about famous people that I know very little about. When this book crossed my path I eagerly wanted to read it.
This book starts off when Marilyn leaves Hollywood and everything else behind her. She had a failed marriage and an acting career, where she wasn't being taken seriously and was not offered the type of jobs she wanted. She needed a new scene and different friends. She needed Manhattan.
In Manhattan, she was able to go to the Met, appreciate art, and read for hours. She wasn't as recognizable in the city and was finally able to do what she wanted. She ends up breaking her contract with Fox Studios and creates her own production company. This is when she becomes extremely successful and doesn't need to rely on the sexist company that previously owned her.
This book starts off when Marilyn leaves Hollywood and everything else behind her. She had a failed marriage and an acting career, where she wasn't being taken seriously and was not offered the type of jobs she wanted. She needed a new scene and different friends. She needed Manhattan.
In Manhattan, she was able to go to the Met, appreciate art, and read for hours. She wasn't as recognizable in the city and was finally able to do what she wanted. She ends up breaking her contract with Fox Studios and creates her own production company. This is when she becomes extremely successful and doesn't need to rely on the sexist company that previously owned her.
lola425's review against another edition
4.0
This is a lovely and heartbreaking portrait of a curious, passionate, and smart woman who was trying so hard for people to really see her. It's evident in this book that it might have been otherwise for Marilyn and the year that she spent in Manhattan may have been the closest she came to authenticity joy. It would be easy to write MM off as a childish, emotionally stunted, damaged woman (even if at times she is all of those things). Winder does not let the reader do that. She gives us MM's flaws, but merely as part of her greater complexity, which I think is often ignored in favor of the more dramatic mythos that has accumulated around her story.
Winder's prose is lovely and she captures an intimacy and immediacy that draws you in. Winder also wrote Pain, Parties, Work about Sylvia Plath's Manhattan summer and she is able to capture the combination of drive and vulnerability and confusion that doomed many an ambitious woman in the 50's & 60's.
Highly recommend.
Winder's prose is lovely and she captures an intimacy and immediacy that draws you in. Winder also wrote Pain, Parties, Work about Sylvia Plath's Manhattan summer and she is able to capture the combination of drive and vulnerability and confusion that doomed many an ambitious woman in the 50's & 60's.
Highly recommend.
sydneyzahradka's review
4.0
the more i read about her, the more my heart breaks. it's all so unfair.
amymorgan's review against another edition
5.0
I received a free copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. There are so many things I can say about this book that I just don't have time to write them all down. So in order to shorten it up a little bit I will just say that this book was one of the best portraits of Marilyn Monroe that I have ever read. She has always been someone that I've admired and this book shows so much of her inner beauty, courage, intelligence and her ability to inspire and surprise so many.
Many parts of this book contained new information for me, which I loved because I have never really read in-depth about the year that she spent in New York. It is so heartbreaking to me that only after her death are people willing to really see all that this woman had to offer. I enjoyed reading this book because it also showed many of the people that you don't often hear about that she bonded with over this period that were her true champions even after she returned to Hollywood.
Fellow actress Maureen Stapleton said of Marilyn "This was a girl who had nothing but the great gem that she was, and everyone got to hold and fondle that gem, and then put it back when they were done with it." This quote to me says so many things about Marilyn's life and the many things she endured just to survive.
The only thing that I wish was added to this book would be more pictures of her during this time. I can't wait for this to come out so that I can buy a copy for my bookshelf!
Many parts of this book contained new information for me, which I loved because I have never really read in-depth about the year that she spent in New York. It is so heartbreaking to me that only after her death are people willing to really see all that this woman had to offer. I enjoyed reading this book because it also showed many of the people that you don't often hear about that she bonded with over this period that were her true champions even after she returned to Hollywood.
Fellow actress Maureen Stapleton said of Marilyn "This was a girl who had nothing but the great gem that she was, and everyone got to hold and fondle that gem, and then put it back when they were done with it." This quote to me says so many things about Marilyn's life and the many things she endured just to survive.
The only thing that I wish was added to this book would be more pictures of her during this time. I can't wait for this to come out so that I can buy a copy for my bookshelf!
booksunset's review against another edition
4.0
Muszę na wstępie powiedzieć, że bardzo mi się podobało ta książka, która niewątpliwie jest warta uwagi, ale ma ona kilka minusów i plusów, które także chciałbym poruszyć.
Przechodząc do konkretów, nie podobało mi się to, że oczekiwałem od tej pozycji trochę więcej Nowego Jorku, a mianowicie, więcej opisów związanych z miastem, gdyż zamiast tego dostałem więcej zachwytów Marilyn nad tym miastem, niż konkretów i szerszego obrazu, ale wiem, że to taki minus na zasadzie „czepiasz się”, ale to tylko moje zdanie. Następną rzeczą, która mi trochę psuła ogólny odbiór, to taki lekki brak wyważenia tego, co chcemy zawrzeć, bo z jednej strony autorka skupia się na roku w Nowym Jorku, i wszystko jest fajnie, a z drugiej strony czasami autorka za bardzo wybiega w przeszłość lub przyszłość. Dobrze jest dodać pewne ważne fakty, ale co za dużo to nie zdrowo. Wolałbym, aby książka skupiła się tylko na tym tytułowym „najradośniejszym roku” i nie odbiegała zbyt daleko, bo to psuje cały koncept. Ostatnią rzeczą są zdjęcia, których jest za mało moim zdaniem, bo często wspomniane są jakieś fotografie i mamy tylko ich opis, dzięki czemu możemy sobie je wyobrazić, ale nic więcej, a jeśli byłoby przy tym zdjęcie, robiłoby to dużo większe wrażenie. Oczywiście te zdjęcia, które zostały zamieszczone, są przepiękne, ale dobrze by było gdyby częściej się pojawiały.
I to tyle, jeśli chodzi o negatywy, więc przejdźmy do pozytywów. To, co sprawia, że książka jest tak interesująca, to właśnie postać Marilyn Monroe, która była bardzo ciekawym człowiekiem. Ta książka pokazuje niesamowitą determinację w dążeniu do marzeń, a postać aktorki może nas wiele nauczyć m.in. jak żyć dla siebie, jak nie dać się złamać i być prawdziwym sobą oraz jak się nie poddawać, a także, dlaczego nie warto oceniać ludzi po tym jak wyglądają.
Bez wątpienia pozycja ta jest bardzo inspirująca i naprawdę godna uwagi, a ponadto nie nudzi, mimo że to biografia, bo Marilyn nie wiedziała, co to nuda i w tej książce to widać.
Odkryjcie, co drzemie w tej niesamowitej kobiecie i dajcie się porwać do jej świata, który nie zawsze był kolorowy.
Przechodząc do konkretów, nie podobało mi się to, że oczekiwałem od tej pozycji trochę więcej Nowego Jorku, a mianowicie, więcej opisów związanych z miastem, gdyż zamiast tego dostałem więcej zachwytów Marilyn nad tym miastem, niż konkretów i szerszego obrazu, ale wiem, że to taki minus na zasadzie „czepiasz się”, ale to tylko moje zdanie. Następną rzeczą, która mi trochę psuła ogólny odbiór, to taki lekki brak wyważenia tego, co chcemy zawrzeć, bo z jednej strony autorka skupia się na roku w Nowym Jorku, i wszystko jest fajnie, a z drugiej strony czasami autorka za bardzo wybiega w przeszłość lub przyszłość. Dobrze jest dodać pewne ważne fakty, ale co za dużo to nie zdrowo. Wolałbym, aby książka skupiła się tylko na tym tytułowym „najradośniejszym roku” i nie odbiegała zbyt daleko, bo to psuje cały koncept. Ostatnią rzeczą są zdjęcia, których jest za mało moim zdaniem, bo często wspomniane są jakieś fotografie i mamy tylko ich opis, dzięki czemu możemy sobie je wyobrazić, ale nic więcej, a jeśli byłoby przy tym zdjęcie, robiłoby to dużo większe wrażenie. Oczywiście te zdjęcia, które zostały zamieszczone, są przepiękne, ale dobrze by było gdyby częściej się pojawiały.
I to tyle, jeśli chodzi o negatywy, więc przejdźmy do pozytywów. To, co sprawia, że książka jest tak interesująca, to właśnie postać Marilyn Monroe, która była bardzo ciekawym człowiekiem. Ta książka pokazuje niesamowitą determinację w dążeniu do marzeń, a postać aktorki może nas wiele nauczyć m.in. jak żyć dla siebie, jak nie dać się złamać i być prawdziwym sobą oraz jak się nie poddawać, a także, dlaczego nie warto oceniać ludzi po tym jak wyglądają.
Bez wątpienia pozycja ta jest bardzo inspirująca i naprawdę godna uwagi, a ponadto nie nudzi, mimo że to biografia, bo Marilyn nie wiedziała, co to nuda i w tej książce to widać.
Odkryjcie, co drzemie w tej niesamowitej kobiecie i dajcie się porwać do jej świata, który nie zawsze był kolorowy.
samanthairene's review against another edition
3.0
Even though it sometimes seemed a bit unfocused, this has given me one of what seems to be truest and most nuanced portrait of Marilyn Monroe that I've come across.