All the Available Light
A Marilyn Monroe Reader
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
No star in any genre has affected the world as deeply or has lasted as long without fading as Marilyn Monroe. This thought-provoking and wide-ranging collection of essays examines the undiminished incandescence of Marilyn Monroe -- the impact she has had on our culture, the evolution of her legend since her death, and what she tells us now about our lives and times -- and includes previously unpublished work from some of America's best writers, such as: Joyce Carol Oates, Alice Elliot Dark, Albert Mobilo, Marge Piercy, Lore Segal, Lisa Shea, and many more.
From her troubled family beginnings to the infamous $13 million auction held at Christie's in New York City, All the Available Light paints an unforgettable portrait of Marilyn as you've never seen her before.
This extremely rare cover photo was taken c. 1954, on the set of The Seven Year Itch.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist and editor McDonough (The Barbie Chronicles) takes on an ambitious project: collecting thoughts about a woman whose every nuance has been so exhaustively discussed that nothing new, it seems, could possibly be said. Happily, McDonough pulls it off, delivering new insight into a star who "absorbed all the available light and made it her own." With some new material and a wealth of previously published essays, the collection glitters with the inclusion of luminaries like Molly Haskell, Marge Piercy and Joyce Carol Oates. The pieces range widely in subject while keeping Marilyn at the center: Laurence Olivier writes of being charmed, somewhat against his will, by the bouncy star, while other essayists describe how the mere image of Marilyn changed the way they saw themselves or the world. Especially nice is McDonough's juxtaposition of pieces from different times, such as Clare Boothe Luce's 1964 article following Gloria Steinem's 1986 essay, with both taking a similar position on "Love Goddess" as victim, but from two very different angles. Often, the essayists question their own fascination and that of their readers. Steinem writes that Marilyn's untimely death may have something to do with it: "When the past dies, there is mourning, but when the future dies, our imaginations are compelled to carry it on." A dissection of celebrity in a starstruck age, this collection is at once intelligent and fresh, proving once again why the Love Goddess will continue to live on.
