The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe

Ferociously smart. A rare combination of guilty pleasure and intellectual insight VOGUE Perceptive. Refreshing. Tears away layers of false readings and conspiracy theories NEW YORK TIMES Intricately researched. Churchwells Marilyn is a complex, well-rounded creature in the best sense the human sense OBSERVER There are many Marilyns: sex goddess and innocent child, crafty manipulator and dumb blonde, screen legend and Hollywood victim. In this incisive and subtle book, Sarah Churchwell looks at how the stories we tell have trivialised a woman we supposedly adore, and at what they reveal about our attitudes towards sex symbols and icons, to women, death, biography and Marilyn herself.