Timed to the 100th birthday of Marilyn Monroe, and with the full cooperation of the Monroe estate, comes an investigation into the literary life of the iconic actress, from the author of THREE-MARTINI AFTERNOONS AT THE RITZ and DOROTHY PARKER IN HOLLYWOOD.
Far from the spotlights of the Hollywood film sets and the flashbulbs of the press, Marilyn Monroe was a great reader and lover of books. And her association with writers did not stop at reading their words on the page. She was, of course, briefly married to one of America's best-known playwrights, Arthur Miller, and through him met a number of other writers who moved in his literary world. But she also met authors independently of Miller, many of whom were fans of her films and keen to meet her.
Through her deep research, Crowther delves into Marilyn's personal collection of books, and recounts some of these meetings, like the time Monroe shared an apartment with Shelley Winters in West Hollywood, where they invited and entertained Dylan Thomas and Christopher Isherwood for drinks (probably several drinks) after which Monroe arranged for Thomas to meet his childhood hero, Charlie Chaplin. Or when Life magazine arranged for Monroe to be interviewed by Dame Edith Sitwell at the Sunset Tower Hotel in the hope that Monroe would embarrass herself and Sitwell tear her to shreds. Their hopes were shattered when Sitwell was both charmed and blown away by Monroe's intelligence and they subsequently became friends later meeting in London and New York.
Marilyn And Her Books: The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe will chart how Monroe, who left high school before graduation, embarked on an impressive and progressive program of self-education hungry for knowledge, and devouring books as an active and engaged reader. Her personal library reflects this enquiring mind. It is therefore fitting that in 1999, many years after her death, the sale of her books raised well over half a million dollars which was donated to Literary Partners, a non-profit organization in New York, dedicated to promoting adult literacy.
In 2026, for her centenary, this book will showcase Marilyn Monroe, the reader. Because at the end of her life, it was not her jewels or her furs, her shoes, or dresses that she cared about. It was her books.
