It’s interesting, but for a biography of over 600 pages it’s a little sad to boil Monroe down to her men. I didn’t learn anything new about Monroe, simply about the men in her life. Unfortunately in lieu of Marilyn’s life and work Summers just seems content to jump from relationship to relationship. If you’d like an in-depth look at Monroe’s childhood I recommend Marilyn Monroe: Private and Confidential by Michelle Morgan. To hard-core fans, omitting this is fine since it’s been rehashed in other works. In fact, the book starts with her birth then quickly jumps to Monroe at 16. Goddess doesn’t tell a straight, chronological look at Monroe’s life. The strongest elements of Summers’ work is his research as well as his assertions about Marilyn’s demise. It’s all for the best as a majority of Goddess was well-known to me, and would have simply been repetitive. I wouldn’t call this a biography as Marilyn’s childhood is virtually eliminated. With that, Goddess walks the tightrope between lurid expose (on par with Porter), and intriguing government conspiracy. Since Porter doesn’t include a bibliography with his works it’s unknown if Summers was used or not. In reading the recent reprint of the book, I found myself reading several excerpts that were lifted, and placed, in Darwin Porter‘s recent book about Marilyn. Anthony Summers seems to have inspired future writers based off his 1984 book Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe.
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