Author: Marilyn Monroe

Year: 2010

Rating: 5/5

Summary: While most people knew her as the ditzy blonde from such films as The Seven Year Itch, Some Like It Hot, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and The Prince and the Showgirl, behind closed doors Marilyn Monroe displayed a fierce intelligence, sensitivity, and depth that she wrote down in diaries, letters to her closest friends and notes. For the first time, this collection of all the suriving ‘fragments’ of Marilyn’s written works has been brought together and published for her fans and critics to see.

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My Thoughts: As a lifelong Marilyn Monroe fan, this book was a dream come true. I’d long heard that the woman who supposedly asked how to spell her own name after it was changed, actually had an IQ of 168. Whether that was actually true or not, I knew that there was more to the blonde bombshell that met the eye. It seemed unlikely that Arthur Miller, one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century, would have married an airhead.

Fragments lets us dive straight into the mind of a complex woman who, in spite of everything, only wanted to be accepted and loved. Full of diary entries, notes, and letters, the book allows us to uncover the woman who admits she’s flawed in many ways but just wants to make her husband happy and succeed as proving herself as a talented actress.

I found the diary entries taking place during her marriages the most emotional. Eachhusband strayed and she caught them red-handed but, still, she refused to give up on her marriage. Still, she felt the need to make it work and loved each man with a fierce passion that was eventually betrayed.

I identify with Marilyn so much because of the, now, infamous quote:

“I’m selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I’m out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”

For a woman who was looked up to as the perfect woman, I found this refreshing. I never claim to be the perfect woman; In fact, I know I probably have more flaws than good points. I identified with this quote; It suddenly brought Marilyn down to Earth and showed her as a real woman. In spite of all her success, she was still insecure and knew she could be hard to handle – Kind of how I feel a lot of the time.

To read through her diaries and letters to friends really was everything I hoped it would be. I now look up to her more for accepting her own flaws and fighting to keep her loved ones close. It’s just a shame so many people took advantage of her. It’s actually quite heartbreaking to realise how alone she feels in the world.

Book lovers will love this too. Every single picture of Marilyn inside this book shows her reading. Why don’t we get to see these more often? I’m going to leave you with my favourite: One that features on the back cover and was taken on the set of an outdoor photoshoot. Marilyn is resting inbetween takes by finishing off reading James Joyce’s Ulysses.