 | |
List Price: $14.95 | | Publisher: Ferine Books
Salesrank: 102218
|
| Our Price: $6.99 |
| Used Price: $2.50 |
|
| Media: Paperback |
|
Editorial Review:
Inside Marilyn Monroe is an intense, personal memoir spanning more than a decade (1952-1962) by the then-actor John Gilmore, detailing his acquaintanceship with the most important movie star in the world, Marilyn Monroe. From Hollywood to New York, from New York back to Hollywood, the casual hello-goodbye friendship building to a point where Monroe and Gilmore were about to make a picture together but tragedy struck in Marilyn's life. Gilmore turned from acting to devote himself to writing and his memoir gathers Marilyn's personal life through many asscoaites and stars known to Marilyn and Gilmore. Revealed is a treasure-trove of facets of Marilyn's life previously unknown. Gilmore's memoir shuns the conspiracy theories as he instead focuses on Marilyn as she really was, not as the media-created, cardboard sexpot, but the living and breathing "wonder" that she was. IThis haunting, highly personal memoir contains many photographs never before published and are made public for the first time.
Inside Marilyn Monroe Reviews:
FINALLY...SOMETHING REALISTIC. 
2008-07-16 - This book shows plainly that Marilyn was her own worst enemy. Enough with those unsubstantiated conspiracies already! Marilyn was in trouble and it was plain to see during her lifetime. Only now, so many years after her demise, is her death taken as something mysterious.
Disappointing book offers few insights into the Marilyn Mystery 
2008-04-14 - The old adage, "Don't judge a book by its cover," should serve as a warning. The lovely cover photo is, indeed, the best part of this disappointing book. The author's claimed tenuous personal connection to Marilyn proves not to be enough to provide any new insights into the life, and especially, the death of this greatest of movie stars. Amateurishly written, repetitious and smug, the book sticks to the "official" cover-up story of her death and it will disappoint all in- depth students of Monroe. Download the cover photo and skip the book. Freeman Gunter
Perplexing but Interesting Memoir about Marilyn 
2007-11-11 - I looked forward to reading this book, with so few 'new' accounts from those who knew Marilyn available. Miss Monroe has long fascinated me and I've read dozens of biographies and film books about her and her life.
The early account of Marilyn's childhood was easily the best I have ever read. There is a depth and perception of the agonies of her childhood that makes one possibly be able to understand her perspective and what she experienced with so many undeserved rejections -- whether from her mother, Gladys, her 'Aunt Ana' or Grace McKee. That part of the book was well done, poignant and gave the reader a glimpse into what must have been a sad, difficult childhood.
Once Marilyn becomes an adult, however, it's hard to reconcile the almost stupid, dim-witted and obtuse individual described as Marilyn/Norma Jeane with the delightful, witty, introspective Marilyn I've come to know and love through other books/memoirs about the ethereal beauty. Whether intentional or not, once Marilyn becomes a young adult and model, she is described throughout the remainder of this book as a drug-addled, self-centered, small-minded, and pathetic woman who -- amazingly -- made some of the finest films of all time come alive with her sparkling, spectacular and unforgettable performances.
Marilyn's marriage to Joe DiMaggio is fairly glossed over, and her unhappy marriage to Arthur Miller is barely touched upon, but something is lacking through the entire time period of her first major film roles, two marriages and even the oncoming of the early 1960's.
While the depiction of Robert Slatzer is likely dead-on, and the impact of Dr. Ralph Greenson is given a self-promoting slant that many have suspected, still the last third of the book pushes on with very little detail (other than continuing a portrait of Marilyn that, if true, is disconcertingly pathetic).
Perhaps it's just me--wanting Marilyn to have had some moments of true happiness and joy--but there was something utterly missinng in this portrayal of the ultimate blonde and insight into her personality. I've read too many quotes that are Marilyn's -- and her poetic fragments and so many quite witty, clever remarks -- to believe that she was the sad, eternally bombed blondeshell portrayed. I think the intentions behind this memoir were sincere; but some elements of her personality and likability are distinctly lost in this portrait. I'm rating it 4 stars for it's intended sincerity, but the book, Marilyn (in Her Own Words) is still a portrayal I find far more in sync with what I've learned about Miss Monroe and her life and times. That was the book that brought Marilyn, the woman, 'alive' to me and began to make me feel as though she was a real flesh-and-blood sensitive, intelligent human. This book is, as I said, interesting, but baffling; particularly since the first third or so of it was so well done. Sadly, the remainder of the book did not have nearly the personal insight and touches that made the early part of the book astonishing. For an account of the early life/childhood of Norma Jeane, this book is unsurpassed.
A Different View on MM
2007-11-11 - Rather than this being the typical biography and rehashing the same old stuff that any Monroe fan knows backwards, the author does give a new, fresh and insightful look at the life of Marilyn Monroe. Straying from the sensational and wild claims of other authors, Inside Marilyn Monroe is more of an essay book, nonetheless very well written.
One of the pleasant aspects in reading this book is that author John Gilmore, who knew Marilyn Monroe, doesn't claim (as so many other authors have) to have been the love of her life; her best friend; that Monroe couldn't live without him; that he was the whole focus of her life; the he was the only one she trusted; or that he was her savior.
The book does offer an array of very rare pictures, unfortunately a lot are small and blurry. As with most books written on celebrities, the reader should decide on whether to take its face value upfront on what they read. Personally, I really liked this book for its originality and insight.
THE REAL MARILYN -- NOT THE ILLUSION
2007-11-01 - JOHN GILMORE HAS WRITTEN A BOOK ABOUT THE REAL MARILYN, THE SENSITIVE, CONFUSED, SAD PERSON SHE WAS FAR MORE THAN THE JOKING, LAUGHING MARILYN, A FACADE SHE WAS REMARKABLE AT MAINTAINING. GILMORE HAS LIVED TOO CLOSE TO HIS SUBJECTS TO BE IN AWE OF THEIR ILLUSIONS. IN THIS PENETRATING MEMOIR, HE GIVES US A DEEPLY PERSONAL, RATHER DISTURBING PORTRAIT OF A TRUE ARTISTIC WONDER THAT DESERTED THE WORLD FAR, FAR TOO EARLY IN HER REMARKABLE LIFE. REGARDING A NEGATIVE REVIEW BY "KOOKOO GUY," WHO HEADLINES, "DID WE READ THE SAME BOOK?" IN WHICH HE SAYS THE PHOTOS ARE OF POOR QUALITY, WHICH CLEARLY ARE NOT THE AUTHOR'S FAULT. HE MENTIONS MANY CAPTIONS TO THESE PHOTOS CONTAIN DISCLAIMERS AS TO THE BAD GRAPHIC QUALITY, AND FURTHER STATES THE WORDS, "FROM BAD NEGATIVES," USED AS CAPTIONS. THERE ARE NO DISCLAIMERS IN PHOTO CAPTIONS, NOR ANY WORDS TO THAT EFFECT IN THE ENTIRE BOOK. I GUESS "KOOKOO" WAS NOT READING THE SAME BOOK....... "INSIDE MARILYN MONROE" IS THE FIRST OFFERING I HAVE READ ABOUT MARILYN THAT OFFERS THE READER A JOURNEY INTO MARILYN'S EXTREMELY PRIVATE WORLD WHERE WE ARE TOUCHED BY A SCENARIO NO OTHER WRITER HAS SUCCEEDED IN REVEALING. THERE IS NO QUESTION ABOUT IT. JOHN GILMORE HAS SUCCEEDED IN THIS. REGARDLESS OF THE KOOKOOS OF WEST HOLLYWOOD, THIS IS A HIGHLY RECOMMENDED READ FOR ALL DESIROUS OF CONFRONTING THE LIFE BEHIND THE SILVER SCREEN, AND THE ILLUSIONS WE ARE PROGRAMMED TO ACCEPT AS "THE REAL THING." THIS IS THE REAL THING.
