Marilyn Monroe Book:

Editorial Review:
Now available in paperback, a book filled with previously unpublished photographs and letters of Marilyn Monroe. James Haspiel, one of Marilyn's closest friends and confidants during the last eight years of her life, draws on his collection of photos and correspondence for this intimate look. 145 photos, 20 in color.

Marilyn: The Ultimate Look at the Legend Reviews:
I Loved Every Moment
2009-10-23 - I really appreciated reading this book than any other book on Marilyn Monroe because it was written by someone who really knew her in person. The best books are the ones from people who really knew them than people who do not and just want to cash in on her with telling untrue facts. For some reason, I cannot get enough of reading it while I loved seeing the lovely pictures that "Jimmy" took of the real her. In my opinion, Marilyn would still think of him as her sweetheart.

Demystifying an American Icon
2009-10-12 - What James Haspiel did with Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s, would today be considered "stalking." And if repeated today, he would probably be spending the next few years at Riker's Island making license plates. However, in the 1950s it was called `fan club exuberance." Despite this, I am glad he was eventually able to strike up a platonic friendship with Ms. Monroe and thus made it possible to share the interesting angle and insight into her life that is revealed in the narration of the pictures included in this book. In order to get the full meaning however, whether intended or not, one has to go well beyond the pictures to the expression in Marilyn's eyes, and the subtext implied in her relationship with him, a random smitten teenager.

First, there is one inference that simply cannot be avoided: the very fact that he, a sixteen year old fan club enthusiast, was able to "worm his way" into her life, speaks loudly about the utter loneliness of her existence. It seems from this book that life for aspiring movie stars and models really takes place in between films and shoots. And for those who spend their lives sitting by the phone waiting for a call, or an audition, a photo shoot, or just news from an agent, life can be depressingly and almost unbearably empty and unfulfilled. A kind of "permanent psychological stir craziness" can set in.

It is clear from all of the photos in this very fine galley, that Marilyn was a profoundly lonely person and that this loneliness apparently was not a new phenomenon for her. It is etched in every line in her expressions. In her eyes one can easily see that happiness for her was always a deep and clear yearning, but also an elusive ever-fleeing afterthought. Having a mascot like Haspiel immeasurably enriched her life (as well as his) by deflecting their shared emptiness and loneliness onto their empty routines and "randomly arranged" encounters. So in a strange sort of way, his "stalking" became symbiotic in ways that neither of them probably would ever like to admit to. This comes through with the "tic" and cough she developed when expecting him to show up at her door. The common silent consent (their own Kabuki dance) had bored its way into her nervous system. They both became dependent on their own silent routines, based wholly on empty expectations of seeing each other? Surely at some level of consciousness, they both must have known what was going on. Haspiel admitted as much.

The other point is that the photos revealed Ms. Monroe to have been an eminently normal human being: lost most of the time, living out a mostly empty life, yet trying to parlay her main asset: her beauty into some kind of meaningfulness that she could hold on to. Rather oddly for her, throughout her short life, this turned out to be a very difficult challenge. She was admired for her sex appeal in the same way that an unusual or exotic looking pet might be admired: interesting but untouchable (Don't touch or you'll get burned!).

From Haspiel's (voyeuristic) vantage point, we don't really know what went on behind closed doors between Marilyn and her romantic interests, however this book leaves many not so subtle clues. For instance, the very fact that her second husband, Yankee great, Joe DiMaggio, agreed to allow two random teenagers (who had snuck into the hallway of their 11th floor New York hotel room) in to see her just for the asking, must mean that nothing much was going on behind those closed doors? [Most husbands would have told them to "get the hell out of here," and then called hotel security.]

Finally, the tragedy of Marilyn's existence was that as an icon and a sex symbol, it was as if she was thrown into a lemon grove with a pack of wolves, and yet she never found a way to avoid being attacked or learned how to make lemonade. From the very start, she was set up to be exploited even by those who genuinely loved and cared about her, as Haspiel apparently did. Her life thus is a clear case of where beauty, not only was not enough, but it posed an existential danger to Marilyn's very being. Yet it was all she had.

Knowing "what to do" and "what not to do" in order to survive by carving out a meaningful life, until the very end, seemed to have eluded her. And as viewed through this pictorial galley, seemed well above her introspective abilities. The last thing that comes through in her friendship with Jimmy Haspiel is that she was a genuine, innocent, and beautiful human being both inside and out, asking nothing of life but some sense of balance and a chance for a little bit of meaningfulness and a little bit of happiness. Sadly, she was not to have either of them. Three stars for the story told in relief, in the subtext and for some very good pictures.

Norma....do go on!
2004-01-28 - This is by far my favorite Marilyn book ever! There are so many photos, that you don't have to face that anxiety of looking at the last one! This is a several sitting book, even if you are just using it as a coffee table book..

Original Marilyn Angle - Worth Every Dollar.
2001-07-24 - If you can get this book, get it. Mr. Haspiel was a teenager when he met Marilyn and he stuck with her. His information is first hand, as opposed to authors who cash in on researched material. James Haspiel is the source writers went to for their magazine articles and such, and his book is wonderful. He even has pictures of Marilyn, proudly displayed, without make-up on.

MARILYN: THE ULTIMATE LOOK AT THE LEGEND
2000-12-26 - I found this book to be a very special one on Marilyn Monroe and her "platonic" relationship with a special fan/friend. This book spans an eight year relationship with the author. You get a "back-seat" view of how Monroe's personality was, whether it was happy, gloomy, or sad during their "friendship" period. I truly enjoyed reading this book. It should be considered a "must read" and "must have" copy for for all Monroe's fans' and buffs' libraries alike. As the previous reader stated, this book was written from a perspective of someone being very close to Miss Monroe; somewhat placing this as a "unique" and interesting bit of MM reading. Lastly, the author gives the reader a "touching" bit of his own soul, when he describes his very last meeting with Miss Monroe before leaving for California.