3.21 Reading Like Marilyn Monroe for a Month

Turns out books, not diamonds, are a girl’s best friend. Marilyn Monroe: actress, singer, blonde bombshell, and … avid reader. In 1999, Marilyn Monroe’s personal library was auctioned, and in 2010 the list of books was published online. People were surprised at her big collection of American literature, French classics, modern plays, poetry, books on religion and spirituality … the list goes on. So last month, I chose three books from Marilyn’s shelf and decided to read them. What did I discover? Well, you’ll have to listen to find out. Hope you enjoy!

Listen to the episode here

Download a full transcription of the episode here

Books

• The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories by Carson McCullers

• Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

• My Ántonia by Willa Cather

Further reading / viewing

• Image: Marilyn Monroe reading Ulysses by James Joyce

• Image: Carson McCullers kissing Marilyn Monroe

• Image: Paula Modersohn-Becker’s portrait of Rainer Maria Rilke

• Article: The complete list of books in Marilyn’s library

• Poem: Rilke’s poem for Paula after her death: Requiem for a Friend

• Short story: Wunderkind by Carson McCullers

• Book: A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

• Book: The Children’s Book by A. S. Byatt

References

• Article: ‘Last Talk with a Lonely Girl: Marilyn Monroe’ by Richard Meryman – Life magazine, 17th August 1962

• Article: ‘Marilyn Monroe: Avid Reader, Writer & Book Collector’ by Stephen J. Gertz – Booktryst, 8th October 2010

• Article: ‘Nyack People & Places: Marilyn Monroe’s Lunch with Carson McCullers’ by Mike Hays – Nyack News & Views, 8th October 2020

• Video: ‘Marilyn Monroe’ by Georges Belmont – Marie Claire, April 1960

• Book: ‘Fragments: Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters’ by Marilyn Monroe, edited by Stanley Buchthal and Bernard Comment – Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 12th October 2010

• Book: ‘Marilyn Monroe’ by Eve Arnold – First edition published by Knopf, 1st January 1987 / Edition I referenced published by Harry N. Abrams, 1st September 2005

Black Lives Matter resources

Aboriginal Lives Matter resources

• My Instagram, Twitter, Blog, Goodreads and StoryGraph

• The Community Library’s Instagram

• Cover artwork is by Ashley Ronning

• Ashley’s Instagram, website, and printing studio website

Featured image: Marilyn Monroe reading Ulysses by James Joyce, photographed by Eve Arnold