Blond.
by Joyce Carol Oates
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1037)
recommends it for:
EVERYONE
Finally finished, wish I were still reading, all magic is gone from life now, pls advs.
This is the New Feminist Text. I honestly think if every gal too young to remember (or too young to even have a mother who actively remembers the effects of) the women's movement of the 60s were given a copy of this book, we'd have much less patriarchy snackdom in the world, much more equal pay, and way fewer pointy-toed stilettos.
Marilyn Monroe was continuously, systematically screwed over, pawned, a...more
This is the New Feminist Text. I honestly think if every gal too young to remember (or too young to even have a mother who actively remembers the effects of) the women's movement of the 60s were given a copy of this book, we'd have much less patriarchy snackdom in the world, much more equal pay, and way fewer pointy-toed stilettos.
Marilyn Monroe was continuously, systematically screwed over, pawned, a...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in May, 2008
I never thought I'd be interested in reading a book about Marilyn Monroe, but wow, what a wonderful experience! Oates points out from the beginning that this is a work of fiction -- it is not a biography. However, it is clear that while much of the text is a product of Oates' imagination, it is based on a solid foundation of fact.
Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed Oates' writing style -- she has a way of getting inside the heads of her characters unlike few other authors I've read. The reader...more
Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed Oates' writing style -- she has a way of getting inside the heads of her characters unlike few other authors I've read. The reader...more
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Foxfire was the first JCO I ever read, and this was the second. If Foxfire made me start to *maybe* think I was falling in love with JCO as a writer, Blonde transformed that maybe into a definite in the first line.
An avid Marilyn fan for years, I have always been most interested in firsthand accounts of her acting methods and her status as a misunderstood genius. And there's a lot of that here. But there's so much more. Most reviews of this book use the word "ambitious" and I'm...more
An avid Marilyn fan for years, I have always been most interested in firsthand accounts of her acting methods and her status as a misunderstood genius. And there's a lot of that here. But there's so much more. Most reviews of this book use the word "ambitious" and I'm...more
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
classic movie fans, marilyn obsessees
I had no idea what this book was about when I checked it out from the library. It wasn't until I got it home that I noticed the cover was a silhouette of Marilyn Monroe with her back to the camera. This book kept me up til the wee hours for the seven days it took me to finish it. It is a fictionalized biography in that it recalls the life of Marilyn from birth to "mysterious" death at age 37 (?) from an overdose of sleeping pills with conversations and situations imagined as they mi...more
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This is totally unfair, but I gave this book a 4 only because the story itself was so gut-wrenchingly difficult for me to read, and not because of the quality of the story or the writing. This is one of those books that's situated on some fine line between fiction and biography, and it's about the life of Marilyn Monroe. The way that Oates is able to get into her character, even the dialogue of Marilyn, makes you feel that you are really reading an autobiography at times, set in story form. I ho...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Joyce Carol Oates - I think her best
What a book!!! I began reading this book Sunday night and seven hours later realized I hadn't put the book down.. If I stopped for a drink of water, I don't remember it..
Such a tragic story.. and though Joyce Carol Oates calls it a work of fiction.. not all is fiction.. "1950: In a season of clandestine radioactive explosions. Fierce hot winds rushing across the Nevada Salt Flats. the deserts of western Utah, birds stricken in flight plummeting to earth like cartoon birds. Dying antelope,...more
Such a tragic story.. and though Joyce Carol Oates calls it a work of fiction.. not all is fiction.. "1950: In a season of clandestine radioactive explosions. Fierce hot winds rushing across the Nevada Salt Flats. the deserts of western Utah, birds stricken in flight plummeting to earth like cartoon birds. Dying antelope,...more
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recommends it for:
Anyone who's in the mood for a racy read
This book is well worth reading. There are over 60 biographies on Monroe but none have captured her true history like this FICTIONAL BIOGRAPHY. Oates uses facts and blurs them with fiction in order to give the reader an understanding of Monroe's psychology as a product of American industry, namely the STUDIO. It weaves in conspiracy theory to keep the story exciting and allows the reader to continually question "what if?"Monroe's ghostly figure, with her white hair, white skin, blank s...more
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Read in July, 2008
This book frustrated me, made me think, moved me, creeped me out, and had passages that were quotable, all at once.I am a fan of Marilyn Monroe's movies and have read many books about her over the years, but this fictionalization packed more of a wallop than any "real" story of her life. JCO is obviously a talented and lauded writer, but I have found her work inconsistent and just a tad too steeped in creepy sexual energy. For this subject, it worked. I feel changed by this book. It...more
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Read in April, 2005
recommended to Katy by:
bought it after Oates reading
This monster took me over a month to read (around 800 pages), and I also left it in my hotel room in Calgary in 2005 and it took a couple of weeks to get it back. I noticed that Oates began use the ampersand (&) instead of the word 'and' about halfway through. I thought it was a literary device at first, but my suspicion now is that it was to save space. The book was good. Despite its length, I never found it cumbersome or laborious. It was easy to split my time between that and other books....more
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Read in January, 2004
So much has been written about the life and death of Marilyn Monroe, much of it specualtion and sensationalism. I am willing to bet this is the best fictional non-fiction account of her life. It really delves into the historical details of her life from childhood to adulthood, and it also offers a realistic, not Hollywood look into her thoughts and emotions. It's a long read, but it goes by very fast. After reading it, I just wanted to find out more about Marilyn. I rented all of these tv d...more
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Joyce Carol Oates writes like an 8 course French meal.....so full, so rich, so satisfying, that you think the end will never come; you don't want the end to come.
Her writing style envelopes you and has the ability to impact your life; her words, her prose enters your bloodstream, becoming a part of you internally.
Blonde is one magnificent story...a story that could only have been written by the hand of someone who knew her; the next door neighbor who sits on the front porch all day long, only...more
Her writing style envelopes you and has the ability to impact your life; her words, her prose enters your bloodstream, becoming a part of you internally.
Blonde is one magnificent story...a story that could only have been written by the hand of someone who knew her; the next door neighbor who sits on the front porch all day long, only...more
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A biography of Marilyn Monroe written by Joyce Carol Oates? Impossible! It's like an oxymoron. But, it's true. Marilyn was so much more than just a blonde or just a starlet. Cmon, both Joe DiMaggio AND Arthur Miller married the woman. And Joe DiMaggio made sure that there would be fresh flowers on Marilyn's grave forever. Forever! Not just for ten years or fifty years, but FOREVER! A woman who inspires that sort of thing must be fascinating. I found JCO's biography to be both factual and enterta...more
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Read in January, 2008
This is Marilyn Monroe's story, quasi fictionalized, with an amazing deep-seated empathy for the actress and her heart and soul. She really wanted to be a SERIOUS actress more than anything in the world. And she was talented. She owned almost no nice clothing--her dresses were owned by the studio--and had little money of her own. In fact, her whole life was not really her own. J.C. Oates brings this out..this book will tear at your heartstrings and help you to understand the woman and the u...more
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well, i've been wanting to read this book for a while. i've had it for a few weeks now, and have only made it through the first few chapters. it's a DOOZY. intimidating in size, and of course it's typical Joyce (who i do love). my goal is to finish it by summers end, but so far i'm having a hard time really getting into it. it's been sitting pretty by my bedside, just begging to be read, but instead i keep picking up the last Harry Potter and re-reading that instead. i need to get motivated. i'l...more
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Read in October, 2007
Blonde is a semi-fictional account of the life of Marilyn Monroe, and it is really a tragic story. It drifts from dialogue to dreams to the thoughts of Monroe and others, and all of those aspects are woven together in an intriguing, sometimes-hard-to-follow way. The only drawback is that, though the plot is generally based on facts, you can't be certain which aspects of it are fictional, and it really left me wondering. I have to that by the end (700 pp. in), I was fading a little, but it reall...more
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Read in December, 2007
This 700 page book took me a long time to get through, but I was never bored. If anything, JCO built up the suspense and tension so that toward the end I was barreling through it. Her writing style is more poetry and prose, so sometimes I has a hard time sifting through the pages, and sometimes I was caught up in how she put things. Mostly though, it's made me fascinated by Marilyn. Her portrayal of her was so human and so disturbing. This book is very dark, but very worth it.
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Read in June, 2007
joyce carol oates is BRILLIANT but unfortunately, as it is with most full biographies, blonde is much too exhausting. her ability to capture (fictionally or not) the whirlwind spirit of norma jeane is so incredible that there are often moments that take your breath away just by sheer brevity. however, as i'm sure it was in reality as well, it is SO tiring living the life of norma jeane living the life of marilyn monroe. i give up!
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i absolutely hated this book. i could hardly finish it but i have decided to finish books i start cause if i stop in one i will stop in too many. most books have a part which the reader must force him\her self through. i liked marilyn before i read this and hated the way she described her and her life. she made her a sex fiend, so lonely, so non confident so sad... i dont want to remember m m as she has described her.
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One of my favorite books of all time, by one of my favorite authors of all time...She writes the book as though she were Marilyn Monroe, based on real events, though of course she gives her a unique voice that really only Oates can capture. Monroe is portrayed as both the ebullient ingenue that she started out as- naive, and fair, and as the sad, lonely, strangly hopeful woman that she became until her sad end.
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Read in September, 2007
A fictional account of Marilyn Monroe's life intertwined with real events. An intense read, at times I felt Monroe's descent into severe depression and addiction. Although I knew how the story would end, I couldn't help but find myself rooting for her to prevail. This novel also examines how poorly Hollywood treated women during the 1950s and conjures up comparisons to Judy Garland and Elizabeth Taylor.
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