8 Marilyn Monroe books to read after you watch Blonde

Marilyn Monroe has been the subject of countless articles, books, and think pieces, including author Joyce Carol Oates' fictional re-imagining of the legend's inner life in Blonde, which has now been adapted into a biopic starring Ana de Armas.

Curious minds will want to check out Blonde, the novel, because it's unique to make a film about Monroe inspired by a work of fiction rather than any of the abundant pieces of biographical nonfiction that have been published.

But if you can't get enough of Monroe — or her real self, Norma Jeane Mortensen — there's plenty more to read out there beyond the pages of Blonde. Here are eight books that seek to probe the heart and soul of Monroe: misunderstood, complex, mercurial, enigmatic, a star.

<em>Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox</em> by Lois Banner

Few have done more revelatory and insightful research into Monroe's life as Lois Banner, a historian and leading figure in the field of women's history. With Marilyn, a biography years in the making, Banner used her academic credentials to gain access to private material and intimate interviews unrivaled by any prior biographer. Banner, who includes herself and her research process in the text, seeks to truly probe the paradoxes of who Marilyn was — her ability to be both a celebrity utterly in control of her image and a vulnerable, exploited figure.

<em>Marilyn in Manhattan: Her Year of Joy</em> by Elizabeth Winder

Though a child of Los Angeles and a legend of Hollywood, Monroe likely found the most solace and stability in her life during her year spent living in New York City. Winder's cultural history offers readers an in-depth look at that year, which found Monroe taking classes at the Actor's Studio, visiting museums, and falling in love with playwright Arthur Miller. New York allowed Monroe to forge a life where she could become the actress she'd always wanted to be, as well as to finally start being taken seriously as an intellectual. For a slice of life that offers up Monroe at her best and brightest, look no further.

<em>My Week With Marilyn</em> by Colin Clark

The source material for a 2011 Marilyn biopic (starring Michelle Williams), this is a first-hand account of one person's experience in Monroe's orbit. As a young man, Colin Clark worked as a production assistant on The Prince and the Showgirl, and he chronicled his experiences on set and his week with Marilyn escorting her around the English countryside in his diary. Here, those are published in memoir format, giving a highly personal glimpse at Monroe at a crucial crossroads in her life.

<em>The Girl: Marilyn Monroe, The Seven Year Itch, and the Birth of an Unlikely Feminist</em> by Michelle Morgan

Though many accounts would have use see Monroe as an entirely helpless figure abused by the power brokers in her life, she was far smarter and savvier than biographers often give her credit for. Blonde pinpoints the iconic moment of Marilyn Monroe's skirt blowing, as she stands over a subway grate in The Seven Year Itch, as the pinnacle of her exploitation. This book, instead, posits it as a feminist reset for Monroe, who had fought to play the role of "The Girl" in the film. Morgan recounts the meticulous ways in which Monroe controlled her own image, taking charge of her fame and the role her body played in it. Here, we are given a portrait of a Monroe in full possession of her power, a star with the business acumen and know-how necessary to use her assets instead of allowing them to be used.

<em>Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a Public Icon</em> by Charles Casillo

One of the more recent entries in the ever-burgeoning business of Monroe biographies, Casillo's study is a harrowing deep dive into the psychological truths of Monroe's life. It seeks to give her agency, while also picking apart what he sees as undiagnosed bipolar disorder. He uses the lens of modern psychology to understand what ultimately made Marilyn a tragic figure. This one leans heavily into Monroe's later years, charting an in-depth account of Monroe's final days, and attempting to understand how her demons and the carefully crafted stages of her career ultimately led to her sad end.

<em>Fragments: Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters</em> by Marilyn Monroe

Sometimes it's best to hear from subjects themselves, and Fragments offers readers an unprecedented look at Monroe in her own words. This collection of letters, poems, and other handwritten ephemera gives an intimate glimpse into her life and what she was thinking as she traversed the perils of Hollywood and doggedly pursued her dream of being taken seriously as an actress. It showcases Monroe as a highly perceptive woman: witty, unsparingly honest in her self-assessment, while still light and playful. If you truly want to understand Marilyn in her own words, this is the book.

<em>Marilyn: Norma Jeane</em> by Gloria Steinem

A formative text in our understanding of Marilyn Monroe and the act of biography itself, this book offers Gloria Steinem a stage to unpack Marilyn's life and image through her distinctively feminist lens. Steinem was one of the first to delve deeply into Monroe's childhood and the ways in which her years as Norma Jeane shaped her far-more-famous onscreen persona. At first offended by the brand of femininity Marilyn Monroe represented, Steinem uses this book as a chance to counteract that teenage gut reaction, instead probing the nuances of Monroe's life and her greatest creation — herself.

<em>MM–Personal: From the Private Archive of Marilyn Monroe</em> by Lois Banner and Mark Andersen

Once thought lost, Monroe's private archive of papers, photographs, and ephemera gets its due here in this stunning collection of material. It features selections from over 10,000 unseen and unpublished items from Monroe's own files, including snapshots, memorabilia, professional documents, clothing, and private letters. Paired with commentary from historian Lois Banner, it lends context to the trappings of Monroe's life in unparalleled fashion.

Related content:

• Ana de Armas on Blonde's explicit scenes: 'Those are harder for people to watch than for me to make'

• Marilyn Monroe's estate defends casting of Ana de Armas in Blonde amid accent criticism 

• Ana de Armas channeled 'inappropriate' paparazzi attention into playing Marilyn Monroe in Blonde