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The Immortals
A fictional account of Marilyn Monroe's affairs with Jack and Bobby Kennedy
527 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
11 people are currently reading
317 people want to read
About the author
Michael Korda
75 books186 followersis an English-born writer and novelist who was editor-in-Chief of Simon & Schuster in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
August 30, 2016
This book is historical fiction about Marilyn Monroe, Jack Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy, during the time that the alleged affairs happened, up until Marilyn's death.
Marilyn is a fascinating character, and I will chew up any little tidbits about her life. She was so beautiful, but so damaged.
This book covered the period where Marilyn was filming The Misfits, and all the backstage drama about her marriage that was falling apart and her drug use. I went and watched the film because of this book, and I found it so terribly sad to watch her in the role of Roslyn because it just seemed so apt, and so tragic that she was so close to dying.
The book was a massive read, but very well written. It plays up to all of the conspiracy theories, but given that we will probably never know the full truth about these infamous characters, it feels ok to enjoy the story as truth.
Highly recommended for all Marilyn fans.
Marilyn is a fascinating character, and I will chew up any little tidbits about her life. She was so beautiful, but so damaged.
This book covered the period where Marilyn was filming The Misfits, and all the backstage drama about her marriage that was falling apart and her drug use. I went and watched the film because of this book, and I found it so terribly sad to watch her in the role of Roslyn because it just seemed so apt, and so tragic that she was so close to dying.
The book was a massive read, but very well written. It plays up to all of the conspiracy theories, but given that we will probably never know the full truth about these infamous characters, it feels ok to enjoy the story as truth.
Highly recommended for all Marilyn fans.
March 8, 2011
I loved this book! This is the fiction-based-on-fact story of Marilyn Monroe's affair with President Kennedy, as seen through the eyes of a trusted friend of both parties. It also goes on to cover Marilyn having an affair with Bobby Kennedy after his brother finishes with her.
The book paints Marilyn as a neurotic woman with low self esteem who becomes addicted to drugs and her famous lover, starting on a downward spiral. Her obsessive love for JFK starts to alarm his advisers and they fear that her loose talk could damage the President. You feel sorry for Marilyn who seems to be a confused and mentally fragile woman who is struggling with her fame and just needs to feel loved. Her pain as she realises that JFK doesn't have the same depth of feeling for her leads her to a torrid affair with Bobby, who finds her equally entrancing.
The book has politics, backstabbing, the glitzy world of film, the murky underworld surrounding the characters and a steamy love triangle. The best thing about the story was how real the characters were to you and how caught up you were in their story. You felt as if you were eavesdropping on the scandal of the White House as the affairs developed and Marilyn's behaviour became desperate and erratic as she fought to keep her lovers with her.
How accurate the story really is was anyone's guess but I was riveted by it from start to finish. If you like your Hollywood gossip or are interested in political scandal or Marilyn and the Kennedy's then pick this book up!
The book paints Marilyn as a neurotic woman with low self esteem who becomes addicted to drugs and her famous lover, starting on a downward spiral. Her obsessive love for JFK starts to alarm his advisers and they fear that her loose talk could damage the President. You feel sorry for Marilyn who seems to be a confused and mentally fragile woman who is struggling with her fame and just needs to feel loved. Her pain as she realises that JFK doesn't have the same depth of feeling for her leads her to a torrid affair with Bobby, who finds her equally entrancing.
The book has politics, backstabbing, the glitzy world of film, the murky underworld surrounding the characters and a steamy love triangle. The best thing about the story was how real the characters were to you and how caught up you were in their story. You felt as if you were eavesdropping on the scandal of the White House as the affairs developed and Marilyn's behaviour became desperate and erratic as she fought to keep her lovers with her.
How accurate the story really is was anyone's guess but I was riveted by it from start to finish. If you like your Hollywood gossip or are interested in political scandal or Marilyn and the Kennedy's then pick this book up!
November 12, 2013
You would think a book like this would be total gunk -- but a lot of it is actually pretty good! Really brings JFK, RFK, and Marilyn Monroe to life.
April 1, 2024
Fiction based on real people but way too long that it was exhausting after a while.
abandoned
June 11, 2020I've had enough of this. Abandoned. I enjoy reading about the US Presidents but I don't want to read an R-rated novel about any of them. It is described as historical fiction (?). I don't mind an occasional racy book but not in this context. When I started reading it I didn't think it would be so "detailed". Creepy.
July 7, 2015
3.5
I don't have to tell you what it's about - I mean, just look at the cover. I can't explain my fascination with Marilyn fiction; just this year I read The Blonde by Anna Godberson (a similar story) but I didn't enjoy that one as much as Korda's book. Godberson twisted the JFK/Marilyn legend to introduce Soviet involvement and to portray MM as a spy. Immortals is flat out Hollywood and gossip and the Mafia - James Ellroy lite.
There's sex in the book, most of it summarized, but you definitely know at least Kennedy men have a reason to grin silly. The story switches POV to suit the story's progression, with the only first person view belonging to the fictional David Lehman, a PR expert supposedly with many clients in different industries, yet he only seems to work for Joe Kennedy, Sr. and his boys. He's kind of like Nick Carraway in Gatsby, always around and witnessing everything. He's the fixer, arranging meetings and liaisons and tête-à-têtes and...well, you get it. Immortals covers the era from the mid-50s (Marilyn films Seven Year Itch and married to DiMaggio) to her death in 1962. Korda doesn't stray too far from the standard picture of Marilyn, presenting her as perpetually drinking, drugging, and befuddled. The Kennedys are horny yet cold, ambitious yet at the same time tired of paying the price of power. Toward the end you genuinely feel sorry for the lady.
I think the only thing I didn't like about the book was the ending. The story doesn't really end until all three gone, and there are scenes where villainous forces plot JFK's assassination. Korda could at least have seen the readers through that. Anyway, I've read so many Marilyn books that make her story look boring - this one kept me up at night.
I don't have to tell you what it's about - I mean, just look at the cover. I can't explain my fascination with Marilyn fiction; just this year I read The Blonde by Anna Godberson (a similar story) but I didn't enjoy that one as much as Korda's book. Godberson twisted the JFK/Marilyn legend to introduce Soviet involvement and to portray MM as a spy. Immortals is flat out Hollywood and gossip and the Mafia - James Ellroy lite.
There's sex in the book, most of it summarized, but you definitely know at least Kennedy men have a reason to grin silly. The story switches POV to suit the story's progression, with the only first person view belonging to the fictional David Lehman, a PR expert supposedly with many clients in different industries, yet he only seems to work for Joe Kennedy, Sr. and his boys. He's kind of like Nick Carraway in Gatsby, always around and witnessing everything. He's the fixer, arranging meetings and liaisons and tête-à-têtes and...well, you get it. Immortals covers the era from the mid-50s (Marilyn films Seven Year Itch and married to DiMaggio) to her death in 1962. Korda doesn't stray too far from the standard picture of Marilyn, presenting her as perpetually drinking, drugging, and befuddled. The Kennedys are horny yet cold, ambitious yet at the same time tired of paying the price of power. Toward the end you genuinely feel sorry for the lady.
I think the only thing I didn't like about the book was the ending. The story doesn't really end until all three gone, and there are scenes where villainous forces plot JFK's assassination. Korda could at least have seen the readers through that. Anyway, I've read so many Marilyn books that make her story look boring - this one kept me up at night.
December 24, 2018
A fictional take on what happened between Marilyn Monroe and the Kennedys. I didn't think it would be much good to be honest, but I was pleasantly surprised by just how readable it turned out to be. The brief sex scenes made me cringe a little, but for the most part, I think the author portrayed the characters as pretty much what the reader would expect.
By the end, I felt a little sorry for Marilyn, it was obvious that she really just wanted to find someone who loved her enough to put her first and she never really found that. Personally, I never found JFK that attractive, I preferred Bobby, and this book definitely didn't just regurgitate all that myth and gloss around "Camelot". If you've ever been intrigued by the whole thing, then this is worth a read. I guess we'll never know the real story.
By the end, I felt a little sorry for Marilyn, it was obvious that she really just wanted to find someone who loved her enough to put her first and she never really found that. Personally, I never found JFK that attractive, I preferred Bobby, and this book definitely didn't just regurgitate all that myth and gloss around "Camelot". If you've ever been intrigued by the whole thing, then this is worth a read. I guess we'll never know the real story.
December 9, 2012
This was one of the best books I've ever read. You'd swear that Michael's main character-David-was really who he says he is in the story. His descriptions of Marilyn Monroe, JFK, BFK and others are amazing! From everything we've ever heard about Marilyn's affairs with the Kennedy brothers, I would say that Michael's novel hits the nail on the head! Have recommended this book to many friends. Awesome!
March 25, 2015
Interesting slice of history that makes me wonder what is true and what isn't and inspires me to search and learn more about Marilyn Monroe. The sad realization that came away from reading this is how her life, in part motivated to find love in all the wrong places, ultimately lead not to love, but to death.
November 15, 2007
I could not put it down..it was real and imaginary all at the same time. the characters were well defined and the time in history was one of "camelot"
August 3, 2021
Took a while to get through this book. It's not really that it was bad, it just wasn't good. Now that I'm finished with it, it was interesting and I found myself wondering what was fact and what was fiction and, what was fiction that was really close to the truth? I found myself googling things throughout, just to see.
It took many, many pages to even become semi-interested in it. I don't think it was so much the actual story as it was the way it was written, (not well).
Went quicker toward the end but I'm not convinced it's because the story got better or I just wanted to be done with it.
It took many, many pages to even become semi-interested in it. I don't think it was so much the actual story as it was the way it was written, (not well).
Went quicker toward the end but I'm not convinced it's because the story got better or I just wanted to be done with it.
June 23, 2020
I am enjoying the book but find my opinions on Marilyn and the Kennedys have tarnished some. Watching a train wreck is always difficult but Michael Korda does a great job of carrying this off as history rather than historical fiction. These larger than life people were selfish, spoiled, and yes, immortal. Hell, they’ve been dead for over 50 years and we are still interested in their shenanigans.
June 4, 2022
"The Immortals" should have been named "The Immorals." The plot centers on the relationships among Jack Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe.
Michael Korda has written an incendiary account that resembles a soap opera designed for adults similar to a telenovella. The Kennedys are portrayed as narcissistic products of their father's lust for power; Monroe comes across as very smart and manipulative but unable to control her compulsive need for love.
All in all, I did not need to know the inferences that are suggested here, especially since they will linger in my thoughts for a long time.
Michael Korda has written an incendiary account that resembles a soap opera designed for adults similar to a telenovella. The Kennedys are portrayed as narcissistic products of their father's lust for power; Monroe comes across as very smart and manipulative but unable to control her compulsive need for love.
All in all, I did not need to know the inferences that are suggested here, especially since they will linger in my thoughts for a long time.
May 19, 2020
Wow. This is an oldie but a goodie. I was so interested in all that went on “behind closed doors” at this time. It will forever be a true mystery, but I think this book does a pretty good job at imagining the truth.
July 3, 2025
I bought this book when it came out and kept meaning to read it. I FINALLY sat down the past few days and read it. Towards the end I got the feeling Korda didn't much like Marilyn. What a sad tragedy in both the non-fiction and fictional tellings of her life.
December 13, 2019
It makes you wonder if that's really what happened. Very well done.
January 12, 2025
A fictional account based on Marilyn Monroe and JFK/ RFK
November 9, 2025
Our government is wild. If they could do all this in the 60's, I can't imagine what it's like now
September 2, 2021
JFK, Marilyn Monroe, Bobby Kennedy, Politics, Crime Bosses, the one question this book gets you asking, "fiction or truth?" Fascinating and extraordinary.
April 24, 2023
Vulgar fanfic that’s worth reading as a document of how American society grappled with the stardom and brutal deaths of three megastars instead of anything genuinely sympathetic. I fear that Norma Jeane will never truly rest in peace
June 25, 2014
I couldn't put this book down. These characters have truly moved from being mere mortals and have earned their place in legend. This book tells the HUMAN story of these three people, shown with all their flaws and humanity. I cried at the end, even knowing how it would end because the twist was so heart-wrenching and poignant. Highly recommended to everyone, great beach read, insightful historical content, and a heart-breaking love story.
January 30, 2017
This is a pretty good book .
Because it's about real people,you can imagine them interacting in the book.
There's a few people that I didn't know how they looked, and just made up what they looked like in my mind.
The writing is well done, and you can imagine many of the players and places.
I think it's only "based upon" real people, and rumoured situations, not the actual story of what occurred.
Because it's about real people,you can imagine them interacting in the book.
There's a few people that I didn't know how they looked, and just made up what they looked like in my mind.
The writing is well done, and you can imagine many of the players and places.
I think it's only "based upon" real people, and rumoured situations, not the actual story of what occurred.
November 27, 2009
Jack Kennedy - the American hero.
Marilyn Munroe - the love goddess.
Their affair has been whispered about for thirty years. Now, at last, the story we have only been able to imagine is brought to vibrant, stunning life - a passionate, tragic romance played out against a background of deadly intrigue, power politics, and Hollywood glamour on a grand scale.
Marilyn Munroe - the love goddess.
Their affair has been whispered about for thirty years. Now, at last, the story we have only been able to imagine is brought to vibrant, stunning life - a passionate, tragic romance played out against a background of deadly intrigue, power politics, and Hollywood glamour on a grand scale.
February 22, 2015
I really had high hopes for this book, after reading the reviews and its Marilyn Monroe ! The story was so believable, but it was so long and spread out, I often lost interest, and really had to force myself to keep reading!
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February 19, 2008Korda, Michael
December 30, 2009
I don't know how accurate this book is, but I loved reading it.
August 19, 2010
Great historical fiction.....very interesting could not put it down.
May 31, 2012
Great book !!!
May 27, 2012
Loved this book!! Couldn't put it down and have read it at least 3 times over the years. Excellent airplane and beach/pool read!
August 5, 2012
This is one of my very favorite books. Love to read about the kennedy's and who's to say this isn't how it really happened.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews