What do you think?
Rate this book
The Marilyn Diaries
What if Marilyn Monroe left a diary? In this New Expanded Edition of The Marilyn Diaries, imagine the secret, lost diary of Marilyn Monroe is being published for the first time. Fantasize that you are reading her enigmatic life story as if told in her own words. This is a fascinating tale of triumph and pain, beauty and tragedy. In these pages the eternal blonde goddess comes across as a living, breathing human being who will stun you with her humanity rather than the cardboard caricature based on the sexy, dumb blonde image that she created for the public. Without turning her into a series of labels, Charles Casillo recreates Marilyn Monroe as a brilliant and bewitching human being, while never looking away from her self-destructive darkside. He dramatizes Marilyn's relationships with some of the most well-know and powerful men of her era, her struggles with her work, her fear of aging, and her constant battle with personal demons. The Marilyn Diaries is a serious exploration of a complex woman overcome with complicated, unresolved contrasts—a doomed siren that, even beyond the grave, never lost her power to seduce. ANNIVERSARY EDITION WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR AND MANY NEW AND EXTENDED DIARY ENTRIES In 1999 Charles Casillo published the best-selling novel The Marilyn Diaries, with a fresh and dramatic concept of fictionalizing the life of Marilyn Monroe—in the diary format—fantasized by the author. The book became a groundbreaking addition to Marilyn Monroe literature. In this stunning new edition the author includes numerous new passages and expanded entries that further explore the mind of one of the most infamous and exciting women of all time.
340 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 17, 1999
About the author
Charles Casillo
8 books56 followersSometimes while sitting darkly in the far corner of a corner bar, sipping a martini with three olives, or just strolling down a city street with shadowy, hidden secrets, this author's mind wanders to his many interests and obsessions: Tragic figures, film noir, Marilyn Monroe, sex, eccentric personalities, extraordinarily talented individuals, and antidotes for insomnia, loneliness, and insecurity. He has written about some of these subjects in his books "The Marilyn Diaries," "Outlaw: The Lives and Careers of John Rechy," "The Fame Game," "Boys, Lost & Found," the comprehensive biography "Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a Public Icon," and his latest book "Elizabeth and Monty: The Untold Story of Their Intimate Friendship." Often he might scribble some of his musings on a cocktail napkin or the back of a newspaper and find it wadded up in the morning--crumpled, torn, and almost illegible but usually with the seed of a thought that might lead to something new.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 2, 2014
I haven't read the 1999 edition, I believe it has one hundred pages less. However, this new expanded edition is pretty wonderful.
The prose is melancholy and very beautiful; it certainly sounds like Marilyn, the sensibility is so nuanced, so refined, that only a woman (or in this case, a super talented author) could have written it.
You finish the book feeling that perhaps, in another life, you and Marilyn could have been friends -if she had managed to let her guard down and trust you (read the book to understand just what I mean).
It is a lovely, lovely work of fiction (I liked it more than Norman Mailer's 'Marilyn'). What an indie gem amidst big publishing names. This book should have more of a following. It really should.
It reads like poetry, with its own special rhythm, its own barren beauty.
I hope to find other of Mr. Casillo's works on Kindle.
(Note: there are some tiny editing mistakes here and there, an extra word, a misused one, but as an Indie author myself, one understands that a paid editor is super expensive and perhaps in this case, it wasn't feasible to hire one. Don't let that detract you.)
The prose is melancholy and very beautiful; it certainly sounds like Marilyn, the sensibility is so nuanced, so refined, that only a woman (or in this case, a super talented author) could have written it.
You finish the book feeling that perhaps, in another life, you and Marilyn could have been friends -if she had managed to let her guard down and trust you (read the book to understand just what I mean).
It is a lovely, lovely work of fiction (I liked it more than Norman Mailer's 'Marilyn'). What an indie gem amidst big publishing names. This book should have more of a following. It really should.
It reads like poetry, with its own special rhythm, its own barren beauty.
I hope to find other of Mr. Casillo's works on Kindle.
(Note: there are some tiny editing mistakes here and there, an extra word, a misused one, but as an Indie author myself, one understands that a paid editor is super expensive and perhaps in this case, it wasn't feasible to hire one. Don't let that detract you.)
February 27, 2020
Not impressed
I have Marilyn's Red Diary. It is excellent. This book doesn't do Marilyn justice. It seems to ramble from the past to the present. Then from the present to the past. This could be from her drug abuse. Sometimes proofreading and editing are required before a book is put on the market....
I have Marilyn's Red Diary. It is excellent. This book doesn't do Marilyn justice. It seems to ramble from the past to the present. Then from the present to the past. This could be from her drug abuse. Sometimes proofreading and editing are required before a book is put on the market....
June 2, 2014
I haven't read the 1999 edition, I believe it has one hundred pages less. However, this new expanded edition is pretty wonderful.
The prose is melancholy and very beautiful; it certainly sounds like Marilyn, the sensibility is so nuanced, so refined, that only a woman (or in this case, a super talented author) could have written it.
You finish the book feeling that perhaps, in another life, you and Marilyn could have been friends -if she had managed to let her guard down and trust you (read the book to understand just what I mean).
It is a lovely, lovely work of fiction (I liked it more than Norman Mailer's 'Marilyn'). What an indie gem amidst big publishing names. This book should have more of a following. It really should.
It reads like poetry, with its own special rhythm, its own barren beauty.
I hope to find other of Mr. Casillo's works on Kindle.
(Note: there are some tiny editing mistakes here and there, an extra word, a misused one, but as an Indie author myself, one understands that a paid editor is super expensive and perhaps in this case, it wasn't feasible to hire one. Don't let that detract you.)
The prose is melancholy and very beautiful; it certainly sounds like Marilyn, the sensibility is so nuanced, so refined, that only a woman (or in this case, a super talented author) could have written it.
You finish the book feeling that perhaps, in another life, you and Marilyn could have been friends -if she had managed to let her guard down and trust you (read the book to understand just what I mean).
It is a lovely, lovely work of fiction (I liked it more than Norman Mailer's 'Marilyn'). What an indie gem amidst big publishing names. This book should have more of a following. It really should.
It reads like poetry, with its own special rhythm, its own barren beauty.
I hope to find other of Mr. Casillo's works on Kindle.
(Note: there are some tiny editing mistakes here and there, an extra word, a misused one, but as an Indie author myself, one understands that a paid editor is super expensive and perhaps in this case, it wasn't feasible to hire one. Don't let that detract you.)
March 10, 2022
I'm a huge MM fan,but I hated this book.It was crude,vulgar,and had MM participating in things I don't believe she would have done ,especially in the last years of her life.It leaves out the class that whatever mistakes she made in life,the lady truly possessed.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews