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Marilyn and Her Books: The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe
Timed to the 100th birthday of Marilyn Monroe, and with the full cooperation of the Monroe estate, comes an investigation into the literary life of the Hollywood icon and actress, from the author of Three-Martini Afternoons at the Ritz and Dorothy Parker in Hollywood. Far from the spotlights of the Hollywood film sets and the flashbulbs of the press, Marilyn Monroe was a great reader and lover of books. Her association with writers did not stop at reading their words on the page. She was, of course, briefly married to one of America’s best-known playwrights, Arthur Miller, and met a number of other writers who moved in his literary world. But she also met authors independently of Miller, many of whom were fans of her films and keen to meet her. Through her deep research, Crowther delves into Marilyn’s personal collection of books and recounts some of these meetings, like the time Monroe shared an apartment with Shelley Winters in West Hollywood, where they entertained Dylan Thomas and Christopher Isherwood for drinks (probably several drinks), after which Monroe arranged for Thomas to meet his childhood hero, Charlie Chaplin. Or when Life magazine arranged for Monroe to be interviewed by Dame Edith Sitwell at the Sunset Tower Hotel, and Sitwell was both charmed and blown away by Monroe’s intelligence. Marilyn And Her The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe charts how Monroe, who left high school before graduation, embarked on an impressive and progressive program of self-education, hungry for knowledge, and devouring books as an active and engaged reader. Her personal library reflects this enquiring mind. In 2026, for her centenary, this book showcases Marilyn Monroe, the reader. Because at the end of her life, it was not her jewels or her furs, her shoes, or dresses that she cared about. It was her books.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published May 26, 2026
About the author
Gail Crowther
9 books137 followersDr Gail Crowther is co-author of Sylvia Plath in Devon: A Year's Turning (2015) written with Elizabeth Sigmund. She is also author of The Haunted Reader and Sylvia Plath (2016). She has also written numerous papers and book chapters about Plath and sociological hauntings. She has lectured in Sociology, and Religion, Culture and Society and her current research interests include archival studies and feminist life writing.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 11, 2026
Because Marilyn Monroe would have celebrated her 100th birthday this year, perhaps there was a need to recognize this with another book. This book is nothing more than speculating on the books Marilyn Monroe had in her house. This could have simply been one magazine article about the title of books found in her home. Instead the author drew her own conclusions based on these books. In fact it is a mystery if these books were read at all or simply gifts or books that were just put on display. While i was fascinated with the title of the books found that were boxed up and stored away and not found until 1999 and the $ they brought in at auction, the fascination stopped there. We all can easily draw our own conclusions as to what the books represented.
May 9, 2026
I loved this book. It gave me a picture of a different Marilyn than the one we are usually spoon fed. So well researched and beautifully written.
May 30, 2026
An interesting if not entirely honest portrait of Marilyn Monroe through the contents of her bookshelves.
The primary goal of this book seems to be to lionize Monroe as a person rather than to examine the reading habits of a complicated woman. It’s easy to see Monroe as a victim—of the Hollywood machine, of men, of culture—and in some ways she was.
But Monroe was also the architect of much of what befell her, and this book appears to seek to erase that entirely. It’s odd to, for example, spend dozens of pages extolling Monroe’s kindness while entirely ignoring the fact that she publicly threw herself at someone else’s husband. That JFK is by far the greater villain when it comes to Jackie Kennedy is undoubtable. But Monroe, however troubled, was a person with autonomy and often the creator of her own problems, a fact that is strangely absent from this account of her life.
I also struggle to see the contents of someone’s bookshelves as some sort of absolute diagnosis of their character and values. A bit of this kind of speculation is fine in a book like this, but there is entirely too much determination by the text to assign psychological meaning of every book Monroe owned as an indicator of who she was as a person. Thinking about all the books on my own shelves and how many of them are in no way representative of me, how I think, or how I see myself, I don’t think this kind of guesswork is of any service to Monroe.
What the book does get right is the portrait of Monroe as much more than just an actress, and certainly far from the vapid “dumb blonde” that much of the public dismissed her as.
Monroe was a complicated person, both sympathetic and untrustworthy, kind and selfish. That’s both more honest and frankly, more interesting than the mushy apologist account we get here.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
The primary goal of this book seems to be to lionize Monroe as a person rather than to examine the reading habits of a complicated woman. It’s easy to see Monroe as a victim—of the Hollywood machine, of men, of culture—and in some ways she was.
But Monroe was also the architect of much of what befell her, and this book appears to seek to erase that entirely. It’s odd to, for example, spend dozens of pages extolling Monroe’s kindness while entirely ignoring the fact that she publicly threw herself at someone else’s husband. That JFK is by far the greater villain when it comes to Jackie Kennedy is undoubtable. But Monroe, however troubled, was a person with autonomy and often the creator of her own problems, a fact that is strangely absent from this account of her life.
I also struggle to see the contents of someone’s bookshelves as some sort of absolute diagnosis of their character and values. A bit of this kind of speculation is fine in a book like this, but there is entirely too much determination by the text to assign psychological meaning of every book Monroe owned as an indicator of who she was as a person. Thinking about all the books on my own shelves and how many of them are in no way representative of me, how I think, or how I see myself, I don’t think this kind of guesswork is of any service to Monroe.
What the book does get right is the portrait of Monroe as much more than just an actress, and certainly far from the vapid “dumb blonde” that much of the public dismissed her as.
Monroe was a complicated person, both sympathetic and untrustworthy, kind and selfish. That’s both more honest and frankly, more interesting than the mushy apologist account we get here.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
June 1, 2026
I really wanted to enjoy this, but even if Crowther had some interesting things to say about Marilyn I'm not convinced she had anything interesting to say about books.
Overall this feels like a defence of Marilyn as a person, an intelligent, talented, empathetic person; but acknowledging Marilyn's multifaceted nature isn't really new ground is it?
The most interesting parts of this book were the introduction and the list of Marilyn's books at the back. However, there's an interesting caveat about that list. It's organized by genre, though apparently Marilyn didn't impose an organizational system on her bookshelves. Crowther makes the point that you can't tell what someone takes away a book, whether they love or hate it, and sometimes whether they even bothered to read it all the way through. What she doesn't discuss, and what can be insightful, is what books are shelved next to each other. Not always but it's a starting point, if you're shelving them by association, or what can look willy-nilly to a stranger, and apparently Marilyn did deliberately arrange her shelves, though it looks disorganized. If it's lost to history what books were shelved next to each other that's fine, but for the index to have an imposed organizational system tells me almost more about the author than Marilyn.
If that sounds like a critique that's making a mountain out of a molehill it probably is. The problem is that there just wasn't much about Marilyn and her books that wasn't pure speculation. Or, that wasn't just a defence of Marilyn overall. A pity, because an author who had something to say about the books themselves might have provided far more insight about her.
Overall this feels like a defence of Marilyn as a person, an intelligent, talented, empathetic person; but acknowledging Marilyn's multifaceted nature isn't really new ground is it?
The most interesting parts of this book were the introduction and the list of Marilyn's books at the back. However, there's an interesting caveat about that list. It's organized by genre, though apparently Marilyn didn't impose an organizational system on her bookshelves. Crowther makes the point that you can't tell what someone takes away a book, whether they love or hate it, and sometimes whether they even bothered to read it all the way through. What she doesn't discuss, and what can be insightful, is what books are shelved next to each other. Not always but it's a starting point, if you're shelving them by association, or what can look willy-nilly to a stranger, and apparently Marilyn did deliberately arrange her shelves, though it looks disorganized. If it's lost to history what books were shelved next to each other that's fine, but for the index to have an imposed organizational system tells me almost more about the author than Marilyn.
If that sounds like a critique that's making a mountain out of a molehill it probably is. The problem is that there just wasn't much about Marilyn and her books that wasn't pure speculation. Or, that wasn't just a defence of Marilyn overall. A pity, because an author who had something to say about the books themselves might have provided far more insight about her.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Marilyn And Her Books: The Literary Life Of Marilyn Monroe by by #partner @gallerybooks is a fascinating, engaging, unanticipated, and unique read! This book is truly one of a kind. I wasn't sure what I'd be getting into with this book and worried it might be dry.....but from the start it was gripping. I love how this book explores one of the world's most iconic celebrities through such an intellectual and emotional lense. It not only acknowledges the stereotypes and jokes about Marilyn but dives deep into industry standards. It highlights how Marilyn had to choose between portraying characters that bled hurtful stereotypes into her personal life or not act. Most of all, I was impressed by how book-focused this story was with its detailed consideration of her personal collection and her eclectic reading choices.
#gifted #promo Thank you @gallerybooks #partner for the free books!
#gifted #promo Thank you @gallerybooks #partner for the free books!
April 26, 2026
Meticulously researched and quite detailed, I enjoyed this glimpse into the often downplayed parts of Monroe’s interests. It offers some speculative context about Monroe’s intellectual life, relationships, and reading context. It humanizes her.
While written with some academic quirks, it is still a quick and engaging read if you are a lover of books and find yourself peering at people’s bookshelves at parties. The list of books in Monroe’s final collection is impressive indeed. I also liked the addition of the photos of Marilyn with books.
While I wouldn’t recommend this particularly to biography fans or film buffs, it may be a good rec for avid readers as obsessed with reading as Marilyn was.
Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Publishers for the e-ARC in return for an honest review.
While written with some academic quirks, it is still a quick and engaging read if you are a lover of books and find yourself peering at people’s bookshelves at parties. The list of books in Monroe’s final collection is impressive indeed. I also liked the addition of the photos of Marilyn with books.
While I wouldn’t recommend this particularly to biography fans or film buffs, it may be a good rec for avid readers as obsessed with reading as Marilyn was.
Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Publishers for the e-ARC in return for an honest review.
April 24, 2026
A great book that highlights Marilyn's love of literature. I enjoyed the way the book was structured. You could see the care the author was taking with her legacy. Through main questions, there was room for smaller details to develop. The mix of photos in the chapters was a nice touch! If you know about different actors, screen writers and producers of Hollywood in the 50's, I think this would be an interesting read. Unfortunately, I got lost with the amount of names thrown around. The end of the book has a list of all the books that was in her collection when she passed. I found that to be a great addition!
April 17, 2026
I loved it! I never expected to enjoy to is as much as I did. I remember those photos of Marilyn Monroe with books but I’m as guilty as the next person who just thought, “ Great photo!” without giving the slightest thought to Marilyn as a reader.
I was fascinated by what she read, how much she read, that she moved her books with her from home to home “just like one of us.”
It was also enlightening to read what her contemporaries really thought of her, how she felt about her “image,” and what was real and not real about her.
Thanks to Gallery Books/ Simon & Schuster for this ARC. All opinions are my own.
I was fascinated by what she read, how much she read, that she moved her books with her from home to home “just like one of us.”
It was also enlightening to read what her contemporaries really thought of her, how she felt about her “image,” and what was real and not real about her.
Thanks to Gallery Books/ Simon & Schuster for this ARC. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Book Review: Marilyn and Her Books
Thank you to Gail Crowther for sending me this early copy before release day.
As someone who has adored all her Plath work and who absolutely inhaled Oates’ Blonde, this felt like such a thrill to read. Monroe has always been a figure I find endlessly compelling, a woman with astonishing tenacity and resilience in a world that dismissed her as a joke or reduced her to “jailbait”. What Crowther offers here feels essential to her legacy. She looks past the blonde hair and the dazzling smile and turns instead to Monroe’s shelves, her notes, her private literary world.
Crowther explores Monroe’s personal library with access granted by Jim Gibb, the creative director of her estate. She examines the books Monroe chose to keep, annotate, dog ear and crack the spine of, and how those choices reveal what challenged her, empowered her and encouraged her to become the woman she was. From Joyce’s Ulysses to West’s Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It, the range is striking, yet everything fits together through Monroe’s curiosity and identity. Crowther also traces how Monroe used books as a form of self help and how certain writers shaped her, just as she shaped their understanding of fame, femininity and performance.
I found it fascinating and unexpectedly moving. It is the kind of book I know I will return to, whether to take inspiration from Monroe’s collection or to see how future scholarship continues to speak to her as a serious, committed reader. Crowther restores something that has always been there but rarely acknowledged: Monroe’s hunger for knowledge, her discipline, her intellectual ambition. It reframes her not as an icon to be decoded but as a woman who read with intent and lived with a mind far sharper than the world ever allowed her to show.
The book can be summarised by a beautiful quote on page 234: “opening a book can be like a sudden burst of emotional glitter showering us with nostalgia, and a whole range of emotional attachments. Those pages archive our inner literary journeys.” That is exactly what we get to see here, the literary journey of MM.
5/5
Thank you to Gail Crowther for sending me this early copy before release day.
As someone who has adored all her Plath work and who absolutely inhaled Oates’ Blonde, this felt like such a thrill to read. Monroe has always been a figure I find endlessly compelling, a woman with astonishing tenacity and resilience in a world that dismissed her as a joke or reduced her to “jailbait”. What Crowther offers here feels essential to her legacy. She looks past the blonde hair and the dazzling smile and turns instead to Monroe’s shelves, her notes, her private literary world.
Crowther explores Monroe’s personal library with access granted by Jim Gibb, the creative director of her estate. She examines the books Monroe chose to keep, annotate, dog ear and crack the spine of, and how those choices reveal what challenged her, empowered her and encouraged her to become the woman she was. From Joyce’s Ulysses to West’s Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It, the range is striking, yet everything fits together through Monroe’s curiosity and identity. Crowther also traces how Monroe used books as a form of self help and how certain writers shaped her, just as she shaped their understanding of fame, femininity and performance.
I found it fascinating and unexpectedly moving. It is the kind of book I know I will return to, whether to take inspiration from Monroe’s collection or to see how future scholarship continues to speak to her as a serious, committed reader. Crowther restores something that has always been there but rarely acknowledged: Monroe’s hunger for knowledge, her discipline, her intellectual ambition. It reframes her not as an icon to be decoded but as a woman who read with intent and lived with a mind far sharper than the world ever allowed her to show.
The book can be summarised by a beautiful quote on page 234: “opening a book can be like a sudden burst of emotional glitter showering us with nostalgia, and a whole range of emotional attachments. Those pages archive our inner literary journeys.” That is exactly what we get to see here, the literary journey of MM.
5/5
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
…Life [magazine]…had noted that Marilyn “sprinkles her conversation with lines from Thomas Wolfe and Browning.” from Marilyn and Her Books by Gail Crowther
I admit it. I judge a person by their bookshelves. What a person reads speaks–literally– volumes.
Marilyn Monroe’s estate included over four hundred books. There was a childhood copy of The Little Engine That Could and a copy of The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book; James Joyce’s Ulysses and The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust; two copies of Lawrence Durrell’s Justine, and Selected Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke.
We know of other books she read. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, and Carl Sandburg’s six-volume Biography of Abraham Lincoln.
Her persona as a beautiful, dumb, sexy woman who loved luxurious things belied what people who knew her noted: Jean-Paul Sartre called her one of the greatest actresses alive, her psychiatrist noted her passion for equal rights and the poor, Greta Garbo believed Marilyn should play Ophelia in Hamlet, and her acting coach Michael Chekhov thought Hollywood was wasting her talent.
Marilyn and Her Books is presented through chapters that address specific questions. Where did she get her books? What did she read and what was missing in her library? How did her reading impact her work? How did her reading life compare to her peers? How did Marilyn impact writers, including her husband Arthur Miller? A list of books in her estate is included.
The portrait of Marilyn that arises offers insight into her intellectual growth and commitment to self-improvement. This book also considers how Marilyn was objectified and diminished.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.
I admit it. I judge a person by their bookshelves. What a person reads speaks–literally– volumes.
Marilyn Monroe’s estate included over four hundred books. There was a childhood copy of The Little Engine That Could and a copy of The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book; James Joyce’s Ulysses and The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust; two copies of Lawrence Durrell’s Justine, and Selected Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke.
We know of other books she read. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, and Carl Sandburg’s six-volume Biography of Abraham Lincoln.
Her persona as a beautiful, dumb, sexy woman who loved luxurious things belied what people who knew her noted: Jean-Paul Sartre called her one of the greatest actresses alive, her psychiatrist noted her passion for equal rights and the poor, Greta Garbo believed Marilyn should play Ophelia in Hamlet, and her acting coach Michael Chekhov thought Hollywood was wasting her talent.
Marilyn and Her Books is presented through chapters that address specific questions. Where did she get her books? What did she read and what was missing in her library? How did her reading impact her work? How did her reading life compare to her peers? How did Marilyn impact writers, including her husband Arthur Miller? A list of books in her estate is included.
The portrait of Marilyn that arises offers insight into her intellectual growth and commitment to self-improvement. This book also considers how Marilyn was objectified and diminished.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Even someone who isn't a fan of Marilyn Monroe may be charmed by this different look at the legendary actress. Who would have guessed that Marilyn Monroe, after a turbulent childhood and a high school dropout, was an avid reader and collector of books? Gail Crowther takes a journey into Marilyn's library of books: many classics including Russian literature, psychological treaties, poetry, plays, and of course, acting books. Many books were by authors she was friends with or gifts from authors in her world. She also explores her friendships with authors like Truman Capote, Dylan Thomas and Dorothy Parker and her marriage to playwrite Arthur Miller. The attitude that Marilyn was just a "dumb blonde" was pervasive in her time - many people in Hollywood doubted she could even read. Photographs of her reading are in the book. Gail Crowther explores what happened to Marilyn Monroe's books after they were auctioned off by her estate after her death. There's a list of the books in the books. Read via Netgalley.
March 8, 2026
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read the e-ARC before publishing.
This was a very interesting look into Marilyn Monroe's reading habits and interest in novels. I learned a lot about her that I did not previously know.
I liked the way the chapters were divided and liked to see images of Marilyn and her books as well. It was easy to navigate and to skip around to different chapters to read what was most interesting. With that being said, I personally think this book is a little long for what it is. Yes, it is clear that Marilyn was a life-long reader and I find that fascinating in a way, but I don't think there was quite enough interesting material for a full novel. I ended up skipping around a little to find what I was most interested in.
I would say go into this novel knowing that every single chapter might not be for you, but it was worth the read in my opinion. I really like the commentary the author gives surrounding the way Marilyn is treated now and in the past. It was nice to learn more about her.
This was a very interesting look into Marilyn Monroe's reading habits and interest in novels. I learned a lot about her that I did not previously know.
I liked the way the chapters were divided and liked to see images of Marilyn and her books as well. It was easy to navigate and to skip around to different chapters to read what was most interesting. With that being said, I personally think this book is a little long for what it is. Yes, it is clear that Marilyn was a life-long reader and I find that fascinating in a way, but I don't think there was quite enough interesting material for a full novel. I ended up skipping around a little to find what I was most interested in.
I would say go into this novel knowing that every single chapter might not be for you, but it was worth the read in my opinion. I really like the commentary the author gives surrounding the way Marilyn is treated now and in the past. It was nice to learn more about her.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
I like Crowther and own all of her books some of which I have not read (yet). And, I appreciate the research that was clearly meticulous and carefully conducted. I’ve never thought much about Monroe as reader, actress, or bombshell. Although I know everything that everyone else knows about the icon. Here Crowther focuses on Monroe as distinctly different person from her image manufactured by the patriarchy of Hollywood at the time. Most importantly this work reveals (through her reading) the seriousness and commitment to acting that Monroe had despite being considered a ditzy blond joke.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
If it’s about Marilyn Monroe, I’m going to read it. She was absolutely fascinating and this book was also. It was a very interesting read. The world of Marilyn is such a mesmerizing thing. So anything else I can learn about her including her reading, I’ll read. It was a fun, and descriptive read. I enjoyed it quite a lot. I’ve read quite a few books about her and this one incredibly fantastic.
Solid 4 🌟 read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early read!
Solid 4 🌟 read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early read!
May 26, 2026
Gail Crowther shares her research in an approachable and engaging style, and I was enamored with the deeply human sharing of Marilyn and her serious commitment to her art. She loved her books as much as we all do, and she used them to educate and challenge herself. Quite the enlightening page turner.
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
May 30, 2026
3.5 stars, a quick, pleasant read.
I find it mind-boggling that so many people (men?) think that Marilyn‘s books were mere props. Is it really so difficult to imagine that she was more than the persona she portrayed in films? That the naive blonde was just a carefully constructed image? Do they think all actors who play dumb roles in movies are actually dumb in real life?
I find it mind-boggling that so many people (men?) think that Marilyn‘s books were mere props. Is it really so difficult to imagine that she was more than the persona she portrayed in films? That the naive blonde was just a carefully constructed image? Do they think all actors who play dumb roles in movies are actually dumb in real life?
June 1, 2026
I really enjoyed this book and it was so interesting to learn about Marilyn Monroe’s literary life, including how widely she read across many genres and her interactions with various writers and intellectual personalities. The amount of thought and research that went into this book shone through on every page. I really loved this positive and perceptive book.
May 26, 2026
Insightful, though at times Crowther’s late stage millennial-esque feminism that was being dusted upon the text made for an interesting way of thinking about how the older generation doesn’t necessarily know just what progressivism really is.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
So beautifully written a true ode to Marilyn a side of her most people knew nothing about.I enjoyed reading about her for books how she always traveled with them .
May 30, 2026
Charming exploration of Marilyn's bookishness.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the ARC! I absolutely love this book. I really enjoyed learning about Marilyn's Monroe's intellectual curiosity and how that made her a better actress. This novel may seem like it's only be about the various stories Marilyn Monroe had read, but once you begin reading you learn that this book is about so much more than that. It really highlights the importance of reflecting on how we view others and there reading choices. There are so many great quotes about the determent of judging others for what they read and accusing them of being performative readers. A really informative and interesting read that anyone for anyone who enjoys learning about history and reflecting on literature.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews