Unseen Archives: Marilyn Monroe

by Marie Clayton

This book charts Marilyn's Fascinating life, from her unhappy childhood, through her years a a superstar, to her tragic and untimely death in 1962.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Photography, Biography Memoir, Media Tie In, History, Art

384 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2003

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a devoted fan of Marilyn. I learned a few new things from this book but not much. Marie Claytons style of writing is good, to the point. I like how she organizes Marilyns life to tell about it. The best part though, are the pictures. Some that we've all seen a hundred times and then, a few more intimate ones. I always enjoy a good book about Marilyn and this was no exception. I had a great time reading it and will flip though it time and time again.

[Gabriela Torres Martín]

Excelente libro sobre la vida de Marilyn con impecables fotografías.

[Graceann · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are lots and lots of photos in this look at Marilyn Monroe, and they are, frankly, the only real reason to pick it up. The biography doesn't have any new insights (all the sources are previously published works, which explains that), and there are some rather amusing/annoying mistakes. For instance, did you know that the St. Valentines Day Massacre took place in New York? If you did, you might want to refresh your reading, because it happened in Chicago.

The one thing that I learned here, or that I'd forgotten from my other reading, was that Marilyn suffered from endometriosis. She wanted to have a baby more than just about anything, and this roadblock makes me even more sad for her. Endometriosis also goes a long way to explain why she felt unwell so often - it can be an excruciatingly painful condition.

But the text, well, there's repetition, there are typos, there are errors (referred to above). When I see one rather obvious mistake, it makes me doubt anything else I might read that is offered as a fact. That's unfortunate, because this could have been a nice, tight little primer on the life of a larger than life presence in Hollywood history.

[Delia Shugrue · Rating 5 out of 5]

so many pictures that you don’t see often love it sm

[Valerie Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book I learned Marilyn suffered from endometriosis, a condition that affects a womens fertility.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book sooo much!:) My mom got me it from Hawaii. Marilyn Monroe is my idol and I love her so much! You have to read this book!:p

[Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A remarkable "figure" in history. No matter how much I read about her I always learn something new. I enjoyed all the unique photos in this book.

[readingmalfunction · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great information. Beautiful photographs.
Highly enjoyable.

[Chelsee Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

The photos and breezy reading caused me to gleefully get lost in the pages, but the sudden tragic end (both of Marilyn and the book) caused me to close the cover feeling heavy in spirits. Truly—I felt almost upset. It was so much darkness crammed so abruptly in the last page or two! This begins my following list of small critiques : there are a handful of things a non-Marilyn fanatic might still know about her— a love affair with JFK, that famous beauty mark, the controversy surrounding her death, to name a few. All of these topics remained untouched—at best, gifted a sentence or two of acknowledgement. I quite enjoyed the journey on which this book took me, but it did seem to skip around out of order. In fairness, I think this could be credited to the narrative having little to do with the interjected photos and their informative captions. Criticisms aside, I poured over these pages and photos and really enjoyed the light and easy nature of the reading.

[Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this book for a couple of pounds in a charity shop and really enjoyed it. I haven't really read anything about Marilyn before in any detail so this was interesting to me. The photos are wonderfully clear and the quantity just shows how popular she was - much to her detriment.

[Sugarrr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! So many pages with huge mostly black and white fotos of Marilyn, also lots of info on her life and acting career.

[This is V! · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well done book filled with so many things about Marilyn

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great pictures. Nice book.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very little here that hasn't already appeared elsewhere. Although I can't complain about (another) opportunity to gaze at these pictures and remember how special Marilyn really was.

[Jychelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marilyn Monroe was the star of her time. Gorgeous and wanted with many secrets. She was very intelligent and sometimes insecure. Hollywood unfortunately did not help. Unable to have children, I believe, played a part in her mental anguish.
This book is filled with beautiful photography and a biography all fans will love.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very easy and a great comprehensive guide to the life of Marilyn Monroe. The author Marie Clayton covers all aspects of Marilyn's life. Which is all fact. And also includes a lot of wonderful photographs to go with the brief chapters of Marilyn's short life. It's a book for any Monroe fan and for those who are learning about her for the first time.
The only thing is that at the end of this book on page 349. Is that the author forms her own view, that Marilyn likely committed suicide neither on purpose or by accident, by taking too many pills, rather than accepting the theories of murder.
Because these theories simply don't hold enough water under close examination.
Having noted this because I prefer the reader to form there own views.
And to not be influenced by the Authors own views.
Weather they believe or not she took an overdose by her own hand. Neither by accident or on purpose.
Or neither the reader is to decide to believe that someone or others murdered her on the night of August 5th 1962.
It should be completely up to them to decide.
Overall this is a book I would recommend to anyone curious about the life and times of Marilyn Monroe.

[Jim Dooley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A standard "paint by numbers" retelling of Marilyn Monroe's life. Having read other books about her, I can't say that I learned anything new here. All resources used were already published works, so there were no personal interviews. That would definitely explain the straightforward retelling without any lively embellishments.

Of course, with "Unseen Archives" as part of the title, a major draw is the photographs. Honestly, I didn't notice anything particularly appealing or eye-catching. In other books, I had often spent some time absorbing and studying the photographs. This time, I moved through them as I would through most book illustrations.

For the reader who is unfamiliar with the details of Marilyn Monroe's life, this is a good primer. Fans wil already have knowledge of everything detailed here.

[Emily Finch · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely book. There was no new information for me but it's nice going over it again to refresh my mind. The pictures are stunning. Some are rarely seen, although the they're not rare they're just not used in print as opposed to others, and that was nice. Since its a big book some of the pictures are a full page and they're visually stunning. I wish there were more pictures of her on the set of Something's Got to Give though as she looked magnificent then. But I couldn't find any fault within. I would recommend this book, for new fans or for a Marilyn collector. It's a nice piece to have and sits well with other (accurate) books.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I got this from my brother for Christmas like 3 or 4 years ago. I've always thought Marilyn was a fascinating character but I've never really read anything about her. Since then, I read "Blonde" and was pretty disappointed. This isn't really an in-depth book or anything. It's mostly pictures with brief summaries of what was going on in her life. It was nice to read this after having read a fictional version of her life and seeing where the facts align. I'd like to read a more in-depth biography of her someday.

[Linda Smolenski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll try to review this book objectively, as for me personally it brought up a lot of feelings.
This book would finally put to rest I believe the image of Marilyn as a "dumb blonde" and it's clear she is anything but that! It reveals a lot of incredibly deep intelligence, constant striving to better herself, deep awareness of self and fears and doubts and insecurities. It fleshes out the icon as a very sympathetic woman. A very sensitive and kind person. I could have read a thousand pages more of this book.

[Samantha Glasser · Rating 3 out of 5]

There isn't a whole lot of biographical information here, but the reason for getting this book isn't the writing, it's the photos. There are lots of large sized pictures from Marilyn from the beginning of her career through the end of her life. The book is fun to look through, but it isn't great because the paper is like regular book paper, not photo paper.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent biography! The ability through I Pad to view interviews and watch movie scenes really completed my ongoing fascination with her tragic life.
I was also so impressed with Joe DiMaggio, being the only real support in her life, even after they'd split up and she'd married Arthur Miller, Joe still was there for her through all of it and handled her funeral.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

i absolutely love marilyn monroe

[Desiree · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's on my coffee table. Great selection of pix and stories.

[Marla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very nice addition to my collection. This is more of a reference book, rather than a read from first to last page book. Lots of beautiful photos.