Marilyn: The Ultimate Look at the Legend

by James Haspiel

The teenaged boy whom Marilyn Monroe used as a friend and confidant presents his own candid and posed photographs of the superstar, along with rare letters and other memorabilia that depict the true personality of the film goddess

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

Hardcover

First published October 21, 1991

Reviews

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely personal story by James Haspiel (member of the Monroe Six) and gorgeous and some home-made pictures. A must-have for MM fans.

[Grazia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is a book very honest
and I love for this

[xchelsealouisex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been my favourite book on Marilyn Monroe as it doesn't just blab facts about her life that you can get from Wikipedia - it has a personal feel about it; I definitely recommend it :)

[Mike S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marilyn: The Ultimate Look at the Legend is a book by James Haspiel and published in 1991. It is a cross between a coffee-table book and a biography about Marilyn Monroe. Haspiel was a fan of Monroe living in New York, who ultimately became friends with her during the last eight years of her life, from 1954 to 1962. He was among a group of teenage fans who basically followed Monroe everywhere she went when she was in New York, taking pictures of and interacting with her. She befriended many of them, including Haspiel. The book contains several pictures (many of which had never been seen before the book was published) of Monroe, as well as letters she wrote to Haspiel and memorabilia she signed for him. The first half of the book contains more pictures than text, and the latter half contains more text.

The hardcover version of the book is just over 200 pages long, but because there are so many pictures, it reads very quickly. It is interesting to learn just how close fans could get to the most famous actress in the world at the time. You definitely get the idea that Haspiel, while he may not have been in the closest part of Monroe's inner circle, was very close to her and probably spent more time with her than any fan of any movie star has ever had the opportunity to since then. The final chapters discuss her death, and Haspiel absolutely does not believe that Monroe committed suicide. Ultimately, it is a very interesting book with several good pictures. It is a must-read for anyone who is a fan of Monroe's.

[Rabia Kashmiri · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I’ve noticed is that Ralph Robert’s book (MM’s masseuse), Bernice Miracle (MM’s sister) and James Haspiel’s accounts all confirm each other’s even though each was written at a different time, and indeed Ralph Robert’s writings were not published in his lifetime but after he died.

James provides what I believe to be an candid look at MM and Norma Jeane. He describes scenes in the book beautifully - and can I say is it is so wonderful to read that Marilyn did in fact have clear boundaries, did have a temper when something offended her and was a human. People did love her, including those around her. James is not shy in pointing out his own behaviour at certain points - which I feel is importantly authentic. I wish they could have had a different last “goodbye” but I have no doubt that had MM lived, James and her would have gone back to their usual routine as had happened in the years Jame’s knew her.

A definite must read for a Marilyn fan if you want to understand who she was behind the persona.

A great big thank you and warm hug to James Haspiel - us fans are ever so grateful :)

[MKF]

The book was okay until you reached the end and gives his theory on how one of the Kennedy's killed her. It seems ridiculous that during a fight he just decides to kill her then when they realized she was still alive decided to try her save. She would have been able to identify her attempted murderers and have to be killed so she wouldn't talk. It's just seems obvious that as a close friend for so many years he couldn't accept that her death was something ordinary. His friendship though results is some lesser known photos that shows a different side of Marilyn.

[Michael Kerjman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very inside story is told by a long-term Marilyn's photograph enriched with memories of actress's friends.

[Danielle Foley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The photos in this book were incredible! This would make a great coffee table book. I had been under the impression that the author had been within Marilyn's close circle of friends but unfortunately it seems he was a fan who became a friend through seeing her on the street during her time in New York. The book was a great account of his memories of Marilyn but really was more about their casual encounters rather than a biography about Marilyn.