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The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe
by Gail Crowther
Timed to the 100th birthday of Marilyn Monroe 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 Books: 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.
"It is the persistent skepticism about Monroe's intelligence that fascinates Crowther, and while trying to understand the 'why' of it all, she explores the nature of reading itself…. In coming to know Monroe as an avid literature lover, Crowthers' readers will also gain insights into their own bookish lives." —Booklist (starred review)
"An intimate exploration of the personal library of actor and model Marilyn Monroe [and] the significant role books played in her life…. By illuminating and uplifting Monroe's love of books, Crowther helps rewrite the narrative that cast the actor as a 'dumb blonde' and takes seriously the impact Monroe had on film and culture. This is an enlightening study of a misunderstood icon." —Publishers Weekly
"A weak attempt to prove that Monroe wasn't just a pretty face." —Kirkus Reviews
"No woman was more patronized and demeaned than Marilyn Monroe. With wit, warmth and scholarly empathy, Gail Crowther's wonderful book reconstructs not just her library, but her life. Marilyn and Her Books is both a penetrating analysis of her literary compulsions and a kind of Lynchian diorama: a shimmering, unsettling portrait which reminds us that reading, like Hollywood, is a dream-state. Just when we thought we could not love Marilyn more, Crowther deepens and complicates our devotion, allowing us to see her clearly at last - and lay her to rest with the respect she has always deserved. I loved it." —John O'Connell, author of Bowie's Bookshelf
This information about Marilyn and Her Books was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Dr. Gail Crowther is a writer, researcher, and academic. She is the author of Dorothy Parker in Hollywood, Three-Martini Afternoons at the Ritz: The Rebellion of Sylvia Plath & Anne Sexton, The Haunted Reader & Sylvia Plath, and the coauthor of Sylvia Plath in Devon: A Year's Turning and These Ghostly Archives: The Unearthing of Sylvia Plath. Gail divides her time between the North of England and London.
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