Goddess

New York: Macmillan Publishing Company BOOK: Corners, Spine Bumped; Light Shelf Rub to Boards; Edges Moderately Soiled; Moderate Yellowing Due to Age. DUST JACKET: Moderately Creased; Moderately Chipped; Moderate Yellowing Due to Age; Spine Portion Heavily Faded Due to Sun Exposure; In Archival Quality Jacket Cover. SUB-TITLE: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe. BOOK NUMBER: 02870. JACKET PHOTOGRAPH SUPPLIED BY: James Robert Haspiel. JACKET DESIGN BY: Anthony Russo, The Artworks. CONTENTS: Acknowledgments; Part I Into the Land of the Scorpions; Part II The DiMaggio Disaster; Part III Broken Marriage--Broken Mind; Part IV Marilyn and the Kennedy Brothers; Part V The Candle Burns Down; Part VI Aftermath; Bibliography; Notes; Index; Photo Credits. SYNOPSIS: During her brief, incandescent life, almost everybody lied about Marilyn Monroe, and she did some of the fabricating. Now in Goddess, Anthony Summers goes behind the lies, the gossip, and the myths to write the ultimate book on Marilyn Monroe, shimmering screen star, fabled fantasy figure, and one of the most poignant personalities of our time. He has filled Goddess with stunning revelations about Marilyn's marriages, including the one she seemingly kept secret, and her affairs with the most famous and charismatic men of her era. For the first time, he produces firsthand testimony of her long-rumored liaisons with President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert, the Attorney General. This extraordinarily readable, compassionate book portrays Marilyn Monroe as she actually was--vital, witty, seductive, pathetic, and, ultimately, tragic. Hers was an incredible personal achievement. The product of a broken home, deserted by the father she never knew, shunted through a succession of foster homes, Marilyn Monroe married, among others, America's premier sports hero, Joe DiMaggio, and one of its finest playwrights, Arthur Miller, and became a legend in her own time. Marilyn was a woman of paradox: she wanted more than anything in the world to have children, yet had twelve abortions; she desperately sought an enduring relationship with a man, yet was unable to make a lasting commitment; she had a passion for life, yet repeatedly attempted suicide; she never graduated from high school, yet educated herself to the point that she could converse with the brightest minds of her generation; she came from a background of minimal cultural or theatrical knowledge, began her career as a sex symbol, yet ultimately was acclaimed as an outstanding actress. To re-create this complex story, Anthony Summers has deployed all the skills of a page-turning author and a superb investigative reporter. He interviewed over six hundred people, including intimates and friends who have spoken out for the first time. He obtained startling new documents under the Freedom of Information Act and has exposed plots by the Mafia and its allies to use Marilyn as a weapon in their war with the Kennedy brothers. And he chronicles the heartbreak of her final years through the correspondence of her psychiatrist, revealed for the first time in this book. In probing the murky circumstances of her death, Anthony Summers uncovered hidden police reports and suppressed phone records and interviewed long-silent witnesses. Every item in this electrifying book is scrupulously researched and sourced. The first and only documented biography of the star's haunting life, Goddess is riveting, explosive, and deeply moving. Anthony Summers went from Oxford University to newspaper reporting and then to the British Broadcasting Corporation. His journalism covered the world, from Vietnam and Lebanon to the events that convulsed America in the sixties and seventies. His previous books, The File on the Tsar, on the disappearance of the last Russian imperial family, and Conspiracy, on the assassination of President Kennedy, brought him critical acclaim and, for Conspiracy, the Golden Dagger Award for the best nonfiction work on crime in 1980. He is married, with one son, and lives in Ireland. - and - The Ultimate Biography of the Ultimate Screen Star. Riveting and explosive, Goddess is the first, and only documented story of Marilyn Monroe by a master investigative journalist. Drawing on more than six hundred interviews, her psychiatrist's private correspondence, hidden police reports, suppressed phone records, and previously unreleased FBI and CIA documents, this electrifying book finally tells all, from her love affairs with John and Robert Kennedy to the ruthless cover-up of the truth about her mysterious death.. Book Club (BCE/BOMC). Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.