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Summary
Summary
Exploring the many facets of the legendary actress, a collection of short fiction expounds upon and expands the myth of Marilyn Monroe, from the story of Marilyn saving Nakita Kruschev to the appearance of Marilyn on Mt. Rushmore.
Author Notes
Bestselling author Carole Nelson Douglas was born on November 5, 1944. She majored in theater and English literature in college and was an award-winning journalist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press until she moved to Texas in 1984, where she began writing fiction full time. She is the author of over fifty novels in genres including mystery, fantasy, science fiction, and romance fiction. Douglas seeks to create strong female protagonists in her works and is best known for two popular series, the Irene Adler mysteries and the Midnight Louie mystery series.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Kirkus Review
Thirty-five years after her death, Marilyn Monroe lives, and dies, again in this collection of 21 new stories. Although only Eileen Dreyer acknowledges that ``I'm not as interested in Marilyn Monroe as I am in the image of Marilyn Monroe,'' the same is equally true of all the contributors here, because Monroe's life and personality have been so relentlessly mythologized over the years that even attempts to get at the real Monroe behind the breathlessly seductive image end up settling for a remarkably homogenous set of ``real'' myths. Whether she's hiring a shamus at the dawn of her career (Martin and Annette Meyers), rescuing Khrushchev from assassination (Barbara Collins), scanning her horoscopes for the weekend of her death (J.N. Williamson), conversing with the death angel (Billie Sue Mosiman), joining forces with a mother-daughter pair of thieves (T.J. MacGregor), telling a medium about her abused childhood (Melissa Mia Hall), or bearing John Kennedy's love-child (Peter Crowther and editor Douglas, though there are broad hints in many more stories and a neat twist on the theme by Jill M. Morgan), Norma Jeane Mortenson is monotonously wise, sensitive, professional, well-read, vulnerable, and a sucker for kids. It's frustrating to see a myth turned inside-out so often in such banal terms. The most successful stories are those that use Monroe's myth instead of trying to get beyond it by putting Monroe on 165th Street (Linda Mannheim) or in the underworld (Elizabeth Ann Scarborough) or a drag queen's arms (Janet Berliner and George Guthridge). Fortunately, the two most ambitious stories, Carolyn Wheat's kaleidoscopic account of filming Some Like It Hot and Nancy Pickard's fable about the week that Monroe's healing image miraculously appeared on Mt. Rushmore, are also the best. Douglas (Cat With an Emerald Eye, 1996, etc.) provides waves of delight for Monroephiles, though there's not much illumination deeper than Gloria Steinem's neo-feminist analysis.
Booklist Review
Monroe personifies the classic pop culture icon, which must be the raison d'etre for this appealing collection. Mailer, Steinem, Elton John--half the world, it seems, has set pen to paper on the endlessly fascinating Monroe. Douglas (author of 30 novels, including the Irene Adler and Midnight Louie mystery series) gathers more than 20 Monroe-themed short stories, many by familiar genre authors, such as mystery writers Martin and Annette (Maan) Meyers, Carolyn Wheat, Barbara Collins, Patricia Wallace, T. J. MacGregor, Catherine Dain, Douglas herself, and Nancy Pickard; horror and fantasy writers Peter Crowther, John A. Day, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, and J. N. Williamson; folklorist Linda Mannheim; and romance and suspense specialist Eileen Dreyer. MM's memory--and our reactions to her--sets a wide range of writers' imaginations humming. --Mary Carroll
Library Journal Review
Marilyn Monroe was an enigma famous, beautiful, sexy, talented, and (surprisingly) intelligent, she also exemplified unexpected characteristics of sadness, loneliness, and vulnerability that made her all the more human. Edited by romance and mystery novelist Douglas, this collection of 21 short stories by authors such as Eileen Dreyer and Nancy Pickard explores her life in imaginative ways. Each author did careful research then intertwined fact with fiction to create an engaging story. The Kennedy brothers appear in several of the tales, as well as the specter of a son given up for adoption in her youth. Whether Marilyn is saving the life of Nikita Khrushchev, witnessing the hereafter prior to her death, or being taken hostage in an unlikely heist, the legendary star comes across as a sympathetic and tragic character. Interestingly, the stories have a consistent feel in that they portray Marilyn as a waif in search of love and affection who ends up alone and unfulfilled at the hour of her death. Each story is followed by an analysis of the author's response to Marilyn, particularly her untimely death. Recommended.Kimberly G. Allen, NetworkMCI Lib., Washington, D.C. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
