Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe by Anthony Summers

Goddess:  The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe by Anthony Summers  is a 430-page hardcover published in 1985 by Macmillan Publishing Company.  The dust jacket has shelf wear mostly around the spine.  Inside, the book has light bumping to the spine.  Else, the condition is good. Book Summary 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's filled Goddess with stunning revelations about Marilyn's marriages, including the one she's seemingly kept secret, and her affairs with the most famous and charismatic men of her era. For the first time, he produces first-hand 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 12 abortions; she desperately sought an enduring relationship with a man, yet was unable to make a lasting commitment; she had a passion for life, get 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 600 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 to the correspondence of her psychiatrist, revealed for the first time in this book. The first and only documented biography of the star's haunting life, Goddess is riveting, explosive, and deeply moving.