No movie star in history is as iconic as Marilyn Monroe. This fact has had the unfortunate effect of distancing the observer from the human being. Marilyn is too often seen as an object instead of as a person. Not in this book. Carefully choosing from the portfolios of photographers who knew her well and who were with her in her unguarded moments, Life presents an intimate, warm portrait of a bravely, vulnerable woman. The work of great Life shooters — Milton Greene, Alfred Eisenstaedt, and others — is here, as is material from several other equally fine lensmen. They show different aspects of Marilyn, sometimes in famous imagery and sometimes in shots rarely if ever seen by the public. The accompanying narrative, too, tries to get in close; it lets the reader know Marilyn in a new way. In this book, Marilyn finally lives.
