Not a biography, but a fictional treatment of the life of Marilyn Monroe, from birth to death. Of course, Oates picks and chooses what to include and what to leave out, in order to make the point that she wants. It's a powerful novel, and somewhat difficult to read. Monroe, as portrayed by Oates, is one of those actors that is subsumed by the character she is playing. Dangerous psychologically for the actor, and in this case, dangerous for the reader. The author does such an excellent job that I found myself affected by Marilyn's story. So, yes, I've been very blue while reading this, although, thankfully, not suicidal!
Much of the novel is told in the stream-of-consciousness style also, which is another powerful technique to pull the reader into the life of the character.
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