Marilyn Monroe was a Book Lover?

There was a pretty interesting article at Slate.com yesterday about Marilyn Monroe. Simon Doonan has written a book called Gay Men Don’t Get Fat, and this excerpt is published at Slate. In it Simon tells about being the designer hired to put Marilyn’s personal estate on display for Christie’s auction house. Doonan is a pretty good writer – funny, too. He discloses a couple of surprising revelations about the world’s most iconic sex-pot which I would have never guessed.


First, she was not materialistic. Most of her possessions – of which there were few – were simple and modest. She didn’t have expensive art or a lavish wardrobe. What clothes she had were nice, but very well worn. But the biggest revelation was that of the stuff she did have, it seems her most prized possessions were her books. Doonan believes that Marilyn was conscious of not been taken seriously, and so became a motivated reader and life-long learner. He writes, “Her poignant desire to cultivate her mind and give herself an education resulted in an extensive library of first editions. Take that, Carrie Bradshaw!”