Finally! A superbly concise autopsy on the reconstruction of the deconstruction of the reconstruction of the deconstruction of Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn, today, although quite dead, whether it was suicide or murder, is much like a pyramid in our society. It's an imposing structure made with huge heavy blocks that no one can quite figure out how they got there but there they are. Sarah Churchwell's The Many Lives Of Marilyn Monroe never loses sight of the author's introductory theme. Previous biographies of Marilyn Monroe promised to reveal something as yet unknown. In a refreshing and different turn, Churchwell gives us "...the story of the stories of Marilyn Monroe". In many ways, the mythical Marilyn didn't come from Ms. Monroe, but from those who wrote about her following her death. Certainly, no one writes their own myth. Their life might etch an epitaph but not a myth.

One misnomer that Sarah Churchwell quickly lays to rest is that Marilyn was a dumb blonde. That might be the hip-shot perception by many but it's simply baseless. One select portion of Churchwell's book quotes Director Billy Wilder.

"Wilder, who worked with Monroe on two films, declared that she was the "meanest woman in Hollywood" and that working with her required "nerves of iron and total dedication, like climbing the Himalayas." He said she was plastic, "a Dupont product," with "breasts like granite and a brain like Swiss cheese, full of holes." But he also said: "She was an absolute genius as a comic actress, with an extraordinary sense of comic dialogue...nobody else is in that orbit, everyone else is earthbound by comparison."

Churchwell's matchless insight into Marilyn's films, as well as the various pin-ups for which she posed throughout her career, demonstrates how the actress dangled her image in front of a movie going public that was switching over to television. Not only was this a shrewd marketing move that would carry her likeness for decades after her death but one that eventually transcended generations. Churchwell clearly shows that the biographies of Marilyn, no matter how famous or adept the writer, begin with the studio press releases that issued a synopsis of her life story as she was rising to stardom. Many of these originated from the public relations viewpoint. Future biographers relied on previously written biographies as part of their research. After a while, they seem to feed on one another. The Many Lives Of Marilyn Monroe is such an intriguing comparison of the various biographies and "new" revelations" about Marilyn, as well as those who wrote about her, that it reads like a mystery to which one wonders through which door of Marilyn's life we'll step through next. It's also a Technicolor warning to future readers that purported Marilyn facts may or may not be the truth. This book is clearly a watershed on the body of work written about the actress. Any future biographer of Marilyn must include Ms. Churchwell's book as part of their research in order to attain any level of veracity.

As far as Marilyn's death is concerned, Ms. Churchwell juxtaposes all of the conspiracy theories thus causing them to throw more light on one other than they ever could bring to that fatal morning in August, 1962. Take a peek for yourself. It's not something any reviewer can do justice by way of re-explanation.

The Many Lives Of Marilyn Monroe brings us the Marilyn that shrewdly lived and functioned in 1950's Hollywood. A woman savvy enough to make some great movies and form her own tough decisions about her career. An actress that wanted to move into drama and never stopped training for it. A woman who created her place in cinema.

I liked to say that Sarah Churchwell's book is one of a kind. I can't. There is no other book of its kind to which I can compare it. The Many Lives Of Marilyn Monroe truly stands alone.