No star in any genre has affected the world as deeply or has lasted as long without fading as Marilyn Monroe. This thought-provoking and wide-ranging collection of essays examines the undiminished incandescence of Marilyn Monroe -- the impact she has had on our culture, the evolution of her legend since her death, and what she tells us now about our lives and times -- and includes previously unpublished work from some of America's best writers, such as: Joyce Carol Oates, Alice Elliot Dark, Albert Mobilo, Marge Piercy, Lore Segal, Lisa Shea, and many more.

From her troubled family beginnings to the infamous $13 million auction held at Christie's in New York City, All the Available Light paints an unforgettable portrait of Marilyn as you've never seen her before.

This extremely rare cover photo was taken c. 1954, on the set of The Seven Year Itch.

It is interesting to read what other people think, and some of these writers are quite well known -- Joyce Carol Oates, Gloria Steinhem, Marge Piercy,. These essays show Marilyn in a positive and worst possible light. -- Every little available, hence the title, "All the Available Light". I think this book needs to be read with an extreme open mind by the fans.
As a woman who truly loves and is a fan of Monroe, I got the feeling that woman writers here are not fans. They stepped up on their soapbox and tore Marilyn into pieces because of her overt sexuality and the fact that she appeared to be the dumb blonde. They seemed almost intimidated and resorted to stupid remarks about her intelligence. No one truly knew Marilyn, she was and still is an enigma. We can only form opinions, which is what this little blurb of writing really is. Every opinion you can think of is here. There are some facts thrown in for good measure, and the author ends it with a "Chronology" From this, we find out that the author thinks MM was murdered.

Even though Marilyn didn't particularly like Sir Lawrence Olivier, I thought his chapter was one of the best ones. He was her leading man in "The Prince and the Showgirl". After speaking rather bluntly about his sometimes frustrating experience working with her, he realizes in retrospect that in the finished product, she was brilliant and quite beautiful.
Which is my own opinion as well. So, I'm biased, I'll admit that.

A lot of this book was very boring and read like text book material with the contributors making up their own words like Monroeivitiy and Monroean. Please...
I don't highly recommend this book, but it is an interesting peek into other people's minds and how Marilyn affected them in both their personal and professional lives.


great book to fall asleep with ..   August 23, 2002
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

only an analyse of Marilyn with passages of other books about Marilyn in it .. I read some 70 books about Marilyn in the past years and this is realy one I'd like to lay aside; nothing new and boring! Great coverphoto though ..


Ultra-Feminist Psychobabble   August 6, 2002
The Raven (Herndon, VA)
8 out of 10 found this review helpful

Although there are a few interesting pieces contained within, the majority is a collection of ultra-feminist psychobabble. Since I assume that these feminist writers were paid for their efforts, they too profited from the one they claim to be objectified and victimized by the male-dominated, Hollywood machine. How much better is that? With their theorizing and analyzing, they all seek to reveal the 'real' woman beneath the mask of Marilyn. Most probably they are all off-the-mark. For a better understanding of Marilyn, you would be much better off watching and enjoying her films, and reading her interviews. The painful truth is, we will never fully know the woman behind the curtain. She is gone and not able to defend herself against this onslaught of ridiculous speculation.