Blonde cover art

Blonde

A Novel

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Blonde

By: Joyce Carol Oates
Narrated by: Jayne Atkinson
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About this listen

The National Book Award finalist and national bestseller exploring the life and legend of Marilyn Monroe

Soon to be a Netflix Film starring Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale and Julianne Nicholson

In one of her most ambitious works, Joyce Carol Oates boldly reimagines the inner, poetic, and spiritual life of Norma Jeane Baker—the child, the woman, the fated celebrity, and idolized blonde the world came to know as Marilyn Monroe. In a voice startlingly intimate and rich, Norma Jeane tells her own story of an emblematic American artist—intensely conflicted and driven—who had lost her way. A powerful portrait of Hollywood’s myth and an extraordinary woman’s heartbreaking reality, Blonde is a sweeping epic that pays tribute to the elusive magic and devastation behind the creation of the great 20th-century American star.

Biographical Fiction Fantasy Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Biography Fiction Heartfelt Mythology Celebrity

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All stars
Most relevant
Sadly this is an abridged version which is not noted in the description.
The narrator and content are excellent, but I returned it as I wish to read the full text.
Audible should make it clear upon purchase if a text is abridged.

Abridged version

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The more you know about Marilyn the more fascinating she becomes. I knew a lot of the information in this novel but Joyce Carol Oates has created an absorbing, disturbing and compelling piece of work. It is beautifully narrated too.

Totally absorbing

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Extremely well told, the husky voice of the narrator really added character and back bone to the book and opened my eyes. Wasn't sure at first about the book in the first 30 minutes but glad i stuck with it.

Liked it

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Two things to highlight about this book:
ABRIDGED
FICTION
This book is so good, it was a crime to chop it.
The writing is practically perfect, so is the narration.
I have never read Joyce Carol Oates but now I have another one lined up from her, which is unfortunately not on Audible. Not a problem, I will need to read Blonde as well anyway, because now that I have been so inattentive and bought the ABRIDGED version and heard the beautiful narration, I can't make myself to return it but I want the whole story.
The book wants to capture the essence of Marilyn the girl and the woman, but it is important to realise that although a lot of the characters really existed and knew her, while some are inspired by people she knew, this is FICTION.
To me, the performer's breathless, husky voice to represent Marilyn is perfection. She doesn’t overdo her characters, doesn't do "voices" and doesn’t embellish. She is just perfect.

Beautiful writing. Perfect Narration

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This novel is superb in its creation.So much has been written about the most beautiful complex woman this world has ever seen. This is not what anyone would expect to experience as we are captured by Norma Jean/Marilyn Monroe from her insides. Her duality not just imagined but the stark reality of her living as two people in one body and Oates captures this remarkably well. Marilyn was ahead of her time in every way she did not think like the female actresses or other females of her time. Intuitively she was finding her way out and creating the road map for others that will follow for eternity. The first to have a production company. She had a great future and we will never know what she would have become. What we do know is that she was incredible smart , well read , civil rights activist , yoga practitioner, feminist ,she had humour and daring. We all know she wanted to be loved but she refused to be trapped by the confines of an abusive marriage or one that cruelly mocked her. Or let lovers no matter how powerful contain her . She was a woman of the future. We are still trying to have it all .She was cruelly taken from us. Blonde will ruffle feathers but Marilyn was all about creative expression. She was a superb actress. She would understand this in all its rawness. We needed a book to let us know how human she was , how hard the acting process is, how crippling stage fright can be no matter how talented you are . This book looks at all that and presents a Marilyn that makes us think. She was so strong not weak but she was tired and yet wanted to begin her story again. In her house with her pool. Read Blonde . Hold Marilyn in your heart she is already there. Marilyn/ Norma Jean the brave .

Superb piece of creative writing .A must read.Beautifully narrated.

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