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Blonde cover art

Blonde

By: Joyce Carol Oates
Narrated by: Jayne Atkinson
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Summary

She was an all-American girl who became a legend of unparalleled stature. She inspired the adoration of millions, and her life has beguiled generations of fans and fellow artists. The story of Norma Jeane Baker, better known by her studio name, Marilyn Monroe, has been dissected for more than three decades, but never has it been captured in a narrative as breathtaking and transforming as Blonde.

In her most ambitious work to date, Joyce Carol Oates, one of America's most distinguished writers, reimagines the inner, poetic, and spiritual life of Norma Jeane Baker, the child, the woman, the fated celebrity, and tells the story in Norma Jeane's own voice: startling, rich, and shattering.

Drawing on biographical and historical sources, Joyce Carol Oates evokes the distinct consciousness of the woman and the unsparing reflection of the myth, writing as she has never written before, ecstatic, completely absorbed, inhabited as if by the spirit of her extraordinary subject. Rich with psychological insight and disturbing irony, this mesmerizing narrative illumines Norma Jeane's lonely childhood, wrenching adolescence, and the creation of Marilyn Monroe.

With fresh insights into the heart of a celebrity culture hypnotized by its own myths, Blonde is a sweeping novel about the elusive magic of a woman, the lasting legacy of a star, and the heartbreak behind the creation of the most evocative icon of the 20th century.

©2001 Joyce Carol Oates (P)2001 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Atkinson narrates Oates's fictional biography of Marilyn Monroe in an intense, slightly husky voice that immediately grabs and holds the listener's attention." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Blonde

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Abridged

Enjoyed this very much (though there was some peculiar phrasing by the narrator at times) but was disappointed to find it was an abridged version, given that this isn't mentioned anywhere that I can see on the Audible app (a scene was mentioned in the author interview at the end which hadn't been in the audio book, and that got me googling).

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4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Abridged version

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.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Totally absorbing

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.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant performance of an astonishing narrative.

Truly gripping performance of a great work of imaginative literature. Brings alive the period and the extraordinary unsung genius of Marilyn Monroe. If an audio book can be unputdownable this was it. Bravo Jayne Atkinson!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful writing. Perfect Narration

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.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Jayne Atkinson's performance is incredible!

Given the time slips, changes in narrator, multitude of characters and the very different personas of Norma Jean and Marilyn- this audiobook should have been hard to follow but Jayne Atkinson's talented performance makes this complex novel an audio 'page turner' of which I enjoyed every minute.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Sometimes fiction has more truth than reality can show.

Wow. I wonder how many of the viewers of the film of this novel, even know it came from a novel? Even if they did, how many have read/listened to it? Not many, I’ll guess. This is a genuinely caring and interesting novel about it’s subject. It tries to show her as a thoughtful and struggling woman abused by almost all who knew her, at some level. It is all too believable, if difficult to deal with at times.
I would particularly recommend that listeners take in the author interview that is the final chapter. It provides some insight and I’d like to think will strip away much of the silly criticism of the film, too. This is not an attempt to use the image of Monroe, but to explain about the real person behind it. Yes, it’s a fictionalised account of Norma-Jean’s life, but the incidents are taken from known facts about her and similar people’s lives. It’s not an attempt at a Hollywood type of trite biography just like a hundred others. This tries to show us, through fiction, about the sort of upbringing and adult life she struggled through until she succumbed. It is very well written and narrated. If you come to this wanting to know more about her, you will learn more. I can recommend this wholeheartedly. Now, I will watch the film to see how true it is to Joyce Carol Oates’s vision of Monroe’s existence.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Just dull

Much like the film, this is just dull. Couldn’t get through the film or the book. Yawn. Narration was the only positive factor.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

This edition has been brutally chopped

I was very much looking forward to this book after the many brilliant reviews and comments I've read. It hadn't been clear at all that this was an abridged version. My guess is that it's been chopped by more than half. Shame on you who is stealthily cheating the audience. No wonder there were so many jumps, so many nuances missing. Norma Jean's psychological and emotional development has to be guessed at more than it's developed. I loved the beginning, heartbreaking, yet I wanted far more on Gladys and Della.
How absurd to have a 30 minute interview at the end after not allowing the book its space. Yet the interview was the most interesting part of the whole affair. I got JCOs intention and care although she did spoil some of my enjoyment of MM's films. Sad but I applaud her care for NJB.
I will return this book and if Audible wants to send me a complete one I'll be happy to pay for it.
The narration is superb!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely riveting

A truly affecting and intelligent story based around Norma Jeane / Marilyn, sensitively told. At times it made me recoil in it’s brutality though it’s never sensational. Moreover, it’s a poetic, empathetic and thoughtful study of a woman who seems to have such little self-esteem and who falls into relationship after relationship with abusive and coercive men.
An unsettling, insightful magnetic listen.

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