2006-10-17 Boobies, bosoms, and breasts. Oh there's Marilyn too!

For the Americans who adored Marilyn Monroe for her bosoms, this is the book to have.

For those of us who can see past her bouyant ta-tas (which appear surprisingly deflated in this photographic study), there's also a lot of beauty and pathos in the thousands of portraits in this book.

These aren't the most beautiful photos of MM, and most of the fashion photos are deliriously dated and corny, but the photos which present pure Marilyn are worth their weight in diamond dust.

These photos are the final sustained effort put forth by Marilyn Monroe before she died. Taken just weeks before her accidental overdose, these photos offer a glimpse of a happy Marilyn, a sad Marilyn, a mischievious Marilyn, a tired Marilyn... everything but a suicidal Marilyn. Many of the photos are blatantly exhibitionistic, posed by a woman trying very hard to focus attention on herself during a very troubled time in her life and professional career. Other photos are entirely voyeuristic, giving us glimpses of a troubled and disturbed woman who doesn't know we're looking in on her and seeing her vulnerability, desperation, and despair.

Marilyn shows all sides of herself in these many photos, and it's up to the viewer to sort it all. Fascinating for the Marilyn scholar, intriguing for someone just being introduced to Marilyn, and shades of awe for anyone betwixt.