Blonde
A Novel
Published on 5. March 2001
Book
Paperback/Softback
752 pages
978-1-84115-372-8 (ISBN)
Description
NOW A MAJOR NETFLIX FILM, STARRING ANA DE ARMAS, ADRIEN BRODY, BOBBY CANNAVALE AND JULIANNE NICHOLSON, DIRECTED BY ANDREW DOMINIK
'A torrentially imaginative, compulsively readable tour de force' Sunday Telegraph
'A fabulous reinvention of the life of a fabulous reinvention, and a cracking page-turner to boot' Evening Standard
Blonde is a mesmerising novel about the most enduring and evocative cultural icon of the 20th century: the woman who became Marilyn Monroe. A fragile and gifted young woman, Norma Jeane Baker makes and remakes her identity: she is the orphan whose mother is declared mad; the woman who changes her name to be an actress; the fated celebrity, lover and muse. Told in her voice, Blonde shows a culture hypnotised by its own myths, and the devastating effects it had on Hollywood's greatest star.
'This masterpiece about Marilyn Monroe's life is audacious, gripping and clever' Rose Tremain
'If you haven't read Joyce Carol Oates before, start here, and now' Independent
'A torrentially imaginative, compulsively readable tour de force' Sunday Telegraph
'A fabulous reinvention of the life of a fabulous reinvention, and a cracking page-turner to boot' Evening Standard
Blonde is a mesmerising novel about the most enduring and evocative cultural icon of the 20th century: the woman who became Marilyn Monroe. A fragile and gifted young woman, Norma Jeane Baker makes and remakes her identity: she is the orphan whose mother is declared mad; the woman who changes her name to be an actress; the fated celebrity, lover and muse. Told in her voice, Blonde shows a culture hypnotised by its own myths, and the devastating effects it had on Hollywood's greatest star.
'This masterpiece about Marilyn Monroe's life is audacious, gripping and clever' Rose Tremain
'If you haven't read Joyce Carol Oates before, start here, and now' Independent
Reviews / Votes
'Nobody has ever caught Marilyn more brilliantly in words than Oates' Sunday Times'This masterpiece about Marilyn Monroe's life is audacious, gripping and clever. A meditation on fame, exile and lovelessness, but most importantly a siren shriek against the commodification of women through the decades' Rose Tremain
'A fabulous reinvention of the life of a fabulous reinvention, and a cracking page-turner to boot' Evening Standard
'A torrentially imaginative, compulsively readable tour de force' Sunday Telegraph
'A mighty - and a mesmerizing - book' Elaine Showalter, Literary Review
'If you haven't read Joyce Carol Oates before, start here, and now' Julie Myerson, Independent
'Blonde is an epic achievement, a masterpiece, a piece of art so shatteringly well-conceived and lavishly-wrought that at times it almost does not seem like a mere book' Independent on Sunday
'Novelists such as John Updike, Philip Roth, Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer slug it out for the title of the Great American Novelist. But maybe they're wrong. Maybe, just maybe, the Great American Novelist is a woman' Herald
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 63 mm
Weight
504 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84115-372-8 (9781841153728)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Joyce Carol Oates is a distinguished, award-winning author and critic. She has written over 20 previous books, including Black Water, On Boxing, Because it is Bitter and Because it is my Heart, now recognised as American classics. Here most recent novel is The Gravedigger's Daughter.