Blonde

By: Joyce Carol Oates

Narrated by: Jayne Atkinson

Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's 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)

FARCICLE STORY

Talk about rewriting history. Joyce Carol Oates obviously just pumped this story out to make a few bucks and meanwhile added to the misconceptions regarding Marilyn Monroe. Not well written, but well performed. Written like the author walked away from the manuscript for weeks at a time and didn't look at where she left off.

A Literary Triumph

Powerful. First the writing was exceptional. Second, the narration was phenomenal and lit this work on fire! Fabulous as an audio book.

Great but wish it wasn’t abridged

This is an amazing book and very well done but it was abridged and I didn’t know that

Excellent narration

Jayne Atkinson’s performance is outstanding! A gifted vocal talent brings the rapid narration to life and creates the desperation of Gladys and the extremes of Norma Jean/Marilyn with seeming ease. I am disappointed that Oates followed the lure of conspiracy when so much has been published about her accidental overdose.

Audiobook doesn’t follow the physical book’s text

Just FYI - if you are looking into listening to the audiobook while also reading a physical copy, they are different. At least for my edition (a 20th anniversary, paperback one), the book’s text is more extensive (both meaning paragraphs that weren’t narrated as well as chapter that are in different orders).

Partly fiction

The narration is good. The writing is a fictionalized version of Marilyn Monroe’s life?
It is well written and imaginative.

5 stars

The narrator's smoky, Peggy Lee voice pairs perfectly with JCO's emotional, sinister, always real take on Marilyn's life. A must read.

Much more than a sex simple

I mean that. Not just a “sex simple”
Joyce Carol Oates wrote her character into flesh and soul the way an actor, much like Norma Jean as her character, becomes the character. Highly moving to me as an artist. Thank you for the interview at the end too. This exploration of the art forms In the book and possible with Michael well augmented the experience of the book. I look forward to watching the screen representation. Thank you Joyce 😌

Abridged? Disappointingly short

When I purchased “Blonde,” nowhere did it reveal that this is an abridged edition. But I simultaneously bought the ebook. Sometimes I like to read and sometimes listen.
So I couldn’t figure out why my progress in reading was much different than my listening until seeing some reviews. Thanks for cheating us, Audible, with a partial book for full price. The narrator’s performance is excellent, but I’d like the whole book please.

The interview at the end with Joyce Carol Oates is excellent.

My Own Fault for Not Noticing

I finished this audiobook thinking, "man, that book could have been awesome, but it felt like the skeleton of an amazing book." It was only then that I saw the word, "abridged," on the file. Curse me for being stupid and curse the monster who invented abridgments and curse the punk who thought this book should abridged.

As it stands, this abridgement was fine. JCO makes a few speculative leaps about the inner workings of Norma Jean cum Marilyn, that feel spot-on. It was the first book I've read where someone really tried to understand the mechanisms of Marilyn's genius. ...and she as a genius at what she did, unquestionably. She was just so good; so talented; so funny.

When JCO comes to Marilyn's sing-song at JFK's birthday I stopped listening and watched the footage on Youtube. She's clearly a little tipsy, and perhaps out of her league in that den of Ivy League privilege, but they were only more educated than Marilyn. They were not smarter, and they might scorn her, but they absolutely bowed to her genius too. All she does is take off a coat and take a breath, and the room is hers. It's incredible.

Anyway, I don't know if I'll go back and read the unabridged version now. Marilyn had a hard life, and this is an equally hard book. It's brilliant, but not pretty.