Marilyn and Me: Sisters, Rivals, Friends

by Susan Strasberg

Book Overview

Now in paperback, here is the acclaimed, compelling look at Marilyn Monroe by actress Susan Strasberg, who was by turns her friend, rival, and sister. Susan reveals the real Marilyn who came to study... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446515922
• ISBN13: 9780446515924
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Warner Books (NY)
• Length: 282 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A Better Understanding of MM.

If you’re really wanting to get to know Marilyn, and the real aspects of her life, Susan really gets raw with what it was like growing up with Marilyn. Susan gives her aspects through it all, and it gave me a deeper understanding of the acting world. More importantly, it gave me a deeper understanding of Marilyn Monroe

Loved this book

Loved reading about Marilyn Monroe. The author leaves no stone unturned.

it doesn't get much better than this

the best way to know someone is from people who knew that person, and to me, Susan seems to know MM more than anyone. they both slept together many nights in the same room talking and gossiping. Susan is a wonderful writer, excruciating-ingly intelligent, smart and articulate, which was one thing i loved about the book. from her, her hillarious mother Paula, her rebellious brother, and her iconic acting coach father, Lee Strasberg, you learn so much about life through their intelligent, sage comments on life. and of course infamously witty M will teach you things too from her sweet introspection. so i got more than i bargained for from this book. MM is shown as never before; in a sisterly way, daughterly way. but of course all the trademark innocence, humor, depression, death wishes, and sleep inability are all there. but i also was really drawn to susan, she is frank and expresses all her fears and it made me emphatically realize that she was just like me, just like everyone else. and i felt so sorry for her throughout the book that her father would not give her the attention and time like he did with MM. susan doesn't over do it, and make her problems whiny or irksome. it is real and raw, and you really feel for her. and if u r such a MM fan and don't want to hear susan's life, that is not a problem b/c she only talks about it so much and jumps right back into MM. but her life and problems are so exciting that i loved to hear it too. it was drama all the time, and shows that the rich, successful, and affluent have problems just like all of us. i liked how susan also included quotes from other people, so you could get even more a perspective of MM; her brother (extremely bright and a great observer just like susan), the chauffeur M shared with the Strasberg's, the chaperone they hried for MM, e.t.c. i think it took me probably 2 weeks to read this book (if i wasn't so busy it'd probably be a few days) and i enjoyed evry minute of those 2 weeks reading this. it has so much insight into M's character that it is a must-have for M fans. oh! and particularly interesting was the account of after M sang for Pres Kennedy what really happened at the after party (susan was there). i more than recommened this book. thank you susan for doing such a great job!

An Honest and Sweet Tribute

Susan Strasberg, the daughter of Lee, the founder of the Actor's Studio and teacher of the Method style of acting, and Paula, former actress and later coach of Marilyn Monroe, discusses her life and relationship during the time that Monroe was a part of her family. Strasberg was around Monroe constantly for several years until the blonde bombshell's unexpected death. The two met on the set of There's No Business Like Show Business; not long afterward Monroe met Lee Strasberg and joined his classes. Because Monroe was often in the Strasberg home whether it simply be for sessions with Lee, dinner, or even to sleep over, Susan Strasberg is well qualified to write a book about her experiences with the actress. The stories she has range from both personal anecdotes to objective interpretations. This book is well written and easy to read. It discusses some aspects of the author's life as well as Monroe's to explain certain feelings Strasberg had for her rival. It is highly entertaining and an asset to the collection of books about Marilyn Monroe. This one is sweet, filled with information that has not been reprinted in countless other books, and does justice to Marilyn Monroe the person. It spends more time describing her as a person instead of speculating about her lovers and her death. It is an honest, compelling read.

Revealing book!

I really enjoyed reading this Book,Marilyn as seen from another's perspective, in this case a young Susan Strasberg.It wasn't hard to understand how Susan could feel at once so jelous and insecure around marilyn, yet seek her approval and friendship. Ignored by her own parents in favor of her surrogate sister Marilyn, Susan recounts all her conflicting emotions during that time in her Life.I found her recollection of her affair with Richard Burton equally interesting, as well as a closer Look at Paula Strasberg and her relationship with marilyn.This is a good read for any Marilyn fan...a different Look at the Legend.

Better than most MM biographies

Why do I like this better than most MM biographies? Strasberg actually knew MM. So many authors, like Norman Mailer among many others, didn't even know her and that makes their biographies debatable in terms of accuracy. Sometimes Strasberg does go into too much depth about her complex feelings about MM, but there are antedotes that have never been published before. Now that Stasberg is sadly deceased, this book becomes even more valuable because this is her last words on MM. However, I do think "Conversations with Marilyn" by Weatherby is a much more revealing book; Weatherby also knew MM. (See my review of that book if this interests you.)

A Look at Marilyn and Me

This book contains many of the essential keys to understanding Marilyn Monroe. Although told through the eyes of another actress, it focuses more on Marilyn rather than Susan Strasberg. The best part of the book, to me, was how they first met. It also shows that Marilyn Monroe was in a way a normal woman with many insecurities and sometimes just as scared as all of us sometimes are. It was good that someone so close to her could write a book looking back at not only her as being a legend, but someone we could relate to. I have read many books on Marilyn Monroe, but I don't think any of the books I read so far actually helped me to understand her point of view as this book did.