MMII: The Return of Marilyn Monroe

by Sam Staggs

Book Overview

A work of fiction about Marilyn Monroe. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1556111797
• ISBN13: 9781556111792
• Release Date: February 1991
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.32 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Marilyn Monroe in a bright light

I read this book when it first came out in the early 90s and liked it so much I wrote the author. Not long after I sent off the letter, I received a personal reply from Sam Staggs. He wrote of his sincere respect for Marilyn Monroe and her work which is evident on every page of THE RETURN OF MARILYN MONROE. Unlike many of the biographies and fiction about the popular blond actress, Sam Stagg's novel carries some hope with it and shows the smarter, less self-absorbed side of Miss Monroe that is rarely given much press. The author works from the idea that Monroe didn't really die that infamous day in August of 1962; instead her body was substituted with one closely resembling hers. Staggs does link Monroe with the Kennedys (they arrange for her to be kidnapped and have the body switch made), but once she escapes from her abductors and seeks out life in the big city under an assumed name, the novel takes on a tone that is more positive and less sensational. For Marilyn Monroe fans who always thought she was more than just a dumb blonde (that she could indeed have played Grushenka in "The Brothers Karamazov"), THE RETURN OF MM is pure delight! Some of the scenes are just wonderful, especially one where she enters a Marilyn Monroe look-a-like contest a few years after her "death."

Much better than "BLONDE"

I bought this book about ten years ago for $1.99. As a Marilyn fan, I was curious and thought it was a good addition to my collection. I finally read it, and I really liked it. Despite the other review here, I found it to be very entertaining, and it was interesting to discover "what if". While Staggs isn't Hemingway or Shakespeare, I think he is a very good writer. He is good with words and is very descriptive and has a knack for dialogue. It was a very interesting interpetation of MM's life had she not died. There have been a few other writers who tried to do the same thing. The two I have read are Marilyn's Daughter, which I liked as much as this one. Although, I don't remember it that well. But I would have remembered it if I didn't like it. Speaking of not liking, Blonde, by Joyce Carol Oates is the other book that displays MM in a fictious way. I didn't even finish that one as I did not enjoy it at all. This book starts with MM at the end of her Hollywood career and instead of her dying another woman takes her place. Everyone thinks it is her, and in the eyes of most of the world, MM is dead. but she is kidnapped and taken "underground", eventually she runs away from her captors. She lives her life under a different name, and meets alot of interesting characters along the way to a different kind of success. I would recommend this book for both MM fans and anyone just looking for something a little different. It is a great book.