Blonde

'Nobody has ever caught Marilyn more brilliantly in words than Oates.' John Sutherland, Sunday Times 'Oates has been fearless in taking on a subject that criss-crossed almost every important strand of mid twentieth century history ...Apart from her, only Don Delillo, among today's American novelists, and no one at all among today's American women novelists, would be able to handle such a huge cast of imagined and real characters ...A mighty - and a mesmerising - book.' Elaine Showalter, Literary Review 'This novel deserves a wide audience. Blonde is what whole shelvesful of Monroe biographies should be but are not - a fabulous reinvention of the life of a fabulous reinvention, a mirror on our collective vanities and a cracking page turner to boot.' Evening Standard '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 ...If this book doesn't catapult Joyce Carol Oates into British best sellerdom, nothing will. Julie Myerson, 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.' The Herald

“'Nobody has ever caught Marilyn more brilliantly in words than Oates.' Sunday Times 'Oates has been fearless in taking on a subject that criss-crossed almost every important strand of mid twentieth century history…Apart from her, only Don Delillo, among today's American novelists, and no one at all among today's American women novelists, would be able to handle such a huge cast of imagined and real characters…A mighty and a mesmerising book.' Literary Review 'This novel deserves a wide audience. Blonde is what whole shelvesful of Monroe biographies should be but are not a fabulous reinvention of the life of a fabulous reinvention, a mirror on our collective vanities and a cracking page turner to boot.' Evening Standard '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…If this book doesn't catapult Joyce Carol Oates into British best sellerdom, nothing will.' 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.' The Herald”

'Nobody has ever caught Marilyn more brilliantly in words than Oates.' Sunday Times

'Oates has been fearless in taking on a subject that criss-crossed almost every important strand of mid twentieth century history...Apart from her, only Don Delillo, among today's American novelists, and no one at all among today's American women novelists, would be able to handle such a huge cast of imagined and real characters...A mighty - and a mesmerising - book.' Literary Review

'This novel deserves a wide audience. "Blonde" is what whole shelvesful of Monroe biographies should be but are not - a fabulous reinvention of the life of a fabulous reinvention, a mirror on our collective vanities and a cracking page turner to boot.' Evening Standard

'"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...If this book doesn't catapult Joyce Carol Oates into British best sellerdom, nothing will.' 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.' The Herald

Joyce Carol Oates is a distinguished, award-winning author and critic. She has written over 20 previous books, including Black Water, On Boxing and Because it is Bitter and Because it is my Heart, now recognised as American classics. Recently, she has written Man Crazy (1998) and Broken Heart Blues (1999).

Joyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Book Award and the PEN / Malamud Award, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Her books include We Were the Mulvaneys, Blonde, Carthage, A Book of American Martyrs and Hazards of Time Travel. She is Professor of Humanities at Princeton University.

Blonde, Joyce Carol Oates's masterpiece, is a deeply moving exploration of the inner life of the woman who became Marilyn Monroe and a portrait of American culture hypnotised by it's own myths. Who was Norma Jeane Baker? The girl who visits the cinema as a child; the orphan whose mother is declared mad; the woman who changes her name to become an actress; the fated celebrity, lover, comedienne, muse and icon. Blonde is an epic American story of how a fragile, gifted young woman makes and remakes her identity. Here is the very essence of the individual hungry and needy for love: from an elusive mother; from a mysterious distant father and from a succession of lovers and husbands. In her most ambitious work to date Joyce Carol Oates explores the inner life of the woman destined to become Hollywood's most compelling legend, with astonishing - and often disturbing portraits of the powerful men in her life: the Ex-Athlete, the Playwright, the President, the Dark Prince. Blonde is a brilliant and deeply moving portrait of a culture hypnotised by its own myths and the shattering reality of the effects it had on the woman who became Marilyn Monroe.

A mesmerising novel of the most enduring cultural icon of the 20th century, Blonde is a deeply moving portrait of the woman who became Marilyn Monroe. Who was Norma Jeane Baker? In 'Blonde' we are given an intimate, unsparing vision of the woman who became Marilyn Monroe like no other: the child who visits the cinema with her mother; the orphan whose mother is declared mad; the woman who changes her name to become an actress; the fated celebrity, lover, comedienne, muse and icon. Joyce Carol Oates tells an epic American story of how a fragile, gifted young woman makes and remakes her identity, surviving against crushing odds, perpetually in conflict and intensely driven. Here is the very essence of the individual hungry and needy for love: from an elusive mother; from a mysterious, distant father and from a succession of lovers and husbands. Joyce Carol Oates sympathetically explores the inner life of the woman destined to become Hollywood's most compelling legend. 'Blonde' is a brilliant and deeply moving portrait of a culture hypnotised by its own myths and the shattering reality of the personal effects it had on the woman who became Marilyn Monroe.

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